Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 3, 1986
By Adam Martin
Ohio State in driver's seat
Don't be fooled by the score. Michigan annihilated Illinois, 69-
13. But the Ohio State Buckeyes now have the inside track on the
Big Ten Championship.
By upsetting Iowa at Iowa City, 30-10, the Buckeyes can now
coast through the next two weeks in anticipation of the Showdown in
Columbus.
THE WOLVERINES should take a 10-0 record into Ohio Stadium
in three weeks, needing one victory to catch the plane to Pasadena.
The key word is "should."
The Wolverines should beat Purdue and Minnesota, two teams the
Buckeyes have already beaten. And they probably will.
MEANWHILE, Ohio State can toy with Northwestern next week
and then wear helmet radios to hear the signals the week after in
Wisconsin's Sensaround stadium, knowing that a loss is meaningless
it the Buckeyes can beat Michigan.
Maybe Michigan is a better team, especially with Jim "Mr.
Efficiency" Harbaugh (11 of 13 for 224 yards. vs. Illinois) at the
controls.
But while the Wolverines conducted a clinic Saturday in Michigan
Stadium before 104,122 faithful, OSU quarterback Jim Karsatos
ignited a 21-point second quarter with a 72-yard touchdown pass to
Cris Carter, and the Buckeyes went on to trump Iowa.
JUST TWO weeks ago against the Hawkeyes, Michigan barely
eluded an upset on a last second Mike Gillette field goal.
So with the home field advantage against Michigan, an earlier
'victory over the Gophers, no game against Michigan State and the
chance to afford a loss, OSU appears to be leading the Pasadena pack.
"OSU is in the driver's seat," said middle guard Billy Harris.
"They've already beaten Minnesota and we still have to play
Minnesota. We're second now. They have the easier schedule."
HARRIS, who suffered a deeply bruised knee on Illinois' first
possession, may be right, but he is still smiling. He likes the idea
of a showdown in his home state of Ohio.
He also expects Michigan to beat Purdue and Minnesota. But
Harris's words make Michigan the underdog. Maybe that's an
advantage for Michigan.
Ohio State has the advantage today, however. And that doesn't
seem right.
THE BUCKEYES looked impotent in their first two games
against Alabama (a 16-10 loss) and Washington (40-7). Then, after
{ pummeling Utah, 64-6, they beat Illinois by 14 points before just
getting by Indiana, 24-22.
The 8-0 Wolverines, who dumped the Hoosiers, 38-14, and
pounded the Illini by 56 points, are statistically better than Ohio
State. But "we all know it's gonna come down to the big one," as
' Harris put it.
The Big One between The Big Two.
REMEMBER the Big Two? Michigan and Ohio State. It used to
be this way, but with the emergence of Iowa and the Illini of the early
1980s, The Big Two, the upper echelon of the Big Ten, had become
the Big Four.
Now it's back to the future.
"First time it's been that way for a while," said Michigan coach Bo
Schembechler, "and I'm not surprised. Privately, I figured (the
Buckeyes) would probably win that game out in Iowa City."
THE PUBLIC figured Iowa would beat Ohio State. Only that
would have been too easy. The Wolverines would have waltzed into
Columbus ready to party. Now they have to fight.
But that's okay with them.
"I'd love to do that," said cornerback Garland Rivers, a Canton,
Ohio native. "I'd love to have to go down there and beat them. If we
beat them, I can go back home and have some fun with my friends."
BILLY Harris has similar ideas.
"It's great playing down there," he said. "A lot of my friends from
(Xenia, Ohio) High School play for Ohio State, so if we win I'll have
some fun with them."
How much fun can one team have? Michigan had plenty of it
against the Illini, but the fun isn't over yet.
cr
By BARB McQUADE
Michigan's 69-13 mauling of
Illinois on Saturday was its biggest
scoring effort in five years, but after
the game it was the Wolverines
who were licking their wounds.
Michigan ran up its highest
point total since it beat the
Fighting Illini, 70-21, in 1981.
During the scoring barrage, the
Wolverines suffered injuries to
middle guard Billy Harris,
linebacker Dieter Heren, and flanker
John Kolesar. Only Kolesar, who
broke his collar-bone on an
attempted pass reception, is
expected to miss action. He is out
for the rest of the regular season.
"AS FAR as our squad
physically, I'm a little concerned,"
said Michigan head coach Bo
Schembechler. "We're not a deep
team. I hate losing Kolesar. You
don't realize what a great football
player he is. He runs, he blocks,
he's a great all-around ball player."
The performance of his offense
consoled Schembechler. The
Wolverines (8-0, 5-0 in the Big
Ten) collected 501 yards in a
balanced attack. Quarterback Jim
Harbaugh completed 11 of 13
passes for 224 yards with no
interceptions. Fullback Bob
Perryman was the leading
contributor to Michigan's 265 yards
rushing with 71 of his own.
"I credit Michigan," said Illini
head coach Mike White, who added
he did not think Michigan was
merely running up the score.
"That's what you call getting
thrashed."
ILLINOIS (2-6, 1-4 in the Big
Ten) started the game strong,
scoring a field goal on its opening
drive and a touchdown on its
second. The Illini marched down
the field when its suspect running
game dominated Michigan's
defensive line.
"We expected them to attack the
perimeter," said Heren, who had to
be helped from the field in the third
quarter when his leg muscles
tightened. "Instead they came up
*ushes
the middle. It took us a couple
series to adjust to it."
The absence of Harris for those
two possessions also hurt
Michigan's defensive effort. The
senior middle guard suffered a
bruised knee on the first play of the
game, but was able to return by the
second quarter.
