v w w VV :W w w Sept. 10 at Notre Dame SH E F IGH TING . IR ISH Bolcar HEAD COACH: Lou Holtz, third year (13-10 at Notre Dame, 129-75-5 overall) 1987 RECORD: 8-4 SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 13-6 LAST MEETING: Notre Dame 26, Michigan 7 (Ann Arbor, 1987) RETURNING LETTERMEN: 39 STARTERS RETURNING: 11 The Fighting Irish come off a season that saw them earn their first major bowl bid in seven years. Converted tailback Ricky Wat- ters replaces Heisman Trophy win- ner Tim Brown at flanker. Notre Dame possesses a potent ground game with quarterback Tony Rice, tailbacks Mark Green and Tony Brooks and fullbacks An- thony Johnson and Braxston Banks. The latter two combined for 15 touchdowns last year. Green has led the team in rushing the last two seasons. Rice took over at quarterback midday through last year, starting six of the Irish's last seven games. Notre Dame lost four starters along the offensive line. 1987 second-team All-America linebacker Ned Bolcar spearheads the defense. Notre Dame starts four veterans in the secondary, including safeties. George Streeter and Corny Southall. Sept. 17 Miami (Fla.) Hawkins HEAD COACH: Jimmy Johnson, fifth year (41-8 at Miami, 71-33-2 overall) 1987 RECORD: 12-0 (national champion) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 1-0 LAST MEETING: Michigan 22, Miami 14 (Ann Arbor, 1984) LE'TERMEN RETURNING: 40 STARTERS RETURNING: 9 Junior quarterback Steve Walsh remains, but the Hurricanes lost seven other offensive starters off their national-championship team, including the school's all-time lead- ing receiver, Michael Irvin, and full- back Melvin Bratton. Halfback Leonard Conley and fullback Cleveland Gary take over in the backfield behind Walsh. Randall Hill moves in at split end. Defensive ends Bill Hawkins and and Georgia Tech transfer Shane Curry and linebacker Rod Carter rank among the country's best at their respective positions. Sept. 24 Wake Forest _Elk i n S HEAD COACH: Bill Dooley, sec- ond year (7-4 at Wake Forest, 139- 95-3 overall) 1987 RECORD: 7-4 SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 1-0 LAST MEETING: Michigan 31, Wake Forest 0 (Ann Arbor, 1976) LETTERMEN RETURNING: 41 STARTERS RETURNING: 17 Wake Forest is no slouch, return- ing all but five starters off a 7-4 team. The Demon Deacons opened the '87 season with five consecutive wins. Senior quarterback Mike Elkins directs the offense. Elkins passed for seven touchdowns and for just under 2,000 yards last seascn, but he also threw 19 interceptions. His favorite target in '87 was junior wingback Ricky Proehl (54 receptions). The offense also includes tailback Mark Young (795 yards rushing) and 6-3, 287-pound guard Joe Kenn. Young stepped in for an in- jured Darryl McGill last year and wound up earning All-ACC honors. Oct. 1 at Wisconsin Oct. 8 Michigan State Rison HEAD COACH: George Perles, sixth year overall (32-24-2) 1987 RECORD: 9-2-1 overall, 7-0-1 Big Ten (first) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 52- 23-5 LAST MEETING: Michigan State 17, Michigan 11 (East Lansing, 1987) LETTERMEN RETURNING: 47 STARTERS RETURNING: 15 Blake Ezor attempts to fill the shoes of workhorse tailback Lorenzo White. Ezor, a 5-10, 180-pound ju- nior, rushed for 592 yards last year as White's backup. Outland Trophy candidate Tony Mandarich combines size (6-6, 303) and speed at his offensive tackle position. He will help protect senior quarterback Bobby McAl- lister. With White gone, McAllister may put the ball in the air more. Many of his passes will go in the direction of senior split end Andre Rison. Ri- son averaged over 20 yards a catch last season. Barring injuries, Rison should become the Spartans' all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards. Michigan State's defense will again rank among the conference's best with linebacker Percy Snow, defensive tackle Travis Davis and strong safety John Miller all back. Oct. 15 at Iowa who missed the second half of last season with a broken leg, and tight end Mary Cook (49 receptions in '87) are both back. Tony Stewart and D a v i d Hudson will handle most of the backfield chores. Noseguard Dave Haight, the Big Ten's defensive lineman of the year last season, defensive end Joe Mott and linebacker Brad Quast head a veteran defensive unit. Oct. 22 Indiana STARTERS RETURNING: 9 The Wildcats will have plenty of of new faces in their starting lineup this season as only nine starters re- turn from last year. Greg Bradshaw takes over at quarterback for Mike Greenfield, holder of 26 school passing records. Most of the offensive punch will come from tailback B y r o n Sanders and wide receiver Darryl McClellan. Kevin Peterson, Andre Walker and Darryl Ashmore all return on the front line to lead an otherwise unproven defense. HEAD COACH: Nov Minn L 1I A. Thompson Bill Mallory fifth . 