Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - October 16,1989 Blocked kicks scare the Dickens out of 'M', MSU by Adam Benson Daily Football Writer EAST LANSING - This is a tale of two blocked kicks and the men who made them. Michigan's win Saturday over Michigan State was the best of times for Vada Murray. The Michigan safety blocked John Langeloh's 37-yard field goal attempt, soaring up above the center of the Wolverine line in the middle of the first quarter. However, Murray was no scrooge about sharing the credit for the block. "It wasn't me," Murray said. "It's T.J. (Osman) and Mike Teeter. The coaches were telling us after warm- ups that their kicker was kicking low. They knocked the State line back. I saw the ball coming low, I just jumped and waved my hands." Besides keeping three Michigan State points off the scoreboard, the block enthused the Wolverine offense. "We wanted to go out and prove ourselves," tailback Tony Boles said. "After (the block), we just had to buckle down and get at it." Boles and Leroy Hoard would scurry for 55 yards of the 61 yards that made up Michigan's only touchdown drive of the game. Michigan coaches know of Murray's knack for making strange twists. Against UCLA, the senior from Cincinnati recovered the onside kick and blocked an extra point. On field goals and extra points, the coaches spot Murray where he can best utilize his kick-blocking savvy. What makes him so good at it? "He can jump," answered Mich- igan coach Bo Schembechler. But so can Harlon Barnett, the Michigan State safety who help create a small Spartans surge with his block of a Chris Stapleton punt in the middle of the fourth quarter. "I thought he took too long," Schembechler said of Stapleton's punt. "I should have faked that one. I came close to doing that." Barnett realized that the Spartans had successfully penetrated Michigan punt protection before. He, like Murray, had the premier punt blocking position, and this was the time for him to match State's great expectations for him. "(Jon) Miller blocked a punt against them (in State's 1987 win), and I was in his same position this year," Barnett said. The Wolverines did evade the ghost of football past, holding onto the victory, making Saturday the worst of times for Barnett. "I thought the offense would go down there, put it in, we'd go backr out there and stop them," Barnett said. "But some things don't turn out the way you want them to." JOSE JUAREZ/Uaily Defensive tackle T.J. Osman wraps up MSU quarterback Dan Enos for a sack in the first half for Michigan. The Wolverine defense held the Spartans scoreless for three quarters in Saturday's victory. FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK by Steve Blonder Daily Football Writer EAST LANSING - Michigan assistant head coach Gary Moeller watched Saturday's win from the press box instead of from his usual spot on the sideline. While addressing the quarterbacks at practice Thursday, Moeller fell off a platform and suffered ligament damage in his ankle in addition to cracking his right elbow. Head coach Bo Schembechler quipped, "We don't care about Moeller. We can lose him anytime." - In retaliation for the "S" painted on the Diag Thursday night, several Michigan fans broke into Spartan Stadium late Friday and painted a large "M" on the 50-yard line. - Representatives of the Citrus, Hall of Fame, Freedom, and John Hancock bowls were in attendance Saturday. - Michigan has won nine of the last ten games at Spartan Stadium, and leads the series 53-23-5. Goal line stand is differenc by Steve Blonder Daily Football Writer EAST LANSING - You make the call. You're down by ten with fifteen minutes left in the game. It's fourth down andyou're on the Michigan one-yard line. Do you kick the field goal or go for the touchdown? Michigan State coach George Perles went for the quick seven and Wolverine safety Tripp Welborne is glad he did. "That's a play we're very happy to have," Welborne said of his stopping Spartan tailback Blake Ezor on a fourth-and-one to start the final quarter. "We were all joyous and in jubilee." Michigan State used up over seven-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter driving the ball 78 yards on 17 plays. But the final yard proved elusive as Welborne filled the hole and knocked Ezor backwards. Welborne described what happened. "Everyone came down to the right, but we had great penetration which made them cut back slightly. All I could think of was holding him out of the end zone. We met and I won," Welborne said. Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, who gambled and won earlier in the game on a similar fourth-and-one situation, was confident his defense would prevail. "There wasn't any question that he wasn't scoring," Schembechler said. "It was a big play. Tripp made a big play." Linebacker Alex Marshall, who made his own share of big plays, called that play the key to the game. "We expected them to go for it," Marshall said. "If they would have scored, it's a whole new ball game. But it was a great stand and it e in game conservative and kicked the chip-shot field goal. "They had to get a field goal or a touch- down," Welborne said. "I thought coming out with points is better than not getting anything Luckily they went for it because we stopped them." Welborne credited defensive captain J.J. Grant with making the right call. "We were looking for a run or a pass, or any sign that might tip us off. J.J. looked and saw something odd. He said they were going to run the ball so he made an adjustment." Had