Error-Prone Wolverines Ripped By Missouri

ERROR-PRONE WOLVERINES RIPPED BY MISSOURI

4 FUMBLES, BLOCKED PUNT LEAD TO M’S FIRST LOSS

By Wayne DeNeff

Will the real Michigan football team please stand up?

Is it the inept squad which fumbled away its chances and lost to quick, hard-hitting, aggressive Missouri, 40-17, here yesterday afternoon before 64,476 groaning fans.

Or is it the team which demolished Vanderbilt and Washington by overwhelming scores in the first two games of the season.

The truth, one suspects, is that Michigan is more like the team it was on those first two Saturdays but it’s going to take another Saturday to find out—when Purdue comes here to open the Big Ten season.

“If we are going to lose a football game this season,” said a staunch old Michigan supporter on the eve of yesterday’s game, “this is the one we can afford to lose.”

It’s true.

The Wolverines haven’t lost a thing as far as their main objective of the season—the Big Ten championship—is concerned. But they have lost a lot of prestige and a measure of pride for poor execution against their “show me” rivals from the Big East.

It isn’t the loss which hurt so much because Missouri appears to have a tremendous team—smart, tenacious, amazingly quick—and the game was regarded as pretty much a toss-up.

What hurts for Michigan is the way it was lost:

-Four fumbles which Missouri recovered.

-One interception turned into a touchdown.

-A blocked punt.

-A break-down in pass protection.

-Dropped passes.

-Badly thrown passes.

-Lack of blocking up front.

-Eleven penalties for 72 yards.

It was all happening at once—all those things no one expected from this group of Wolverines who had looked so polished and played so well in their first two games.

Despite all those errors, it’s surprising how close Michigan came to winning. It seems to be a trend in this day of high scoring football—a bad break or two leads to a shellacking.

Although it could score only three points Michigan dominated the first quarter and then, after falling behind 24-3 at the half, came roaring back to pull within a touchdown, 24-17 with a couple of minutes still to be played in the third quarter.

Enter Old Man Fate.

A blocked punt by “walk-on” end Mike Bennett, a junior who came winging in from the side while Missouri was in punt return defense, gave Missouri the ball on the Michigan 12 where punter Mark Werner recovered the ball.

As several times before on the warm, sunny afternoon, Michigan’s defense bristled at this point and Missouri had to settle for a field goal from the foot of Henry Brown at the Michigan 14-yard line.

But those were three mighty points.

Now the score was 27-17, and Michigan needed more than just one touchdown. It needed to score twice.

The Wolverines were forced to play a gambling, close-in defense and with about eight minutes remaining in the game and in a third-and-four situation, tailback Joe Moore burst into the clear on a draw play for a 62-yard touchdown run.

As he raced through the Michigan secondary like a hard-pumping sprinter, everybody in the park knew that was the old ball game. Brown’s fourth straight extra-point kick made it 34-17.

Missouri scored again with only 47 seconds remaining after John Brown took the ball away from Michigan back-up quarterback Jim Betts at the Michigan 19.

Missouri’s second string quarterback, sophomore Chuck Roper, connected with junior end Steve Kenemore on an eight-yard pass for the score.

For most of the first quarter Michigan’s offense was pounding at the Tigers and it produced a 40-yard field goal by Tim Killian, another 40-yard attempt which hit one of the uprights and a drive from Missouri’s 47 to the eight-yard line.

At the eight and on the first play of the second quarter, Michigan’s nightmare began.

Quarterback Don Moorhead fumbled when grabbed by three Tigers and safetyman Dennis Poppe flopped on the ball.

It was a big paly for the Tigers and they fired right back on offense, driving to the Michigan 18 where Tom Darden intercepted a Terry McMillan pass. But on the very next play, Missouri had the ball back as the Moorhead-to-tailback-Glenn Doughty handoff was fumbled and Adam Vital recovered on the 16.

Three plays and a penalty later, Brown booted a 26-yard field goal for a 3-3 tie.

The Tigers carried the play the rest of the quarter, scoring their first touchdown on a two-yard run by fullback Ron McBride four plays after Poppe intercepted a Moorhead pass at the Michigan 28 and sped to the 10.

Michigan never made a first down in the second quarter and Missouri scored its second TD by rolling 49 yards in 10 plays. Halfback Jon Staggers charged into the end zone from the one. The big gainer was a 30-yard run by Moore around end.

Sophomore Bill Taylor fumbled the kickoff and the Tigers had another chance at the Michigan 17.

Another fine effort by the Michigan defense followed and the Tigers were pushed back to the 28 from where Brown’s field-goal attempt was wide.

Again Michigan couldn’t get a first down when it went on offense and Missouri launched a 10-play, 68-yard drive with McBride driving into the end zone from the one-yard line with just 13 seconds left in the half.

Three passes by senior McMillan—two to speedy split end Mel Gray for 19 yards and 10 yards and one to end Tom Shryock for 19—were the big plays of the drive and Brown’s kick through the uprights made it 24-3.

Michigan was an aroused team in the third quarter.

Fullback Garvie Craw punched in two touchdowns, both from the one-yard line.

One was set up when Barry Pierson, who made two fine punt returns, took Kenemore’s punt and brought it back 53 yards to the Missouri 10. The other was set up when sophomore end Al Carpenter recovered McBride’s fumble on the Missouri 36. Moorhead passed to Gabler for 15 yards and rolled right for seven to get the ball in close.

Frank Tiats’ second straight extra point made it 24-17 but then came the blocked punt near the start of the fourth period.

PHOTO CAPTION 1: Key Touchdown In The Making: Missouri tailback Joe Moore (running just above the large M at the center of the field) is pursued closely by three Michigan players—Tom Curtis (25), Barry Pierson (29) and Brian Healy (top)—but they never caught him and the fourth-quarter, 62-yard touchdown pretty well sealed the Tigers’ victory. That’s Missouri’s Tom Shryock (93) trying to get ahead of the Michigan players for a block while linebacker Marty Huff (70) and tackle Dan Parks (74) give shoulder-to-shoulder pursuit.

PHOTO CAPTION 2: Wolverine Well Covered: Michigan splitman Paul Staroba (30) was well covered on this play by Missouri’s Dennis Poppe. The Tiger hit Staroba at about the same time the ball arrived from quarterback Don Moorhead and the ball went flying away.