C Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 10, 1986 M' pounds Purdue, still undefeated Offense rolls on despite injuries to Elliott Husar By BARB McQUADE Michigan's patchwork offensive line won't win a prize at the county fair, but the Wolverines don't seem to mind. With two starters absent from the line, Michigan filled the gaps in Saturday's 31-7 pounding at Purdue. MARK Hammerstein, who usually starts at strong guard, moved over to strong tackle to replace John Elliott, out with a persisting neck injury. Dave Chester took Hammerstein's spot. Handling the duties at quick tackle, Jerry Quaerna played in place of Mike Husar, who missed the game due to a knee injury suffered two weeks ago. Elliott and Husar are expected to play next week. The game of musical chairs hurts the line's effectiveness, but the team is deep enough to keep the music playing. "Week after week, no matter who's in there, no matter who goes down, there just isn't that much of a dropoff," said Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. "Without great players like Elliott and Husar, you expect a little bit of a dropoff. Good teams have to rise above injuries and I was really proud of the way the guys did that up front." THE Wolverines threw out a solid offensive attack, racking up 285 yards rushing and 154 yards passing. But head coach Bo Schembechler said the Michigan ground game was not what it could have been. "We didn't run through them,"'-he said. Part of the problem may have been the offensive line, particularly on Michigan's opening drive of the game when it had to settle for a field goal attempt from the 14- yard line. The kick was blocked when Purdue cornerback Rod Woodson snuck through the line and got a hand on the ball. "I think we lost a little continuity," Hammerstein said. "Early on it made a difference until we made some adjustments and got our nerves worked out." AFTER that, the line was able to hold its own. Of course, at 2-7, Purdue hardly instills fear in its opponents, and head coach Leon Burtnett's resignation announcement Thursday had to take some of the steam out of the Boilermakers. But the Wolverines' talent takes them a long way. Depth on the line and talent at other positions can offset some of the gaps left by injuries. "They're so talented at the skill positions," said Woodson. "They're like robots. They don't have any big names. They're just a solid team." Burtnett said the injuries on Michigan's line made a noticeable difference, but added that the Wolverine offense was able to compensate. "WE WERE able to play good defense on them because of the injuries," the Boilermaker head coach said. "It helped in containing the quarterback at times, but Harbaugh is unbelievable out there. When there are no receivers open, he just takes the football and runs with it." Purdue quarterback Doug Downing agreed that the Wolverines make do with what they have in order to win. "Bo Schembechler always gets the most out of his personnel." ,Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY Michigan receiver Ken Higgins braces himself for a hit from Purdue's Tony Visco. Higgins enjoyed a big day with four receptions for 58 yards. TEAM FIGURES Mich First Downs......... 24 Rushing............. 12 Passing.............. 7 Penalty.............. 0 Rushing Tries ....... 54 Net Yards Rushing .. 262 Passing.............. 154 Passes: a/comp/in .. 20/14/1 Offensive Plays ...... 74 Total Net Yards ... 416 Fumbles no/lost 0/0 Penalties no/yds .. 4/25 Punts no/ave........ 2/52 Return Yardage ... 35 Purdue 12 4 8 0 27. 76 108 24/12/0 51 184 0/0 3/20 6/42 88 Interceptions no/yds . Kickoffs no/yards ... Punts no/yards ...... Time of Possession .. 1/0 2/0 5/35 36:00 0/0 4/8: 1/5 24:0 7 0 3 RUSHIN MICHIGA SCORE BY QUARTERS MICHIGAN ................... 7 17 PURDUE ..................... 0 0 0 M orris .................. White ................... Harbaugh............. 0-31 Perryman ............... 7- 7 Wilcher .............. Webb.................... G 1N att gain 16 91 12 52 8 66 7 33 8 25 1 13 1 2 ave. 5.7 4.0 5.7 4.5 3.1 13.0 2.0 SCORING SUMMARY M-Perryman 5 run (Gillette kick) M-Jokisch 4 pass from Harba ugh (Gillette kick) M-Perryman 1 run (Gillette kick) M-FG Gillette 36 M-Morris 2 run (Gillette kick) P--Chaney 13 pass from Downing (Briggs kick) Zurbrugg............... PURDUE Mudiock................U16 Grant ................... 5 Chaney.................1 Downing ................ 5 63 25 1 7 3.9 5.0 1.0 2.6 MARK MY WBy Mark Borowsky WEST LAFAYEITE eon Burtnett is a nice guy. Nice guys, as another Leon by the name of Durocher once coined finish last. Purdue's head football coach resigned/was fired last Thursday, having accumulated a career record of 20-33- 1, 2-6 this season. But Bo Schembechler is a nice guy, or at least when his team wins, and this season, that's all of the time. And while Burtnett and company were flailing to their seventh loss, the Wolverines were coasting to give Schembechler his 165th win at Michigan, a 31-7 borefest that kept the fans begging for less. The win tied Schembechler with Fielding Yost as Michigan's all-time winningest coach. After the game, Schembechler was subdued, but smiling. IT SORT of goes without saying that you don't have to be an English major to guess that afterwards, the mood in the two lockerrooms