Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - October 2, 1989 M' receivers: Catch us if you can Saturday's offensive standout Greg McMurtry hauls down an Elvis Grbac bomb at the 1-yard line to set up a Leroy Hoard touchdown in the third quarter. McMurtry exploited the Maryland defensive backfield for 126 yards on five catches. The senior flanker moved to seventh on the list for career receptions by a Michigan player with 79. Elvis unleashes McMurtury and Calloway by Richard Eisen Daily Football Writer Not since the Jim Harbaugh years have footballs travelled so far and so fast in Michigan Stadium. Traditionally a running football team, a smog- like cloud of green turf-dust usually hangs in the air after each Michigan game. On Saturday, frosh quarterback Elvis Grbac cleared the green out of the atmosphere with throws that made the crowd "ooh" and "aah" like a Wheel of Fortune audience. And with each passing game, Grbac has gone for the gold, instead of the gift certificates. "(Grbac) did a good job for being such a young kid." Maryland coach Joe Krivak, a former quarterback coach, said. "He's a tall kid with a good arm, and I think he threw the ball very well. He needs some work, but someday he could really be a good one." On Saturday, Grbac came out throwing to senior Chris Calloway immediately with a nine-yard strike to open the game and a 23-yard touchdown pass to finish the drive. "He's not really (a surprise)," Calloway said. "He's got all the physical capabilities of being a good quarterback and he has a good coach." Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, realizing that the Trrapins were stacking the line against the run, kept Grbac throwing to Calloway on the next drive. His 17-yard third down reception kept the drive alive and enabled Grbac to go to work with his other senior receiver, Greg McMurtry. McMurtry caught a 14-yard pass over the right hash mark and later snagged an 11-yard touchdown strike from Grbac. On the day, McMurtry averaged a fantastic 25.2 yards per catch, snagging five passes for 126 yards. "I'd be a fool not to like games like that," said McMurtry, who had his first 100-plus yard game of his career Saturday. "It was a good game. We still made mistakes and we did some things better. There's always room for improvement." Nothing, however, could improve upon his 49- and 42-yard receptions from Grbac. Up by two touchdowns, Grbac went for pay dirt, throwing a bomb to McMurtry. By the time gravity brought the ball down to Earth, McMurtry was easily in front of two defensive backs and made the catch. "On the one over the middle, it could've been a 71-yard touchdown pass," Grbac said. "The safety just ran flat over the middle and that's what happened." On the 42-yarder, McMurtry's favorite catch of the day, McMurtry turned around, lost his balance, battled cornerback Scott Rosen and still made the catch on the Maryland one-yard line. "McMurtry is an exceptional athlete and person and he and Calloway are a great pair," Schembechler said. "They complement each other well." In the past, Schembechler has touted these two players, and Schembechler rarely talks up his Wolverines. "If you ever had a chance to see a great football player, the greatest player on our team today is Chris Calloway," Schembechler said after the Notre Dame game. "And close behind his is Greg McMurtry. "Those two guys are great players. They work like dogs and never say a word," he said. And along with co-captain Derrick Walker, the two senior receivers have helped the inexperienced Grbac through two very tough football games - Notre Dame and UCLA. "All of (the receivers) are seniors and make it easier for me to put it in there," Grbac said. "Their experience helps me." Said McMurtry: "I try to keep his confidence up all the time. The receivers have been around and played the big games." Calloway also sees Grbac's confidence growing along with his leadership capabilities. "(Grbac's) a little bit (more of a leader)," Calloway said. "We still need leadership from the upperclassmen-Derrick Walker, myself, and Greg." And while this leadership might focus more attention on Grbac, the receivers don't mind. "We kid each other on how many passes we get, how many yards," Calloway said. "But if we get overlooked, so what? We do a job. Block downfield. If we. win, then we're proud. If we lose, we don't want it to be because we're not hustling." 'I GAME Continued from Page 1 "We didn't run the ball worth a nickel in the first half," Schembechler said. "We had some nice passes, but we've got to be a better running team." One pretty nice pass set up Michigan's third touchdown of the day, a 49-yard bomb from Grbac to McMurtry. McMurtry, behind two defenders as Grbac released the ball, turned on the speed and breezed past them to make the startling grab. But just as marshmallows flew from the stands in boredom, Maryland struck back in the bat of an eyelash, travelling 65 yards in three passing plays. O'Donnell found receiver Barry Johnson for a 28-yard touchdown strike, culminating a drive that took only 44 seconds. Michigan returned fire on the ground this time. Maryland had stymied Michigan's rushing attack until running back Tony Boles broke free on the second play of the drive. Boles streaked past the line of scrimmage on a draw play and ran up the left side of the field. He broke cornerback Mike Thomas' tackle and hit pay dirt, giving Michigan a 21-point lead. The drive covered 64 yards in just 22 seconds. If you ran out to buy more marshmallows, you missed suite a bit. dIT After the half, the fans seemed to grow bored, and, according to Schembechler, theaMichigan defense seemed to do the same. "I thought the defense played well early and the offense got two quick scores," he said. "After that, the defense lost its intensity and was not quite as good. Maryland moved the ball much more than I ever anticipated. After we went up 21-0, they came right back. "Our defense let down," Schembechler said. Maryland's offense moved down the field extremely well, but frequently faltered when it fumbled the ball. Plus, O'Donnell found his receivers constantly, only to have the ball dropped. "Last year, he looked that good, but he didn't in their first three games this year," Schembechler said. "He was good today. He threw the ball a lot. What did