5 iesota year (18-28 at Indiana, 117-80-1 overall) 1987 RECORD: 8-4 overall, 6-2 Big Ten (tie second) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 35-9 LAST MEETING: Indiana 14, Michigan 10 (Bloomington, 1987) RETURNING LETI'ERMEN: 44 STARTERS RETURNING: 15 The Hoosiers lost two All-Ameri- cans in wide receiver Ernie Jones (13 touchdowns in '87) and linebacker Van Waiters, but still retain 15 starters off last year's team that fin- ished second in the conference. Last year marked the first time in Indiana history that the Hoosiers de-- feated Michigan and Ohio State in the same season. Dave Schnell returns at quar- terback after completing 58.5 percent of his passes and throwing for 13 touchdowns in 1987. Junior tailback Anthony Thompson, All-Big Ten guard Don Shrader and tight end Tim Jorden (31 catches in '87) join Schnell on offense. Defensively, all-conference candidate Willie Bates, who led the team in tackles last year with 117, and Joe Huff make Indiana strong at linebacker. Oct. 29 at Northwestern -~.i f (\ { t! + mrjw r' ' , D.Thompson HEAD COACH: John Gutekunst, third year overall (13-11) 1987 RECORD: 6-5 overall, 3-5 Big Ten (tie sixth) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 51- 23-3 LAST MEETING: Michigan 30, Minnesota 20 (Minneapolis, 1987) RETURNING LETTERMEN: 35 STARTERS RETURNING: 15 The Gophers have two All-Amer- ica candidates in tailback Darrell Thompson and linebacker Jon Leverenz. Thompson has rushed for over 2,400 yards in his first two seasons. Leverenz led the Gophers in tack- les last year with 162 as well as tackles for losses with 13. Minnesota lost nine starters, in- cluding its four-year starting quarter- back Rickey Foggie. Alan Holt will take over as the team's new signal caller. Nov. 12 Illinois Cobb HEAD COACH: John Mackovic, first year (0-0 at Illinois, 14-20 overall) 1987 RECORD: 3-7-1 overall, 2-5-1 Big Ten (eighth) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 53- 19-1 LAST MEETING: Michigan 17, Illinois 14 (Champaign, 1987) LETTERMEN RETURNING: 34 STARTERS RETURNING: 9 Former NFL head coach John Mackovic begins his tenor as head man with the Fighting Illini. Second-team All-Big Ten selec- See OPPOSITION, Page 23 Rush Delivery BY JEFF RUSH Michigan Football 101 now in session Bo. There. That wasn't so hard. The first word in Michigan football. Say it again. Bo. Easy enough for you new students? Good. That's lesson one. You pass with flying colors. Whether the Michigan quarterback will pass as easily remains to be seen. No more seven inter- ceptions in one game, huh guys? But a few more lessons for new students who haven't attended a Michigan football game: Don't sell your ticket. Sure, selling a pair of Ohio State tickets could pay for a nice date or two, but what are you more likely to tell your grandkids about? Don't drive to games. Don't drive anywhere. Don't even bring your car to Ann Arbor. Pedestrians own the streets, and police officers give parking tickets in all areas that looks re- motely like parking spaces. Do walk to games. Leave early and enjoy not having to rush on a sunny autumn Saturday. Don't bring toilet paper to throw on the field after Michigan scores. It doesn't get replaced in the residence halls until Monday morning, making for uncomfortable residents all day Sunday. And how many people actually walk around Ann Arbor carrying a full roll of toilet paper? It's just not good for the image. Do bring a set of keys to shake on an important play. No, the Wolverines having the ball on their first possession on third down with two yards to go for a first down is not a key play. Don't try to sneak into seats at mid-field. Sure, when you're sitting in the end zone, those seats may look better. But the alumni sit at mid-field. Some of them spent money on those maize and blue slacks that they can't wear any- where except to a Michigan football game. Fun? Maybe 20 years from now. Do sit in the end zone with the rest of the students. Students' clothes aren't as silly as alumni ... uh, scratch that. But the student sec- tion is more fun, anyway. Don't do the wave while Michigan is on of- fense. It's loud, it.makes it hard for the quarter-. back to call the signals to the rest of the of- fense, and Bo gets upset. Very upset. Bo has had heart surgery. More than once. Get the point? Do the wave when Michigan is on defense. It's loud, it makes it hard for the quarterback to call the signals to the rest of the offense, and suddenly the quarterback will find Mark Messner on top of him, 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That makes Bo's job easy. Don't leave early. Michigan will be on na- tional television enough this year that the rest of the countrycould start to confuse Michigan Wolverines fans with Los Angeles Dodgers fans, who rarely make it through a full game. I can think of only two things in Los Ange- les that I wish were in Ann Arbor: Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson. Gretzky is thebest current hockey player, and Johnson is among the best