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Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Sunday, November 11, 1984
True Rlue
.By Douglas B. Levy
Goal-line stand brings back.. .
. .. memories of another decade
OUT OF NOWHERE, the magic returned to Michigan Stadium yesterday.
Bo Schembechler's Wolverines took a step back in time, back to the
decade of the 1970's.
Out of the mist that shrouded the entire Michigan-Minnesota game, the
scoreboard clock read 8:11 remaining in the third quarter, Gopher quarter-
back Rickey Foggie lay face down in the arms of Wolverine nose guard Joe
Gray.
Foggie had tried to sneak the ball over his right guard for the one yard
needed to tie the game at 14. It was a fourth down play which failed-no
gain.
For the two preceding downs, Foggie had had his team in the exact same
position. Minnesota had three opportunities to ram the ball down Michigan's
throat and tie the game.
Michigan's defense rose to the occasion. It was a goal-line stand
reminiscient of the glory days of the '70's. Wolverine stands became legen-
dary in those years as defensive juggernaut after juggernaut stifled op-
ponents week after week.
The trip down memory lane wasn't over though.
Michigan's offense took over at its one-yard line and, behind an Eddie
Garrett run and three Gerald White carries, methodically moved out to the
15.
- Boom! Freshman wunderkind Jamie
Morris took a pitchout 68 yards down the
right sideline. It was the kind of big play
that Schembechler hadn't gotten from his
offense all season.
Morris gobbled up the final 11 yards in
two plays, giving Michigan a 21-7 lead.
That explosive series took 4:39, going 99
yards in eight plays. In the '70's, every
third or fourth Wolverine series contained
the big run from a slew of talented backs.
In the '80's, Michigan has been slowed by
an improving conference. In 1984, the
Gray Wolverines had been flat out stopped.
Michigan's offense has ranked from anemic to inconsistent to hopeful and
then back to anemic again.
Somehow it was ordained that those two series would come back to back,
the unbelievable goal-line stand followed immediately by a high-powered of-
fensive rampage. In the final home game of this abnormal Wolverine
season, somebody high up sent a flashback from one of the most devastating
decades in the history of college football.
From 1970-1979, Schembechler guided Michigan to a 96-16-3 record which
was the best college mark for the ten years. Yesterday's five-minute span in
the third quarter exposed the current generation of Michigan fans to the
glory days of the past. For a moment, the Wolverines stepped back in time.
But just remember one thing, Minnesota stinks. After the first half, the
Gophers woeful lack of talent exposed the club for what it is-a team in the
process of rebuilding.
Despite the lopsided score of 31-7, coming on the heels of last week's 48-3
blowout at the hands of Illinois, Lou Holtz has done a remarkable job with a
dying Gopher program.
"I'm proud of our football team," said a dejected Holtz after the loss. "We
just can't overcome adversity right now. I really hurt for the players
because we just make mistakes to cause you to lose."
The Gophers were 1-10 last year and have improved to 3-7 this season. And
with his brilliant freshman helmsman, Foggie, Holtz had kept Minnesota in
many a game.
Holtz noted that one of two turning points in the game yesterday was his
team's inability to tie the score from the one-yard line. Had the Gophers
scored, it would have been a different ballgame.
Statistically, the game was a close battle. Minnesota had the ball on offen-
se for 28 minutes to 32 for Michigan. The Gophers made 16 first downs, the
Wolverines had 20.
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Daily Photo by DAN HABIB
Michigan linebacker Rodney Lyles and Minnesota tailback Tom Serie dive for one of three Minnesota fumbles yesterday. Although Lyles failed to
recover the fumble, the Wolverines defeated the Gophers, 31-7.
One more winning
By KATIE BLACKWELL
The last wave has dwindled out in
Michigan Stadium for 1984. Another
season of 100,000-plus crowds is over
until next September.. It's a sad
thought, indeed.
Luckily, after a season chock-full of
frustations, a rather sparse and soggy
101,247 contingent of was treated to a
fun-filled Michigan victory. It was the
kind of game that the Wolverine
players and fans alike needed-a con-
fidence-booster to be sure.