he throw for? 800 yards?" O'Donnell actually only threw for 197 yards, picking apart Michigan's pass defense. "We came out real intense in the first half," said Michigan outside linebacker Bobby Abrams, who had a monster game, including eight tackles, three sacks and one fumble recovery. "Later we made mental mistakes in defense and the younger guys came in. It's something we have to work on in practice before going into the Big Ten." JULIE HOLLMAN/Daiy Wolverine receiver Greg McMurtry leaps for a 42-yard pass from Elvis Grbac in the first half. McMurtry, who notched 126 total receiving yards, became the first Michigan end to catch for 100 or more yards since Ken Higgins totalled 165 against Wisconsin in 1985. The Wolverines host Wisconsin next week. FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK' Tomlin s pickoff is second longest at,'M' by Adam Benson and Richard Esen4 Daily Football Writers Junior quarterback Wilbur Odom entered Saturday's contest in the\ fourth quarter and threw an errant pass near Maryland's goal line, resulting in the second longest interception return in Michigan's history. Maryland strong safety Eddie Tomlin returned the throw for a 97-yard interception return, second only to Illinois' Bruce Johnson's 98-yard return in 1966. Michigan had driven down the field to the Maryland five and faceda third down and three situation. Odom threw the ball behind receiver Dan Jokish near the left sideline, and Tomlin took off. "Third and three near the goal line," Michigan coach Bo Schembechler said as he wiped his brow. "If I (throw) again, call for me to be fired." When asked if he wanted to pass, Schembechler said: "No. I wanted to run off tackle." Odom, immediately removed in favor of Ken Sollom, returned towards the end of the game and threw another interception. His pass was once again intended for Jokish and was picked off by free safety Ron Reagan (no kidding). -Redshirt first-year quarterback Elvis Grbac has performed admirably well so far and thus has become the center of the media's attention. In Los Angeles, one reporter asked Grbac what his favorite Elvis songs are. Asked if he was sick and tired about questions concerning his name, Grbac said: 4 "Kinda. But that's expected. Not too many people have that name.? -Maryland wide receiver Dean Green, who had to be removed from the field on a cart with his neck in a brace, is okay according to Maryland coach Joe Krivak. "The preliminary report is that (the doctors) think its a very severe burner," Krivak said. "They did not want to take a chance, because there was some numbness and things of that sort. All that was was a precautionary type thing-that's one type of injury that you don't want to take a chance with." -Maryland's flea-flicker attempt in the first quarter nearly worked, but 4 coach Krivak thought that it might have worked better if Maryland quarterback Neil O'Donnell had chosen to throw to Green instead of intended target Norris Harris. "We wanted to throw the ball deep. When you're playing a team like this, you've got to take some chances, and that's what we were prepared to do. If O'Donnell had gone to the X (Green), we had a touchdown. He got in behind the corner and we had a chance to execute. He just made a bad choice." -Allen Jefferson's first appearance in more this season was a great success. Jefferson's 74 yard day ended more than a year of inactivity for the junior tailback. Jefferson had been sidelined with a calcium deposit in his 4 right leg. During his hiatus, Jefferson contimplated transferring to another school, but decided against the move. "I talked to coach (Lloyd) Carr, who recruited me, and he didn't take me seroiusly. But I got a lot of support from my family and friends and not the type of player to quit and hide." BENSON Continued from Page 1 Well, while O'Donnell toiled futilely, trying lead an inferior team to an impossible victory, Elvis Grbac won his second game as a Michigan4 quarterback. Like O'Donnell, Grbac had respectable numbers, going 10 for 20 for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns. Yet Bo still won't hand Grbac the starting job. Without hesitation, Schembechler tells you who he wants to take the snap - Michael Taylor. Bo knows quarterbacks. He can see that Grbac still lacks the certain something. Grbac has not yet put together four quarters of great football, while Micheal Taylor has. "He was pretty good," wide receiver Chris Calloway said about Grbao. "He practiced well all week and it showed up again. It's not really a surprise. He has all the capabilities of being a good quarterback and he has a good coach. But we still need to get leadership from upperclassmen, like Derrick4 .._ai _-/ r_ r _ . RUN Continued from Page 1 "We didn't run worth a nickel in the first half, we had nice passes but we've got to be a better running team." Asked if Bo's ever had this much trouble running before the coach responed: "No. Not really. It's out there. We're not that bad. We'll get a grip." Leroy Hoard improved his grip on Saturday, recovering from the fumblitius that plagued him last weekend against UCLA. Hoard carried the ball 15 times, gaining 78 yards. Tony Boles' had a spectacular 64- yard run, highlighting his 91 yard day. But great running is expected from those two. The contributions of Allan Jefferson, Bernie Legette, and John Vaughn may have been the most encouraging to Schembechler. "Leggett ran pretty well out there. Isn't that Vaughn fast? He's really fast." For Jefferson, the game was a personal return tdglory. The junior- Wligibilty tailback rushed for 74 yards while playing his first game in over a year. "I'm happy with my performance," Jefferson said. "I was a little upset that I didn't get to run the ball the two games prior. I just knew that when he let me in there, .L..c T tnL . - t.L. T - -.A - DAVID LUBLINER/Daily Allen Jefferson spearheaded the running game. Michigan wide receiver Chris Calloway added: "We needed good productivity and a lot of yards. We still have to improve running. been up to par by Schembechler's standards, but Maryland coach Joe Krivak would gladly trade places with his Michigan counterpart. tough running the ball, but they've had some problems there. Its a young offensive line. Its got great size, but its very young. When those aiw cr rnuynn .intanA nn in lw