basketball players. Michigan already has one of the best football coaches. N B~o y P By Pete Steinert fewer turnov calls for Last year's Michigan football team fre- quently fell victim to Murphy's law. In- juries, an inexperienced quarterback and an ailing coach helped pave the way to a not- so-typical 8-4 Wolverines season. Michi- gan needs more of Glenn E. "Bo" Schem- bechler's law and less of Murphy's this fall to return to the top of the Big Ten. So far, Murphy is one up. Schembech- ler started fall practice without last year's starting quarterback, Demetrius Brown, for academic reasons. Thus, the No. 1 quarterback spot rests on the shoulders of senior Michael Taylor or one three sophomores, Wilbur Odom, Ken Sollom and Eric Bush. "(Brown's) status academically (was) precarious enough that I did not want him in camp and then find out he can't play," said Schembechler, who begins his 20th year at Michigan after undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery last December and accepting the athletic director job in April. "I must say this is not a great shock to us," Schembechler continued. "We pre- pared for this from the beginning. In spring practice we got other people ready to play. I don't feel that this is a catastro- phe because we prepared for it." Of the four quarterback contenders, only Taylor has any game experience. He started two games last season and played in seven others. "I believe at quarterback if we can have a performance that will not make a lot of mistakes, I think we'll have an offense that can move the football - not require the quarterback to carry the entire load," Schembechler said. This will mark the second straight year that Michigan opens the season with a new quarterback. Last season Brown struggled through a choppy campaign that hit rock bottom when he threw a Big-Ten record seven interceptions in a 17-11 loss to Michigan State in East Lansing. He threw 16 interceptionssfor the season, a conference high. The Wolverines turned the ball over a total of 31 times in '87 - 31 giveaways too many for Schembechler. Michigan lost six more turnovers than they gained. Only Northwestern and Illinois compiled lower ratios in the Big Ten. Schembechler demands turnover-free football, and he feels this year's offense has the talent to hold on to the ball. Ju- niors Allen Jefferson, Tony Boles and Tracy Williams will split time at Jamie Morris' vacated tailback position. Full- backs Jarrod Bunch and Leroy Hoard add size and strength to the backfield. "I can have any two of those five kids in there, and I'd feel quite comfortable," Schembechler said. Up front, Michigan owns one of the nation's top offensive lines. Seniors John r :i" i Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler hopes (from left to right) Bobby Abrams, Rick Hass< cause for celebration in 1988. Wings HEAD COACH: Don Morton, sec- ond year (3-8 at Wisconsin, 73-32 overall) 1987 RECORD: 3-8 overall, 1-7 Big Ten (10th) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 38-8- 1 LAST MEETING: Michigan 49, Wisconsin 0 (Madison, 1987) LETTERMEN RETURNING: 38 STARTERS RETURNING: 18 The Badgers return all 11 starters on defense, including honorable- mention All-Big Ten performers David Wings and D a n Kissling. Wings, Wisconsin's defensive most valuable player last season, is the conference's No. 2 returning tackler. Haight HEAD COACH: Hayden Fry, 10th year (71-36-1 at Iowa, 161-125-5 overall) 1987 RECORD: 10-3 overall, 6-2 Big Ten (tie second) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 29-7- 3 LAST MEETING: Michigan 37, Iowa 10 (Ann Arbor, 1987) LETTERMEN RETURNING: 41 STARTERS RETURNING: 14 The Hawkeyes return a wealth of talent, including arguably the conference's best quarterback Chuck Hartlieb. Hartlieb led the confer- ence last season in passing effi- ciency. Offensive tackle Bob Kratch, Sanders HEAD COACH: Francis Peay, third year overall (6-15-1) 1987 RECORD: 2-8-1 overall, 2-6 Big Ten (ninth) SERIES LEADER: Michigan, 41- 11-2 LAST MEETING: Michigan 29, Northwestern 6 (Ann Arbor, 1987) LETTERMEN RETURNING: 38 Vitale, center, and Mike Husar, quick tackle, are both All-America candidates. Whoever starts at quarterback will have the luxury of throwing to wideouts John Kolesar, Greg McMurtry and Chris Cal- loway. But don't let all this talk about offense fool you. "Our season depends on the de- fense," Schembechler said. "If it improves over last year, we will have a good ball- club because we will move the football." Any Big Ten coach will tell you that defense wins the conference. Look no far- ther than the 1987 Michigan State Spar- tans as proof. The team that has led the conference in scoring defense has won or shared the Big Ten title 13 of the last 16 years. Althouj ished a re last seaso born Mic Ohio Stat pass into son finale And I Thompso: 98-yard t from scrir "Those Schembec goal going 0 I - - PAGE 2 WEEKEND/SEPTEMBER 9_1 98 WEEKEND/SU.REMBER;9,il988