QUARTERBACK Chris Zurbrugg
looked sharp as he guided the injury-
riddled squad to a convincing 31-7 mark
against an improved Minnesota team.
Regardless of the margin, the win set
many important precedents for the 1984
season.
It insures that head honcho Bo
Schembechler will be spared his first
losing record, anywhere, anytime.
"I didn't take as much stock in that
(the possibility of a losing season) as
other people," said the 16-year
Michigan coach.
NO MATTER what he says, Schem-
bechler can still boast only winning
seasons since 1963 as a head coach at
Miami of Ohio. The man's got an un-
believable career record of 180-48-6 for
a winning percentage of .782 (.813 at
Michigan). His record ranks second
among all active college coaches.
Yet, for all his success, Schembechler
is the brunt of constant criticism for his
"grind-it-out, up-the-middle, avoid-the-
pass" offense. Never mind that his
style works, his critics cry,
"Boredom!"
Well, these cries have been stifled at
least temporarily, thanks to some fairly1
risky signal-calling of late. Two weeks
ago in the Illinois game, Schembechler
called for a halfback option that had
Rick Rogers attempting a pass. Though
that play failed, some tricks were still
being implemented in the Michigan
camp.
THIS WEEK, the plan worked. Off of
a double reverse from the Minnesota 33-
yard line, split end Vince Bean hurled a
"You know, the fun-
ny thing about that
play is that the fans
think, 'Those are so
easy todo . . .why
don't they do them
more often.' "
- Bo Schembechler
them more often.' "
ACCORDING to Schembechler, the
play had been in the works for three
weeks and in the game plan for the last
two, just waiting for its time.
"Something struck me that it was the
time to use it," Schembechler said.
"HE'S (Schembechler) been saying
for three weeks that we were going to
throw it," said Bean. "He said today
that we were going to throw it, but I
se ason
that put the game out of reach for the
struggling Golden Gophers. The pass
completion was Michigan's longest of
the season, ending Bean's home finale
on a good note.
"I THREW one in high school," Bean
said. "I guess I'm two-for-two."
Not only were the fans treated to a
blow-out, a winning season and the 4
longest pass of the 1984 campaign, they
also witnessed the longest rush of the
year.
Freshman tailback, Jamie Morris,
anxious for a good game, since his
parents came to watch him play
Michigan football for the first time,
reeled off a third quarter romp of 68
yards before Gopher Andre Harris
hauled him down.
"I WAS really mad at myself (for
allowing Harris to catch up)," Morris
said. "I was thinking about what I'd do
in the endzone."
No real harm was done, though,
because two plays later, Morris took
another pitchback and scurried 11 yar-
ds for his second collegiate touchdown.
You can bet that Mom and Pop
Morris are glad they made the
pilgrimage from Ayer, Mass. They got
to see their son rack up his second 100-
plus yard game. Morris finished the
day with 125 yards and a 8.9 yard
average.
The 1984 Michigan Wolverines have
endured a lot this season. They have
faced a vastly-improved conference
with a slew of injuries, including a star-
ting quarterback and defensive back
earlier, and more recently, guard Doug
James. But, as evidenced yesterday,
Schembechler football is alive and well,
even if it is only 6-4.
perfect spiral to wide receiver Paul
Jokisch for a 67-yard touchdown con-
nection.
The team went nuts, half of them
jumping on top of Jokisch in the en-
dzone. The score was 28-7 and the crowd
was ecstatic.
"You know," said Schembechler af-
ter the game, "the funny thing about
that play is that the fansthink, 'Those
are so easy to do...why don't they do
didn't listen to him."
Even his own players recognize
Schembechler's traditional play. The
call caught both Bean and Jokisch off
guard.
"He guarantees us every week that
we are going to run it," Jokisch con-
curred. "Bean and I don't listen to
him."
But Schembechler did call the play
'their ~adM'offense rains on-Holtz
(Continued from Page 1)
on their first three possessions before
scoring on their final two drives of the
half.