AFTER that, the defense held
Illinois to a field goal the rest of
the way. The short passing game
which had been effective for the
Illini this season was nonexistent.
"In the first quarter we went out
there and moved the ball," said
Illinois fullback Jeff Markland.
"After that I don't know what
happened. We just lost it."
The -Illini's intensity went by
the wayside as fast as their
possession of the ball. Illinois
suffered two interceptions, three
fumbles, and a blocked punt.
"IN THE second half, we got
some breaks and capitalized on
them, and that was the story of the
game," Schembechler said. "I don't
think we needed a turning point.
We would have won the game
without the turnovers. But those
nice easy touchdowns when you get
the ball on the one - that's always
good."
Michigan's fourth touchdown
was one of those nice easy ones.
Harbaugh's one-yard touchdown run
was set up when Heren blocked
Keith Jones's punt. Heren got a
hand on the kick at the Illini 35-
yard line and the ball bounced out
of bounds at the one.
At that point, though, the game
was already a rout. Harbaugh' s
touchdown, one of two he scored
rushing, put Michigan up 34-13.
The Wolverines had broken it open
in the third quarter when Harbaugh
hit split end Paul Jokisch with a
51-yard strike for a touchdown.
Jokisch's first TD reception of the
season put Michigan up 24-10.
T W O minutes later, Mike
Gillette hit a 52-yard field goal to
make it 27-10.
Michigan's 48-13 cushion in the
ilhini,
fourth quarter gave the Wolverine
starters a chance to relax.
Quarterback Chris Zurbrugg took
over for Harbaugh and responded by
leading Michigan on two
touchdown drives. The junior-
eligible signal caller scored both
himself, keeping the ball on the
option.
Sophomore Michael Taylor took
the snaps for Michigan's final
touchdown. The quarterback dashed
in from the one on an option from
69-13
the wishbone formation.
For Schembechler, the
opportunity to use his reserves was
as welcome as Jerry Falwell in East
Quad. "If you want to get beat real
quick, go ahead and play these
games where your regulars play half
a game. I don't like that. I'd ten
times rather be playing in a tough
football game where they've got to
stay in there and play because half a
game doesn't keep you sharp."
Not even healthy.
4
4
Daily Photo by PETE ROSS
Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh celebrates one of his two rushing
touchdowns during Saturday's 69-13 win over Illinois.
BACKUPS BOLSTER INJURED D':
Line adjusts to
Illini offense
By PHIL NUSSEL
Utter domination. Michigan 69,
Illinois 13. In the glory of such a
one-sided victory, it is easy to
forget that Illinois led Saturday's
game 10-7 in the first quarter.
It is too simple to forget how
easily the Illinois offense moved
the ball in the early minutes.
KEY adjustments, though, are
remembered. The defensive line
adjusted in the second quarter to
shut down the Illini running attack
for the duration of the slaughter.
Th'e line had one strike against it
coming into the game with starting
tackle Dave Folkertsma out with a
knee injury. Then on the first play,
middle guard Billy Harris twisted
his knee and had to sit down.
Mark Messner was the only
starter left. Senior Jack Walker and
sophomore Brent White rotated in
Folkertsma's spot. Raw freshman
Mike Teeter took over for Harris.
ILLINOIS quickly moved 45
yards for a 47-yard Chris
Siambekos field goal and minutes
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later it moved 65 yards for a Brian
Menkhausen one-yard touchdown
run. Tailback Keith Jones and
fullback Jeff Markland ran through
gaping holes.
But all that changed when Harris
returned in the second quarter.
Illinois netted four yards rushing
the rest of the game - four yards
rushing in 45 minutes.
"They started out strong," Harris
said. "I was anxious to get back out
there because I felt they needed me.
This is for the title, the
championship, if there is any kind
of way I can get on the field I'm
going to go out there and do the
best I can."
HARRIS only made one tackle
in the game, but was able to stand
in against Illini center Dave
Harbour, not allowing any holes to
open. The 6-0, 270-pound senior,
with four years of experience at
middle guard, was also able to read
the Illinois offense.
"(Teeter) is still learning a lot,"
Harris said. "He just moved to that
position this year. I was able to go
in and be 70 percent and do a decent
job because of my experience
alone."
"(Harris' return) was very
important," said defensive line
coach Jerry Meter. "Ability is
important, but experience is the
key. Billy has great experience. He
knew what was going on, but I
don't want to take anything away
from Mike Teeter.
"ILLINOIS came out there with
two big backs (Jones and Markland)
pounding off the ball and split us
out. We were on edge a little. It
was hard for them initially to get a
good feel for what Illinois was
trying to do.
"After the second series, we got
a good handle on what they were
trying to do with their backfield
sets. They settled down. The
linebackers started stepping up and
the linemen started getting off the
ball better."
Markland, a 6-3, 220-pound
former linebacker, couldn't explain
what happened to the Illini rushing
game.
"We came out in the first quarter
and moved the ball well, but after
that I don't know what happened,"
Markland said. "I don't know if
they made any adjustments. They
have a good defense and they're
around the ball all the time. They're
the number-two team in the
country. I don't think they have to
make a lot of adjustments."
But it could be the other way
around, especially after the
adjustments made Saturday.
Michigan may be the number-two
team in the nation because it makes
adjustments, key adjustments. The
defensive line would agree.
Blue Banter
-Michigan's third-quarter dominance
continued as the Wolverines
outscored Illinois, 21-0. For the
seasonsMichigan hasdbeat its
opponents 79-9 in the third.
}
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