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Big Ten is off
and running
Ohio State gets the nod
as conferencefavorite
Bi Mac
Mcntyre is back to
lead M' linebackers
M' kickers aim for recoi
By DARREN JASEY
Sometime during the middle of the college
football season someone is going to reminisce
about the way Big Ten football was in the not
so distant past.
They'll harken back to the days when a 77-
yard touchdown bomb was common in places
like Ann Arbor and Columbus; when a man
named Darryl Rogers coached Michigan State
to a surprise co-championship with a passing
offense; when Purdue quarterbacks Mark
Herrmann, Scott Campbell, and Jim Everett
all passed themselves into the Big Ten's career
total offense top five; when Illinois' Dave
Wilson, Tony Eason, and Jack Trudeau led
four of the top eight all-time Big Ten single
season total offenses; and when quarterbacks
Art Schlichter, Chuck Long, and Jim
Harbaugh almost won Heisman trophys.
THEY WILL also mention those great
combinations that dominated the era - Smith
to Gibson, Wangler or Smith to Carter,
Schlichter to Donley, Herrmann to Young,
Long to Harmon, Campbell to Bryant, Eason
to Martin, Everett to Carter, Trudeau to
Williams.
This year Big Ten football fans are in for a
change. The running backs are back in the
spotlight. It is a year of transition for most
conference coaches as they reload with young
arms at quarterback. Meanwhile, an abundance
of talented running backs return.
"There may be some great quarterbacks in
our league," Ohio State head coach Earle
Bruce says, "but there aren't as many
experienced quarterbacks. I think the running
back is back."
MICHIGAN HEAD coach Bo
Schembechler adds, "I see the conference
piling up more rushing statistics in 1987 than
1986 on the basis of a tremendous group of
running backs. We were a quarterback league,
and now the strength of the backfield is the
running backs."
The conference is so strong at the running
back position that even with Jamie Morris,
Schembechler's Wolverines may not have one
of the league's top four offensive backfields.
Iowa and Ohio State return plenty of
experienced and talented running backs.
Minnesota and Michigan State return possibly
the nations best backs in sophomore Darrell
Thompson and senior Lorenzo White.
Nearly every team boasts a top-notch ball
carrier. Indiana has sophomore Anthony
Thompson, who rushed for 806 yards last
season despite missing the first half of the
season with a thigh injury. In each of his five
starts he rushed for over 100 yards.
NORTHWESTERN brings back
Stanley Davenport, its all-time leading rusher
and Illinois coach Mike White says that Keith
Jones is the best running back he's coached.
To top it all off, the two teams that don't
return a big name player at running back,
Purdue and Wisconsin, both hired ground-
game gurus to the head coaching position in
the off season.
Former Texas coach Fred Akers and his
wishbone offense hooked up with Purdue,
causing the schools prize 1986 recruit,
quarterback Jeff George, to transfer to Illinois.
The Badgers' new head coach Don Morton co-
authored a book called "The Explosive Veer
Offense for Winning Football".
See IOWA, Page 16
By DARREN JASEY
With Andy Moeller and his team-
leading 137 total tackles and Deter
Heren (79 tackles) gone, head coach
Bo Schembechler will turn to Andree
McIntyre to lead the defense.
McIntyre, a fifth-year senior from
Chicago, finished behind Moeller
with 91 total tackles, despite starting
only nine games. This season the
inside linebacker is looking forward
to moving into Moeller's role as
signal caller.
"LAST YEAR I kind of looked
to Andy Moeller to make the big
plays," said McIntyre. "Now that
Andy's not there I expect myself to
come up with the big plays. I look
forward to this being my best year of
football."
His leadership will be important
because only one other returning
linebacker - John Willingham -
totalled more than 25 tackles last
season.
In addition to that, a couple of
leading candidates to start went down
with injuries during practice. Junior
J.J. Grant suffered a shoulder injury
and may not be seen until the end of
the season and sophomore Marc
Spencer will miss the season with a
broken leg.
"WE'RE HURTING in there,"
head coach Bo Schembechler said. "I
don't know what to do yet."
