Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 28, 1985 Evasive Morris keys Michigan attack A By MIKE REDSTONE While the 1985 Wolverines have been best known for coming up with the big play on defense, tailback Jamie Morris has progressed this season to become the key man on an often inconsistent offensive unit. Morris, the second-shortest player on the Michigan roster at 5-7, has rushed for 723 yards in seven games this year, including 179 in Saturday's 42-15 rout over Indiana. MORRIS sees his short stature as more of an advantage than a detriment. "My advantage over big linemen is that they have to stoop over to tackle me," said Morris, who has rambled for at least 95 yards in four of his seven games. "I can make the cut before they can get over to hit me." The 175 pounder from Ayer, Mass. has also become a favorite target for quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Morris' four receptions against the Hoosiers gives him a share of the team lead in catches with 23. Only tight end Eric Kattus has caught as many aerials this year. IN FACT, in only his second year in a maize and blue uniform, the "clever little back" (as coach Bo Schem- bechler calls Morris) has become Michigan's most potent offensive weapon in its drive for a Big Ten title. Morris' season started out like a new Chinese dish - sweet and sour ball carrier. The sweet being Morris' 288 yards in his first three games, with the sour coming on three fumbles in those games, including a key fourth- quarter turnover late in Michigan's opening victory over Notre Dame. "In the beginning of the year I was running tense, trying to control the ball because I had been fumbling a lot," said Morris. "Lately the coaches have been telling me to run naturally, and that has made a big difference." MORRIS has also been helped through the experience of gaining national recognition by his older brother Joe, who plays for the NFL New York Giants. "My brother has always told me that it isn't important to prove your- self to others. You have to prove to yourself that you can do the job, and that's what I'be been trying to do," said Morris. While Morris has definitely proved himself to his coaches and Michigan fans, he gives all of the credit for his improvement to the patchwork offen- sive line, which has been under con- struction all year because of injuries. "WHAT dictates whether I'm a good runner or not is the line blocking," said Morris, who led the team in rushing as a freshman last year with 573 yards. "The offensive line has been getting better each game, so I've been getting better each game." And with three of Michigan's star- ting offensive linemen out with in- juries Saturday, Morris jerked and twisted his way to the best rushing performance of his Michigan career. With two years of eligibility left, Morris has a chance to become one o!4 the best offensive producers in. Michigan football history. In a little over 1 years with the Wolverines, Morris has piled up 1554 yards in total: offense (rushing and receiving). MORRIS, who was originally recruited as a wide receiver because of his 10.5 speed in the 100 meters, is not concerned with records right now, though. Instead, he just wants to run, with the football. And running with the ball has made Morris a sparkplug of this Michigan team. "Jamie Morris plays great all the time," said Harbaugh. "I love Jamie Morris." Doesn't that just about say it all? Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY Michigan tailback Jamie Morris pivots off a block from offensive tackle Clay Miller to put a move on the In- diana defense. The sophomore from Ayer, Massachusettts had a personal best 179 yards rushing on 24 carries yesterday in the Wolverines' 42-15 win. 'M' hurdles Hoosiers (Continued from Page 1) "I suspected on Thursday we might have trouble coming back from Iowa," said Schembechler. "The Iowa loss made -it hard to maintain our emotional level. That factor could have led to all the turnovers." "You could tell our mental attitude wasn't right for this game," agreed defensive guard Billy Harris. "You could feel it all week in practice ... everyone just kept going back and watching the Iowa game over and over again and it just kept us down. . "THIS GAME taught us a lesson. It helped us get better as a team. This is GOLDEN NIGHT 0. Molson FREE PIZZA The perfect combination ! ONLY AT' the best thing that could have hap- pened to us." On the offensive line, John Elliott became the third regular to miss a game this season, joining Mike Hammerstein and Mike Husar on the injured list. The constant changes hurt the line as a unit. "It's hard to work together," said tackle Clay Miller, who provided Schembechler with an anxious moment when he went down for a play in the second half. "It's not that the other guys aren't good, but it's hard to work as a unit when you have dif- ferent guys in all the time. You're just getting used to playing as a group and then someone new comes m." "RIGHT NOW we are hurting, no question," commented Schem- bechler. "We need to get Husar (sprained ankle) and Elliott (back spasms) back, and if we do, we're okay."