'Greatest Team Ever?' Hayes Will Tell Later

‘GREATEST TEAM EVER?’ HAYES WILL TELL LATER

Buckeyes Aim For Big Ten Record

By Wayne DeNeff

“They can beat anybody in the country,” says Iowa Coach Ray Nagel about the Michigan football team.

“Nobody can beat Ohio State… except maybe the Minnesota Vikings,” says Purdue Coach Jack Mollenkopf.

Those are the comments of two losing Big Ten coaches, setting the stage for Saturday’s national headliner between the Wolverines and Buckeyes which will be played before a sell-out crowd in Michigan Stadium.

Michigan, a greatly improved team over mid-season, demolished a dangerous Iowa squad, 51-6, last Saturday while top-ranked Ohio State put together no finer offensive and defensive effort in smashing 10th-ranked Purdue, 42-14.

Michigan, which has beaten four straight Big Ten rivals by a combined score of 178-22, has a great deal of momentum.

Ohio State, which will be trying to set a Big Ten record of 18 consecutive victories, has to be one of the great college teams of all time.

After defeating the Boilermakers in handy fashion, Coach Woody Hayes was asked whether his squad is the greatest college team ever. “You ask me that a week from today and I’ll give you a definite answer,” said Hayes. “I’ll tell you this, though. Every player is better than he was last year and last year we were national champions. I said we’d have to be better this year or we’d be a lot worse…”

Michigan also is regarded as better than last year when the teams met for the 13th time with the title on the line.

At stake this Saturday are:

1) Whether or not Michigan shares the Big Ten championship and

2) Whether there is any question remaining about Michigan’s selection for the Rose Bowl assignment.

A victory by the Wolverines would leave the two squads sharing the title on 6-1 records while a loss would leave Michigan 5-2 and in a two-way tie for second place with Purdue, provided the Boilermakers defeat Indiana in their final game at Bloomington.

Since the Wolverines already have beaten Purdue, 31-20, they would seem to be the logical choice but some are saying that a lopsided victory by Ohio State would open the way for the selectors to make Purdue their choice.

Both coaches took a low-key approach to this week’s preparations.

“We won’t have any cloak and dagger thing in practice this week,” said Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler whose tireless efforts have been matched only by the dedication of the Wolverines who are now quite devastating themselves in the art of blocking and tackling.

“This will be a regular week of practice,” said the Michigan coach.

Hayes said the Buckeyes wouldn’t “overwork, but we’ll work.”

Hayes’ sophomore-laden crew hammered the Wolverines, 50-14 last year in another game in which it seemed like Michigan had a reasonable chance of winning. That loss a year ago has to be a psychological weapon going for the Wolverines this time around.

One of the reasons Hayes believes his squad is better than a year ago is Leo Hayden.

“He’s a case in point,” says Hayes. “He’s running the best he’s ever run. He has so much more confidence. He’s typical of every man on the team.”

Hayden, a 205-pound junior tailback, rambled for 130 yards in 14 carries last Saturday, generating his own 63-yard scoring drive by streaking 59 yards around end to the Purdue four and then busting over tackle for the touchdown.

Hayden ranks third in rushing behind fullback Jim Otis (883) and quarterback Rex Kern (530) with 339 yards in 58 carries—a nifty 5.7 average.

“After we scored two quick touchdowns our offense sagged in the second half,” said Hayes, “but our defense didn’t let up one bit.”

The defense intercepted five passes, recovered a fumble, held Purdue to 29 yards rushing and muffled the Boilermakers’ strong aerial attack with a strong pass rush and blanket pass defense.

“Phipps was throwing while was running backward. He was having to backtrack too much to get the ball away,” Hayes said.

“And even when he went to the flat, he had to flutter the ball. A good passer likes to move toward the target, but he couldn’t do it against us.”