Those with a significant chance
to start include Willingham, Steve
Thibert, and Carlitos Bostic - all of
whom have seen action in the past.
Michigan also has some credible
young talent in sophomores Tim
Williams and John Milligan.
Willingham has come the closest
to starting a full season. The 6-foot-
3, 235 pound senior started the final
12 games for Michigan last season
but also split his playing time with
Thibert. Willingham is a leading
candidate to start at one outside
linebacker position.
A FIFTH-YEAR senior,
Thibeft has started twice against
Notre Dame, but never against
anyone else. So it may be a bad sign
if he starts against Notre Dame
By DARREN JASEY
During the 1980s Michigan
place-kicking has been in good
shape. This decade's place-kickers
Ali Haji-Sheikh, Bob Bergeron, and
current kicker Mike Gillette rank
one-two-three on the all-time
Michigan field goal list.
Likewise, the punting has been
sharp. Don Bracken finished off a
four-year career in 1984 with the
Wolverine's highest punting
average ever, 40.8. Current punter
Monte Robbins took over for
Bracken and has averaged 42.6 yards
per punt going into his final
season.
Last season Gillette a n d
Robbins both set all-time
Michigan records. Gillette
connected on a 53-yard field goal
against Iowa, and Robbins nailed
an 82-yard punt against Hawaii.
With Gillette just five three-
pointers away from snapping Haji-
Sheikh's record of 31, this season's
kicking duo should become
Michigan's most prolific.
"The kicking game should be
solid," said head coach B o
Schembechler, "with Gillette who
probably will break all records here
in the next few years in kick scoring
and Monte Robbins back to punt.
We led the nation last year in net
punting so if we continue to get
good coverage we should have a
good kicking game."
Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON
Darrell Thompson gained 1,109 yards on the ground in his first season at Minnesota.
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Ohio State's Chris Spielman
amassed 126 tackles in conference
play last year, 49 more than
Michigan's leader Andy Moeller.
again. Nevertheless, he should see
plenty of action at outside
linebacker.
Last year Bostic suffered a season-
ending knee injury just after winning
the starting assignment for the
Oregon State game. He should see a
lot of action outside this season.
Williams also has a legitimate
shot a becoming a starter.
Schembechler said hewas
impressive in spring drills.
The loss of Grant may be the
biggest blow to the linebacking
corps. The 6-foot-1, 237 pounder had
been called a heavy hitter by
Schembechler and was expected to
start opposite of McIntyre on the
inside.
Schembechler will now have to
count on McIntyre even more. When
asked who would start in place of
Grant the coach said, "I'll put
McIntyre at both inside positions."
I
Ann Arbor
Court Club
Mike Gillette is just five field goals
Michigan field goal record.
The Wolverines have lost some arouni
recent games on last-second field Gi
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misery of a missed field goal in the last se
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'86 Big Ten Rushing
Leaders
Car Yds Avg
1. Thompson, Minn 168 888 5.3
2. Bayless, Iowa 162 705 4.4
3. Thompson, Ind. 163 679 4.2
4. Workman, OSU 122 655 5.4
5. MORRIS, MICH 110 605 5.5
6. Emery, Wis* 136 593 4.4
7. Davenport, NU 143 563 3.9
8. Jones, Ill 116 495 4.3
9. Bryant. OSU 108 457 4.2
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'86 'M' Leading
Tacklers
Tackles/Asst./Tot.
Andy Moeller 89 48 137
Andree McIntyre* 67 24 91
Garland Rivers 63 20 83
Deter Heren 60 19 79
Mark Messner* 48 21 69
Dave Folkerstma* 40 22 62
Todd Schulte 32 19 51
Tony Gant 32 16 48
Billy Harris* 26 20 46
Ivan Hicks 30 15 45
John Willingham* 27 16 43
Erik Campbell * 32 9 41
Doug Mallory* 21 9 30
Tim Schulte 22 7 29
Allen Bishop* 21 6 27
David Arnold* 18 6 24
*Denotes returning players
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PAGE 6 WEEKEND/SEPTEMBER 1 1, 1987 WEEKENP!SE~'TEP 4BERJ1, 19~7
PAGE 6
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