~ With the offensive mistakes and a lack of enthusiasm on defense, Michigan could only muster a 15-15 tie going into the lockerroom. Sensing his team was at a crisis point, Schem- bechler unleashed one of his patented halftime pep talks. "Bo shook us up a little bit," said Harbaugh. "He told us frankly that is we didn't start playing with en- thusiasm, we would lose, and how that would be a shame after we had worked so hard all season." HARRIS ADDED that "it was (Schembechler's) toughest talk of the year because we weren't playing well. We weren't playing like a Michigan team is supposed to play, and he had every right to jump on us and criticize us." Whatever Schembechler said worked. Michigan took the initial kickoff and marched to the Indiana 18 before settling for a 31-yard Mike Gillette field goal. Indiana gave the ball right back on downs, and Harbaugh coolly directed an 83-yard touchdown march, hitting tight end Eric Kattus over the middle for a 34-yard touchdown. Kattus con- tinued to be Harbaugh's favorite target, gathering five catches for 123 yards. THE INTENSITY did not let up in the fourth quarter. The defense com- pletely shut down the Hoosier attack, keeping tailbacks Bobby Howard and Sweazy under wraps and negating Bradley's passing game. The offense took advantage of the good defense by adding 17 fourth- quarter points. A 19-yard TD run by White, a one-yard option run by Phil Webb and a 34-yard Gillette field goal closed out the second half offensive barrage. "We just got beat in the second half," said Hoosier head coach Bill Mallory. "In the first half I thought we played pretty well, our defense kept them really contained. In the second half, we couldn't do anything. Offensively we couldn't get anything going, and the defense stopped con- taining. . . we broke down on passes in the perimeter." Morris ended with 179 yards on 24 attempts, a healthy 7.5 yards per carry average and a personal best at Michigan. Harbaugh went on better - his 17 for 23 performance was good for 283 yards and set a new Michigan single game passing yardage record. Chris Zurbrugg set the old record of 259 yards against Purdue last season. "This game did us some good," said Schembechler. "It taught us the lesson that to play each week in this league, you have to come in mentally prepared." MONDAY 9:00 p.m. - close 338 S. State Action SportsWear FACTORY CLOSEOUTS specially priced NYLON RUNNING APPAREL -Suits or Separates- 419 E. LIBERTY (2 blks. off State) PIZZA HUT Now accepting applications for Cooking and Waiting daytime and evening help. Please apply in person be- tween11-a.m.-7 p.m., Mon.- Sun. at the following locations: 2080 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor 450 E. Michigan, Saline i ANN ARBOR'S GREAT HALLOWEEN STORE LAST MINUTE COSTUME IDEAS: HORRIBLE HANDS * MASKS " HAIR SPRAYS " GREASE PAINT * CONEHEADS " " PLENTY MORE 514 E. William St. 662-0035 C~l u Bike & Toy Mon.& Fri 9:30-7:00 ~npusB~ke Toy Sat. 9305:30 uSatur9:3000 I Blue Banter eJim Harbaugh's 283 yards passing broke the Michigan single game record of 259 yards set last season by Chris Zurbrugg against Purdue. But while Harbaugh's performance tops the Wolverine yardage chart, it doesn't come close to the passing yar- dage records at the nine other Big Ten schools. Ed Smith set the next lowest standard by throwing for 369 yards for Michigan State against Indiana in 1978, while Illinois' Dave Wilson set the all-time Big Ten mark with 621 yards against Ohio State in 1980. eMichigan gained 604 yards in total offense, the most since the 1983 con- test with Minnesota when the Wolverines racked up 631 markers while blowing out the Gophers, 58-10. " Jamie Morris had his best game as a Wolverine, gaining 179 yards and two touchdowns rushing and catching four passes for another 24 yards. E Philling it Up By Phil Nussel - " IT'S KIND OF funny, but for most people Halloween hits on October 31. For Michigan, however, the fall holiday came five days early. The