Page 14 -The Michigan Daily-Monday, October 19, 1987
I
., Miller Time
BY SCOTT G. MILLER
Blue beats Iowa...
*the beat goes on
Thump, bump. Thump, bump.
The heart of Michigan football
continued to beat after Saturday's 37-
10 thumping of Iowa.
Last week a pulse could barely be
found. Vultures swooped around
Spartan Stadium. A preacher waited
to read last rites.
Thump, bump. Thump, bump.
The pulse rang louder this weekend.
The hitting rang louder. The noise
served notice to the rest of the Big
Ten. The defending conference
champions are not yet finished. Not
by a long shot.
"We got back into the conference
race today," said offensive tackle
John Elliott. "A defeat would have
been a catastrophe."
With a 2-1 conference record,
Michigan still needs a catastrophe to
befall Michigan State (3-0). The
Spartans almost certainly have to
lose twice for the Wolverines to
have another shot at the roses.
Michigan, though, is confident that
the genius of George Perles will
carry its intrastate rival to defeat.
"I have confidence Michigan State
can lose twice," said Elliott.
"I think we control our own
destiny," said tailback Jamie Morris.
"If we want to go to the Rose Bowl,
we're going to make that decision."
This week's game at Indiana (3-0)
will play a large role in t h a t
decision-making process. The
Wolverines know they cannot afford
another conference loss. If the real
Michigan team appears at
Bloomington, the Hoosiers should
pay dearly for scheduling the game
as their homecoming contest.
"It's going to be a battle," said
Wolverine head coach B o
Schembechler. "I'm looking forward
to that."
The rest of the season will also
be a battle. Here is one optimist's
look at the finish of the Big Ten
battle:
Michigan (7-1, projected
finish) - The Wolverines are
getting healthy. Demetrius Brown is
cured of interceptitis, the defense is
recovering from numerous injuries,
and Schembechler is getting his
kidney stones blasted today.
Get ready for an ugly Rose Bowl
loss to UCLA.
Michigan State (6-2) -
Perles' idea of getting more
production from his quarterback is
using him less. Bobby McAllister
better get his degree because he has
no future in football. No team can
go undefeated in league play without
a quarterback.
The Spartan defense is fantastic,
but it won't be enough to win the
conference. Ohio State and Indiana
will beat Michigan State.
Ohio State (6-2) - Head
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coach Earle Bruce gets my vote for
dodo of the year. If he ever learned
how to coach, maybe the Buckeyes
could win more than eight games in
a year.
Sheer talent, especially on
defense, will win Ohio State six
conference games. But talent alone
won't be enough to beat Michigan.
Indiana (6-2) - A
motivational talk from
Schembechler friend Bobby Knight
will spur the Hoosiers to beat the
Spartans. But Indiana just doesn't
belong in the Rose Bowl.
Iowa (4-4) - Injuries keep
Iowa in the middle of the pack.
Crybaby head coach Hayden Fry will
whine all winter.
Minnesota (4-4) - The
homer hankies become touchdown
towels, but the Gophers are not
swept away with Twin fervor or
success.
Purdue (3-5) - Longhorn
alumni could not buy success for
head coach Fred Akers while he was
at Texas. Boilermaker alumni aren't
as rich.
Illinois (2-6) - Head coach
Mike White should go into politics.
With all his rule infractions, White
would be embraced by fellow
shysters.
Wisconsin (2-6) - The
Badgers love losers. They recently
gave basketball coach Steve Yoder a
four-year contract extension. Yoder's
career-winning percentage at
Wisconsin is around 22.5.
Northwestern (0-8) - The
Wildcats want to recapture the record
for the longest collegiate losing
streak from Columbia. This season
is a great start toward that goal.
GRIDDE
PICKS
Last week's Griddes winner was
Tim McDonnell with an impressive
16-4 record. What was the secret to
his success? Tim got his picks into
the Daily by 11:59 on Friday.
What did Tim win, you ask?
Well, he won a $10 gift certificate
from Domino's. You too can get in
on the action by bringing your picks
into 420 Maynard Street before
Friday midnight.
For all those wondering about
Slippery Rock, who fails to appear
in Griddes this week, the "rock" has
been given a well-deserved week off
by the NCAA after a hard-fought
victory over Shippensburg State on
Saturday.