But after Michigan's herioc goal line
stand in the third quarter, the offense
steamrolled the Gophers with big plays.
THREE TIMES the Gophers lined up
at the one-yard-line during that series
and three times Michigan wrapped
them up. The final stoppage came
when middle guard Joe Gray stuck
Foggie on an ill-executed option play.
"That put 'em out of business," said
Schembechler.
Michigan's stand deflated Minnesota,
and opened up holes in what is an im-
proved but still porous defense. Morris
capped off his 68-yard ramble with an 11-
yard TD run. Still, the best was still to
come on Michigan's next possession.
SEVEN plays into that drive, Schem-
bechler reached into his bag of tricks
and released a wingback option. Vince
Bean took the handoff on a reverse and
lobbed a floater into the arms of split
end Paul Jokisch, who stormed into the
end zone for a 67-yard score. According
to Bean and Jokisch, the play had been
sometime in the works.
has now caught his two career touch-
downs in consecutive weeks.
The play spurred the 101,247
Michigan Stadium patrons into a
jubilant celebration and snuffed the life
out of a possible Minnesota comeback.
Bob Bergeron later nailed a 33-yard
field goal to close out the scoring.
The victory nudged Michigan to 6-4;5-
3 in the Big Ten, going into the season
finale at Ohio State this Saturday.
Despite an erratic season, the
Wolverines still have a mathematical
chance of winning a Rose Bowl berth,
thanks to losses by Iowa and Purdue. If
Michigan upsets the Buckeyes, and
Iowa, Purdue and Michigan State all
lose, Bo's boys would finish in a first-
place tie with Ohio State and Illinois.
Michigan would go to Passadena by vir-
tue of victories over those two clubs.
"(Bo) has been saying for three
weeks, 'We're gonna throw it, we're
gonna throw it, said Bean.
"He guarantees us every week we're
gonna run the play and Vince and I
don't believe it," added Jokisch, who
e
One in a row
RECEIVING
MICHIGAN
No YV
EICRiG A.................17 7 7 10-1
SCOINGPLAYS
MINN--Poggie 35-yard run. lateral Wto C*d Wor20
yards (L~omiiier Ikk;
MICH-Zurbtiigg three-yard run (Bergron k f
MIVII-Ndeontwo-yard paosfrom Zurbrugg
(Bergeron kkkh
MW -M ris I 1-yard rust I Be~gron kick)
MICH-Jokich 6P-yard poa from Reeani (8rgero
kick)
MICH--Bergeron 33-yard field goal
Perrymn
Gxarrett .. .
"oers ,.
White
a
s
3
:
44
1
36
21.
I-;
MINNESO4TA
Do... ...,...<u
C.io ...... . 3 2
Sedle.....
613
4.6
45
2.4
5.
2. 0
3A
i.3
4
1
0
0
0
0
B
4
4;
0
I
0
0
0
0
Blean .... ....e
Garret..........
L
53
87
I;
!I
Frst dowus < . _. 20
Ruabiug iAtt/Vda) 581304
Net ?asixtg Yards , 141
Pastg lAtt/Comp
Total Yards ....... 445
rumbles 4Nofl- 0) 210
Punts (No/A vg) ... Slit~15
Pvaa ti c (No/Yds) 5/41)
Time of Pos.aloa 32:-03
RUSHING
MICHItGAN
At 'Yd
Mort-6....... 14 125
?4'INN
42#217
142
s/mA
27,5
Avg TI
A-. I
d '
Strks.eo,.......... 3
Rtetd ............... .... 2
Juneau ......... ...
Collermm.......~..<,. 1
RETURNS
MICHIIGAN
G. Johnon ~... 3/2-1
AindereA
x3
21
i,
13
ti
I0
s
PASSING
I
MICHIGAN
At Comp
Feau.... ......t
Ilt
Yds TI)
74 I
47 1
No/ dfi
Kickolbs
No/Vds
../3
2 ' 7 0
41 43 4t,
. ._ rMia. O fhio 2. E.Michigan 0
BIG TEN STANDINGS
K. ,- U...
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