was a study in contrast. "Isn't it ironic that we're here (in reference to the record) where coach Burtnett has just been fired and they're changing coaches here again," Schembechler said, with a literary astuteness that would make a Shakespearian scholar nod in approval. "No it wasn't tough emotionally," Burtnett said. "I just wanted to go out and compete and we did that." PURDUE competed, all right, but they didn't exactly give Michigan reason to leave West Lafayette besides lack of nightlife. Worse, the Boilermakers are about as an exciting a football team as a fourth-place USFL (hey, remember them?) squad. What was perplexing was that Purdue wasn't fired up, gung-ho, let's show we're behind the coach."You wonder how they're going to respond," said Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh. "If they have any character at all, they're going to go out there fired up and try to win one for the coach." Hardly the case. Even though no one was confusing the talent levels of Michigan and Purdue, one would think that the intensity level of the Boilermakers would reach the blue sky above Ross-Ade Stadium. Instead, they were flatter than the Indiana plain. For all the emotion Burtnett exuded at last Thursday's press conference, his players lacked it Saturday. Burntt resign... noi happy ending "I WOULD never ask a team to play a game for me," he said. "You play a football game for yourself and to have fun. That's what I told them today." "He (Burtnett) would never ask a team to win for the coach," Purdue quarterback Doug Downing. "He's the leader of the team, but we win for ourselves and our parents." Maybe the "play for yourselves" attitude what the coach instilled in his charges, but it was still strange that the Boilermakers didn't come to play. "I THINK that with all the adversity that they've (Purdue) been faced with they just gave up a little bit," defensive tackle Mark Messner. Giving up a little bit against Michigan meant that Purdue was doomed. While Purdue wasn't winning one for the coach, it was behind him 100 percent in words, at least. "I don't think the players had anything to do with the coach being fired," said the Boilermakers' outstanding cornerback Rod Woodson, who did play like something was at stake, intercepting a pass and blocking a field goal. "It's the administration. I don't think the administration knows a bit about football." ALL THAT the administration has seemed to notice is that Purdue is 2-7. It won easily against Ball State. It struggled against Northwestern. It has lost to the rest of its opponents by the cumulative score 259- 82. Purdue football 1986 is not creating pleasant memories for its graduating seniors. The scapegoat is the. usual one. Burtnett had accomplished much in his four years at Purdue, including a 31-29 win over Michigan in 1984 and a Peach Bowl berth. He recruited the most sought after high school quarterback in the country in freshman Jeff George. But the past is soon forgotten. It's the present that matters. Such thinking was greeted by a Schembechler tirade on how it was a mistake to fire Burtnett. He ended it softly, though: "I like Leon Burtnett. I like him a lot. I always have." It's too bad that the powers that be don't like Burtnett as well. Nice guys do finish first sometimes, but in West Lafayette, they follow old sports clich6s to the letter. Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY Michigan's Andy Moeller (49) comes to the aid of fellow linebacker Andree McIntyre (54), who has Purdue's Jerry Chaney in his grasp. The Boilermakers had little offensive progress on Saturday, as the Wolverines coasted to a 31-7 victory in West Lafayette. Modest Bo (Continued from Page 1) "I thought their defense last year was the best defense I've ever seen since I've been in coaching. This defense is getting close to that." "(THE Boilermakers) realized in a hurry that they weren't gonna move the ball on us," said Wolverine tackle Mark Messner, "and we weren't gonna let them." Meanwhile, quarterback Jim Harbaugh threw for 154 yards in a 14- we've got those completions on a lot less attempts than anybody else has," said Harbaugh. "It's a credit to the .diversity of talent on this team." MICHIGAN'S signal-caller did most of his damage in the first half when the Wolverines jumped out to a 24-0 lead. Fullback Bob Perryman's five-yard touchdown run capped an 11- play drive that gave Michigan a 7-0. lead. Purdue could not handle Pat touchdown. The senior from Buzzard's Bay, Mass. has now scored twice in three consecutive games. Mike Gillette added a 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half, and Michigan had all but shut the door. The. Wolverines added another touchdown on their first possession of the second half as tailback Jamie Morris (91 yards on 16 carries) scampered in from two yards out. FACED with a 31-0 deficit, the their historical "Spoilermaker" role. CORNERBACK Rod Woodson and linebacker Merkle Williams combined for 24 tackles, and Woodson set up the Boilermakers' only score with his 10th career interception late in the third quarter. He also blocked Gillette's 32-yard field goal attempt on Michigan's first possession. But the preseason All-America could not stop the Wolverines by himself. Michigan took advantage of the -aim ..-,. .rv qLf Ta-k..