Wolverines tried disguising themselves as a bad football team Saturday as they struggled through their worst half of the season before scaring away Indiana 42-15. It must have been those black jerseys at Iowa. Some sort of dark curse must have hit the Wolverines out there in cornland, because they came out spooked for 30 minutes, fumbling and bumbling themselves into a 15-15 tie. Luckily, Michigan has a team sorcerer named Bo Schembechler who lifted the Iowa curse and inflicted a deadly spell of his own at halftime on a team that was in danger of ruining what could still be a banner season. Yes, while Jim Harbaugh and Jamie Morris had their best games of their careers, the credit for this win goes to the magical motivational force of Schem- bechler. The veteran coach bewitched the squad in a halftime tirade that probably ranks as one of his hottest in recent years. And who could blame him? Something had to be done to get that bunch out of Iowa - where most of them still were. "Yea, (Schembechler) was pissed," cornerback Garland Rivers said. "He said he knew we were going to go out there like that because we were down on our- selves from last week." There was no way that Schembechler -let the Iowa loss turn the 1985 season into a pumpkin. It's just a good thing that Indiana was the opponent. A team like Ohio State or Illinois could have put the game out of reach with early opportunities like Indiana's. Schembechler certainly knew this. "I talked to them, yes," he said. "It was a productive halftime." As was seen, the productive halftime led to an even more productive second half with the offense rolling up 27 points and the defense holding the Hoosiers to 59 yards of total offense. "When we're playing bad, dropping the ball, fum- bling around, with a low intensity mental attitude, he comes in and kind of goes berzerk," middle guard Billy Blue bewitched early... but Bo works magic Harris said. "Because that's what we need. He, as a head coach, kind of feels that he has to pitch in the best he can to get us pumped up. No one likes to see Bo mad, so we try to please him and go out and do a job for him." It's kind of spooky. Harris said that the last time he saw the Wolverine master blow up like that was at Purdue last year. In that game, which was played three days after Halloween, Michigan had its worst half of the 1984 campaign. It trailed 240, but after a classical Schembechler explosion, the Wolverines came out of the locker room and outscored the Boiler- makers 29-7 only to lose 31-29. That was also the time that Chris Zurbrugg set the Michigan single game passing yardage record with 259 yards. Harbaugh broke that record Saturday with his 283-yard effort. But unlike last year's devilish loss, the Wolverines didn't let this game get out of hand. They managed to continue the Schembechler curse on Indiana. The Hoosiers, along with Northwestern, are the only two Big Ten teams that have never beaten a Schembechler- coached Michigan team. In the early going, though, the offense looked like it saw a ghost as it fumbled inside its own 10-yard line on the first two possessions. This made it tough on the defense, which yielded a field goal and the second touchdown of the season (still no extra points though). "You can't be frustrated with the offense," Harris said. "From the minute you walk in here as a freshman they teach you about sudden change. In a sudden change situation, the mood can swing back and forth. You got to believe you can stop them. "They (the opponents) think 'We got them.' But if we go out there and stuff 'em, they are going to think like 'oh shit.' And the whole mood of the game can swing back in your favor." The real Halloween hits Ann Arbor Thursday, but the trick-or-treating may not be over for Michigan next Saturday when it travels to Illinois to play the pum- pkin-colored Illini. Hopefully for the Wolverines, Schembechler will have more treats than Illinois coach Mike White has tricks. Some more halftime cursing wouldn't hurt. Cai .Jj. THE DEPARTMENT OF (.RECREATIONAL SPORTS will be sponsoring this Hi]JE THIS WEEK AT GUILD HOUSE 802 MONROE ANN ARBOR, MI 48104 Say - - - w - --W - w fe4wyDISCOUNT MUFFLERS AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CAR SPECIALIST j:FROM AS * FITS MANY Installed by LOW AS SMALL CARS Trained A * AT PARTICIPATING Specialists Q9 DEALERS "What's Happening" space giving information about our various programs: Jl Monday, October 28 8:00 p.m. Intramurals located at IMSB 763-1313 GUILD HOUSE READING SERIES ROBERT BIXBY and MARY PHILIPP-PETRICK f l