the Spartans been able to enter the en( zone, Wolverine players feared the momentum would have totally shifted away from them and State would have been in the driver's seat. Now, you make the call. ignited the offense." But Welborne said1 he wouldn't have played BENSON Continued from Page 1 called on Leroy Hoard, not the most trusted man to hold a football in an important situation, and fooled State, running through the Spartan defense like it was a pile of leaves. When George needed the points, he vetoed the field goal, handed the ball to Blake Ezor, who everyone knew would have the football... "They had to get a field goal or a touchdown," said Tripp Welborne, SUPERSHIRTS Custom Lettered T-Shirts and Sweats for IM Teams, Dorms, Greeks, Sports Clubs, Student & Staff Organizations Choose from our supply of 50/50 and 100% cotton T- Shirts, tank tops, sweat shirts, long-sleeve tees, etc. 404 E. Liberty at Division 665-0370 Open M-Sat 12-5 the wall that stood up Ezor and kept him from the goal line. "I thought coming out with points is better than not getting anything. Luckily they went for it, because we stopped them." The play ended State's 79 yard, 17 play drive, taking up 7 minutes and 39 seconds - but there was no movement on the Michigan State scoreboard. "We were playing a little tenative in the first half," said Michigan State quarterback Dan Enos. "We came in the locker room and we decided we were going to have to pick this up. I thought we moved the ball well in the second half, we just didn't put any points on the board." Wearing a look as cold as a Michigan winter, Perles added: "We made the normal corrections that we make at halftime." It used to be that Bo and Woody Hayes, the great Ohio State coach, had the great rivalry. Their friendly, but mega-competitive, war added to intensity of the Michigan-Ohio State contests of the 1970s. Seasons change, and George Perles appeared to be Bo's next arch-rival, but George has to thaw out his offensive strategy from the dark ages before being a threat to Bo. BLUE Continued from Page 1 0) accounted for 98 yards by keeping the ball on the ground for twenty consecutive plays. By the end of the first half, Michigan had 129 yards on the ground and ten points on the scoreboard. "They got a lot of yards on the ground," Spartan defensive lineman Travis Davis said. "They ran the ball outside and it was hard to stop them at the beginning." After the game, Wolverine quarterback Elvis Grbac admitted "we really didn't want to pass a lot." The main beneficiary of the ground game was tailback Tony Boles, who finished the afternoon with 21 carries for 100 yards. Forty- seven of those yards came during Michigan's 61-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter. "Our offense has been criticized a lot," Boles said. "We weren't surprised (at our success) because we can run on any team. We just have to put our mind to it." The teams reversed roles in the second half, with the Spartans (2-3, 1-1) gaining 222 yards and seven points, while Michigan managed only 40 yards on the ground and 57 via the air. "I expected us to move the ball, but I also expected to move the ball in the second half," Schembechler said. "Our offense kind of stalled a bit." But the story of the game was the defenses. For Michigan State, All- American Percy Snow did not reach double figures in tackles for the first time this year as a result of Michigan forcing Snow to fight off fullback Leroy Hoard and tackle Greg Skrepanek among others. The Wolverine defense overcame inferior comparisons to its MSU counterpart, and held the Spartans to only 77 yards on the ground. Most important was Michigan denying Michigan State a visit into the ent zone on a fourth-and-one play to start the fourth quarter. "We knew they wanted to run it over us, but Tripp (Welborne) came up with a big play that saved us," linebacker Alex Marshall said. "Michigan State has a good defense and a lot of good players," said Wolverine safety Vada Murray. "But when they say Michigan Stat has a good defense and MichigaD doesn't, it kind of burns us." Marshall, who chipped in seven tackles to go with a fumble recovery, discussed playing in the shadow of Michigan State's defensive reputation. "We knew we were a good de- fense and statistics said we were the best defense," Marshall said. "Andat the end of the game, we showed thal we still were the best defense." And the defense not breaking added an extra spark to the offense at a time when the Wolverines seemed to be losing their momentum. "I was excited. Elated," said Hoard who rushed for sixty-two yards and scored Michigan's only touchdown on a fourth-and-one play. "We always knew we could stop them." ,Michigan State gave the Wolverine defense all the help they could need. Junior kicker John Lang- eloh missed a 35-yard field goal and had a 37-yard attempt blocked, while Spartan penalties helped stall a last- ditch effort to win the game and gave Michigan kicker J.D. Carlson a sec- ond chance to expand the lead to ten. Carlson obliged at 9:16 of the second quarter, providing the victor4 margin with a 35-yard field goal. Michigan Daily Sports 747-3336 MMMMMMMM9 " s " " " s " " FREE PLAY 0 0 " " ! " " " " " " f " i w ! " PZT AS Leroy Hoard scores the lone Michigan touchdown in the first quarter. Limit 1/Person/Day ANN ARBOR'S FINEST VIDEO & PINBALI: . * ICE COLD POP * FRESH CANDY* ANN ARBOR'S ONLY INSTANT PHOTO BOOTH S* POOL TABLES * . - 603 E. WILLIAMS, Above Stereo Shoppe . -1215 S. 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