Iowa Hopes To KO Another Bowl Candidate

IOWA HOPES TO KO ANOTHER BOWL CANDIDATE

By Wayne DeNeff

An Iowa football team which is getting its kicks knocking off Rose Bowl candidates will try to bury Michigan’s hopes in Iowa City on Saturday.

Last weekend, the Hawkeyes all but knocked Indiana out of the running, 28-17, and two Saturdays earlier left Michigan State in a state of shock, 19-18.

The Spartans’ hopes had soared following a 23-12 victory over Michigan.

Iowa came within a whisker of shattering Purdue dreams about a month ago. The Boilermakers eked out a 35-31 decision.

So Michigan, driving for the Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl assignment with a 4-1 conference record, is extremely wary of the Hawkeyes who have rolled up 3,368 yards total offense and will be playing their last home game before a crowd estimated at 42,000.

The victories over Indiana and MSU have been the highlights of the season for a squad which is 2-3 in the conference and 4-4 overall. The Hawkeyes also came up with smashing victories over Washington State, 61-35, and Arizona, 31-19, while losing the season’s opener to Oregon State, 42-14, and subsequently losing to Wisconsin in another thriller, 23-17, Purdue, and Minnesota, 35-8, in their worst game of the year.

The Hawkeyes followed up their poorest performance against the Gophers with their best effort of the year against the fired-up Hoosiers.

“Indiana was really sharp in its warmups and was sky-high in the pre-game huddle,” said Iowa Coach Ray Nagel. “When they were first and goal at our three-yard line and we stopped them, the momentum began to swing in our direction.

“We put it all together—the offense, defense and kicking game. Our defense set up the last two touchdowns and contained Indiana’s explosive attack very well. I thought it was a superb all-around effort.

“We just played basic, fundamental football and relied on execution,” continued Nagel. “Our offense hammered away and showed a lot of consistency. Our defense was especially tough on Indiana’s passing game; frequently we forced Harry Gonso to run with the ball when he wanted to pass.”

Nagel has a wealth of outstanding backs and Michigan’s hopes on Saturday will depend largely on how well the Wolverines can control the likes of Larry Lawrence, Levi Mitchell, Dennis Green, Steve Penny, Kerry Reardon and Mike Cilek.

Lawrence, junior quarterback from Cedar Rapids, raised his passing yardage to 1,290 by hitting his target on 13 of 20 aerials last Saturday.

He has passed for seven touchdowns but his aerial accomplishments tell only half the story about Lawrence who likes to run the ball and has carried 90 times, second only to Penny, the fullback, who has 458 net yards in 94 tries.

Lawrence has gained 479 yards rushing but also has lost 165 yards, practically all of it in passing situations, for a net of 314.

Mitchell, although he did not play last Saturday because of injuries, is a dangerous runner and has 404 yards in 71 carries. He’s expected to be back for the Michigan game although his position was capably filled by Green who scored two TDs against Indiana and has 238 yards in 60 carries for the year.

Lawrence’s main target throughout the season has been wingback Kerry Reardon who has accounted for 584 yards and six touchdowns. Ray Manning, junior end, has 25 catches for 310 yards.

A lot of colleges would like to have Cilek, a senior, running their attacks but at Iowa he’s only No. 2 behind Lawrence, one of the best in the nation.

Cilek, however, has had his moments of triumph such as directing the Hawkeyes to the winning touchdown against Michigan State when Lawrence was hurt. Cilek has completed 25 of 58 passes for 310 yards and three TDs.