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 SPECIAL PURCHASE!! CD CL EARAN S SALE E 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. IOWA ONSIDE KICK BACKFIRES: 4 )Ill.. TV 14 r . o- ND vf9 Au Weds.Oct.21- Sat.Oct.24 ONLY!! All Sales Final7 GHQm... " M n ~A/MC''R 523 ELA N NLy 3 n -S 1- Aun 623 E. Uiberty " 994-8031 " Mon.-Sat. 10-9, Sun. 12-8 trD 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 #(i Advertise in The Michigan Daily EMPLOYMEI OPPORTUNIl JAPAN Bi-lingual? Interested in learning about career opportunities in Japan? 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