'Bo', McKay Worry About The Fumbles

‘BO,’ MCKAY WORRY ABOUT THE FUMBLES

By Wayne DeNeff

PASADENA, Calif.—There are nights when Bo Schembechler and John McKay wake up screaming.

Those are the nights Schembechler, the Michigan football coach, dreams about last October’s game with Missouri and McKay, the Southern California gridmaster, has visions of the last Rose Bowl contest.

In a nightmare of fumbles and pass interceptions, Michigan was trampled by the Tigers, 40-17, and in the Rose Bowl game with Ohio State, a game now referred to as the “fumble bowl” by McKay, Southern Cal lost to the Buckeyes, 27-16.

Those really were the only bad performances of 1969 by Michigan and Southern Cal, Rose Bowl combatants this Jan. 1, and you can be the two coaches are praying nothing like it happens again on Thursday.

Fumbles and interceptions are a part of the game but when they come in bunches they can make a good football team look bad.

It’s true, of course, Michigan did lose one additional game in ’69, a 23-12 setback by Michigan State, but as Schembechler has brought out the game films from time to time he’s now convinced few teams in the nation could have beaten the Spartans on that day. Michigan didn’t err so much as it got caught in a crushing MSU ground attack and couldn’t pull itself together.

Southern Cal’s loss to Ohio State and another Rose Bowl loss to Purdue, 14-13, two years earlier are the only blemishes on the USC record over the last three years.

“If I ever see another quarter like our second quarter against Missouri, I may commit suicide,” said Schembechler, trying to explain that overwhelming loss on a record that shows a 24-12 triumph over Ohio State and maulings of Vanderbilt, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.

The Wolverines had three fumbles and a pass interception in that quarter and the Tigers took advantage of each to score 24 points and take a 24-3 lead after Michigan had drawn first blood on a field goal.

Michigan, which three times had marched deep into Missouri territory in the first quarter, came on strong again in the third period and reduced Missouri’s margin to 24-17.

But a blocked punt, leading to a Missouri field goal, opened the flood gates and the Tigers roared away in the final period.

“All year we turned the ball over just 13 times,” says Schembechler, “but seven came in the Missouri game—all deep in our territory.”

McKay, whose Trojans have played over 17 lost fumbles and 12 interceptions to post a 9-0-1 record to Michigan’s 8-2, is duly impressed with the Michigan statistics.

“Mistake-wise,” he says, “Michigan had an incredible year. They only gave up the ball 13 times all season and only seven of those were fumbles. The only time that errors really hurt them was in the Missouri game. Other than that, they were flawless in avoiding mistakes.”

While Midwest fans recall the last Rose Bowl game as a solid triumph for Ohio State, West Coast followers can point to Southern Cal errors which made it relatively easy for the Buckeyes.

“We weren’t out-desired or beaten physically,” says McKay. “If you fumble you eventually get beat. We expected to hold Ohio State to two or three touchdowns and we would have if we hadn’t given up the ball deep in our own territory.”

Two fumbles by O. J. Simpson and another by quarterback Steve Sogge in the second half paved the way for Ohio State. OSU recovered Sogge’s fumble on the Southern Cal 21 and kicked a field goal to take a 13-10 lead.

A little later, the Buckeyes pounced on one of O. J.’s bobbles at the USC 16 and went on in to score and put the game out of reach 27-10.

Early USC problems included a fall in the end zone by a pass receiver who appeared to be in position to catch the ball for a score and an untimely timeout which allowed OSU to get within field-goal range and tie the game at the half, 10-10.

“That was the difference in the game,” says McKay. “We made mistakes and they didn’t.”

If there are few or no mistakes, look for a sparkling battle between two fine football teams here on New Year’s Day. If one or the other comes up with a bad day and can’t hang onto the football, it could be the kind of rout college football has seen lots of times this past season.