Instead, we present to you, the
difficult challenge of predicting the
winner of the always-close
University of Tennessee a t
Chattenooga-Appalachian State
game. Good luck.
1. MICHIGAN at Indiana
(pick total points)
2. Purdue at Iowa
3. Minnesota at Ohio State
4. Illinois at Michigan State
5. Northwestern at Wisconsin
6. Colorado at Oklahoma
7. N.C. State at Clemson
8. USC at Notre Dame
9. Oklahoma St. at Missouri
10. Oregon at Stanford
11. Kentucky at Georgia
12. Pitt. at Navy
13. Texas A&M at Rice
14. Georgia Tech. at Tenn.
15. West Va. at Boston Coll.
16. Colgate at Syracuse
17. Brown at Holy Cross
18. Duke at Maryland
19. Indiana St. at Illinois St.
20. UT-Chatt at Appalch. St.
I
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Michigan's Greg McMurtry leaps to catch Demetrius Brown's touchdown pass as the clock runs out in the first
half. His catch extended the Wolverine lead to 30-10 at halftime.
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Blue victimizo
with McMurtr
By DARREN JASEY
It wasn't the last play of the game and the home
team was not trailing by six points, but Demetrius
Brown's 50-yard touchdown pass with :02 left in the
first half Saturday was the biggest play of the year for
the Michigan Wolverines.
Hail Mary, Big Ben, schoolyard, call it what you
want. When Brown's pass spiralled 65 yards through
the air and landed in the outstretched hands of Greg
McMurtry, it ended weeks of frustration for the
Wolverines.
"That was a shot in the dark," Michigan coach Bo
Schembechler said. "That was the old button play.
We've got three good kids going down there with a
chance to get it."
"A whole lot of luck involved in that," said
Hawkeye defensive back Merton Hanks. "We always
have a man fall off looking for a tip, so it's two
people going against three and they got it. I think it
was more me misjudging it than anything."
THE SCORE put Michigan safely ahead of Iowa,
30-10, well on its way to a 37-10 victory. It also
climaxed an 11-of-13, 169-yard, three touchdown first
half passing performance by Brown. In the Wolverines
two previously televised mntchups, Michigan failed
miserably against Notre Dame and Michigan State. In
those losses Brown combined for 10 of his season
total 11 interceptions.
"You're talking about a 20-year-old kid, who. on
national television had two absolutely miserable
games," Schembechler said. "Then, finally, he gets to
play a big game on television and he plays pretty well.
I'm happy for him."
Iowa head coach Hayden Fry was not in a good
mood after being victimized by an unlikely play for
the second time this season. In the Kickoff Classic the
ninth-year Iowa coach saw his team drive all the way
to the Tennessee one-yard line in the first half. But
es Hawkeyes
y's reception
quarterback Chuck Hartlieb pitched an option toss
right into the hands of a Tennessee defender who ran it
back 99 yards for a touchdown. The Hawkeyes lost
that contest by one point.
"We had two guys in perfect position for that Hail
Mary pass," Fry said, "and evidently, whoever caught
the ball just outjumped our guys. There was no excuse
for us to let them complete it."
"You coach a long time," Fry added, "and that won't
happen more than once or twice in a 25, 30 year
career. That's just very unusual."
THE PASS was not only completed but could
have easily been caught by any of two Wolverine
receivers. McMurtry grabbed it but John Kolesar was
right there.
"Me and Kolesar caught the ball at the same time,"
McMurtry said, "and he let me have it."
Said Kolesar: "We both came down with it as we
were falling and I didn't want to pull it out of anyones
hands. It's just one of those things where if I would
have grabbed for it and he would have grabbed for it, it
would have been an incomplete, so I just let him have
it.
"(McMurtry) is the primary guy on that play
anyway," he added. "If he goes up to catch it he should
catch it. My job is to try to catch the rebound, or if it
goes over the cover to catch it."
No rebounds or tips were necessary as Brown waited
until just the right time and tossed it perfectly into the
endzone. Brown completed 14-of-19 passes for 190
yards on the day and threw no interceptions.
"We're just there to catch it," Kolesar said, "but
Demetrius has got to get it there and he gets it there
really well. I mean he's got that rocket arm and gets it
anywhere."
Said Iowa defensive back Kerry Burt: "I didn't think
he could throw it that far in the air."
Maybe 1987 won't be so bad after all.
6
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