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Wolverines Charge Into Rose Bowl Picture

Wolverines Charge Into Rose Bowl Picture image
Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
October
Year
1969
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Second Half Surge Breaks Minnesota Jinx
By Wayne DeNeff
MINNEAPOLIS - Led by the bulldozing runs of sophomore tailback Bill Taylor, Michigan charged full speed into the Rose Bowl picture today with a 35-9 thumping over winless Minnesota.
Taylor, named to the No. 1 offensive unit just this week as a replacement for injured fellow sophomore Glenn Doughty, ripped the Minnesota line for 151 yards in 31 carries.
And speak no more of the Minnesota jinx.
Beaten four straight times in appearances at Memorial Stadium since 1959, the Wolverines decisively ended the whammy yesterday on a cool, cloudy day while a small crowd of 44,028 looked on.
And "The Little Brown Jug," symbolic of victory in this ancient series, has been returned to Ann Arbor for another year's stay.
Taylor, a 5-10, 190-pounder who comes from Coach Bo Schembechler's home town of Barberton, Ohio, scored three touchdowns, two on runs of one yard and three yards and another on an eight-yard pass from quarterback Don Moorhead.
Moorhead scored one of the five TDs on a six-yard run and Lance Scheffler, substituting for Taylor late in the game, added the final six-pointer on a 10-yard run.
Frank Titas kicked five straight extra points.
While the previous Saturday's loss to Michigan State was largely the result of the Spartans' 348 yards gained through the Michigan forwards, this was essentially a victory for the Wolverine linemen who punched out big holes and wore down the Gophers who yielded all but one of the touchdowns in the second half.
It was a big victory for the defense, too, which stalled Minnesota's running game on just 92 yards, only 20 of that, in the first half.
The defense also put great pressure on quarterback Phil Hagen who the previous week had such outstanding success against top-ranked Ohio State, passing for 304 yards.
Hagen still managed to complete 19 of 33 passes for 156 yards, but much of it came on Minnesota's end of the field and the Gophers never really did put together a strong touchdown threat.
Minnesota scored all its points on long field goals.
The victory moved Michigan into a five-way tie for second place with Northwestern, Indiana, Wisconsin and Purdue, each with a 2-1 record. The Wildcats lost to Purdue while Indiana bowed to Wisconsin for their first losses.
First place Ohio State (3-0) can't make the Pasadena trip because of its appearance in Pasadena last Jan. 1.
Michigan tore the game open in the third quarter on Taylor's two TD runs at the end of drives of 75 and 66 yards.
The men opening the holes included center Guy Murdock, guards Bob Baumgartner and Dick Caldarazzo, tackles Jack Harpring and Dan Dierdorf and blocking ends Jim Mandich and Mike Hankwitz.
On defense, Michigan got excellent games from middle guard Henry Hill, ends Cecil Pryor and Mike Keller, tackles Fred Grambau and Pete Newell, linebackers Marty Huff and Ed Moore and wolf back tom Darden.
Minnesota went off at half-time with a 9-7 lead after its three field goals, the most ever by a Gopher team in one game, included a 42-yarder by sophomore Mel Anderson which set a team record.
With only one second left in the first half, Anderson booted another field goal for 37 yards and Jeff Nygren kicked the first one which traveled 35 yards.
Michigan scored its first touchdown on the eight-yard pass, Moorhead to Taylor, at the end of a 53-yard march.
Titas kicked the extra point, giving Michigan a 7-3 lead midway in the second quarter after it looked like the Wolverines had squandered the opportunity.
The Wolverines had second down on the Minnesota one-yard line but Moorhead was thrown for a two-yard loss by senior defensive end Leon Trawick. On the next play, Michigan was charged with illegal procedure and penalized back to the eight.
Minnesota got the game's first break early in the first quarter to set up the first field goal.
The Gophers put 10 men on the line of scrimmage at the Michigan 39-yard line in an attempt to block Mark Werner's punt and about half of them were in on him after he recovered a low snap from center and tried to get the kick away.
The punt was blocked and Minnesota took over on the Michigan 37. The Wolverines right away showed their defensive toughness by stopping the Gophers with just 19 yards in six plays and then Nygren kicked his field goal to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead with less than six minutes having been played.
Michigan's longest drive of the first half went for naught.
Starting from their own 14-yard line and paced by some fine running by Taylor and passes to Preston Henry and Bill Harris, the Wolverines moved 70 yards to the Minnesota 16 before Moorhead was caught for a 11-yard loss forcing a 43-yard field goal by Tim Killian which was wide of the mark.
A few plays later, Killian had another shot of 38 yards and was short.
The second attempt was set up by Huff who disengaged the ball from halfback Barry Mayer and Pryor recovered on the Minnesota 22.
But the illegal procedure penalty plus a fine rush by Minnesota line stopped the Wolverines.

Breaking Through
Michigan fullback Garvie Craw (48) rips through the Minnesota line for an eight yard gain late in the first half. Just a few seconds later, the football was jarred from the Wolverine's hands, but fortunately Michigan end Jim Mandich was able to cover the fumble. Craw had 12 carries for 50 yards in the "Little Brown Jug" game.

Tied Up
There is little running room for Minnesota fullback Jim Carter, who gets all tied up by Michigan tacklers Henry Hill (39) and Mike Taylor (33). The Gopher was only able to pick up a meager five yards in the first half before he was stopped.