8502160659
DETROIT FREE PRESS
851117
Sunday, November 17, 1985
STATE EDITION
1C
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1985, Detroit Free Press
GOPHERS OUGHT TO KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO HIDE
MINNEAPOLIS -- Break out the racoon coat. Crank up the needle on the old
phonograph, and pick out something a marching band can play. The swallows have
returned to Capistrano, the salmon have made it upstream. Once again,
Michigan will play Ohio State to determine where they will wake up New Year's
morning, and a season that was supposed to be a bust is on the edge of a boom.
That much was assured by U-M Saturday with a 48-7 drubbing of Minnesota, a
game that could only be gazed at with eyes of wonder. As in "I wonder who the
fool was who said this would be close?"
Yes, the battle of the U of M's was billed as an actual contest, if you can
believe that this morning, with sophomore quarterback Rickey Foggie leading
his Gophers' offense, and 65,000 Gophers fans screaming white noise that
would make signal-calling impossible inside the cavernous Metrodome.
So they said.
Biff. Bam. Boom. New script.
It was merciless. Gopher go home. By game's end Fogge's passing numbers
were so bad he wouldn't show them to his freshman math teacher. So brutal was
the Wolverines' performance, it made the Minnesota fans wish they were
outside. And it was snowing out there.
Forget the defense, this time
We could talk U-M defense -- it was magnificent, as usual. Forced turnovers,
as usual. Surrendered yardage like a hound surrenders raw meat from its teeth.
As usual.
But let's be adventurous. Let's talk quarterback. Lets talk excellence.
Let's talk Jim Harbaugh.
Excellence because he played heady, impressive football Saturday, and with
him starting and finishing games, the Wolverines are 11-2-1 in two years.
Adventurous because Bo Schembechler doesn't want to hear any more
suggestions about Harbaugh's throwing being tied to the team's success. His
eyes squint and his face bunches up and his voice rises when the question
does.
"Don't ask me about opening up our offense," he said Saturday. "What do you
want us to do, throw on every down?
"What Jim did out there today (13-for-18, 243 yards, 3 touchdowns) will
have absolutely no effect on what we do next week. We are out to win a
football game. Not to please you (reporters) by throwing the forward pass."
Ouch.
But the facts, like alcohol on a wound, can sometimes sting, and the facts
suggest that a varied offense is Michigan's best insurance against defeat.
Their defense is yet to play at any level lower than awesome. Only when the
offense sputtered did the scoreboard hurt: a 12-10 loss to Iowa and a 3-3 tie
with Illinois.
"It's been our offense that has let us down," Harbaugh said. "That's why
we needed a game like today."
In which Harbaugh sparkled. Too often, he has been like a thick wad of
bills in Schembechler's pocket. Whatcha got in there, big man? Oh, nothing
special. In the most dangerous neighborhoods -- a.k.a. the toughest opponents
-- Bo keeps it hidden, flashing it only when necessary. But when a sense of
security moves him, he takes that wad out and you see just how loaded he
really is.
Harbaugh has cool, moxie, and an arm that, if not overpowerwing, is
extremely accurate. Saturday he did a little Marino, a little Staubach, even a
little Tarkenton impression -- a third quarter scramble, during which he could
have limed the field, that resulted in a 37-yard completion to Paul Jokish.
Michigan scored on all but one of their posessions with Harbaugh in, and
that one was a missed field goal attempt. I'd call that effective. Wouldn't
you?
But who'll show up Saturday?
So the question you can ponder with your coffee this morning is which
offense will play Ohio State Saturday -- the footloose version led by
Harbaugh, or the handoff, take-no-chances version we've seen at other times.
Don't look at me. I have no idea.
As fullback Bob Perryman put it: "It's all up to Bo. He calls a good game
and we win. He called a good game today. I just hope we throw on first down."
And all criticism aside, you must admit, those are pretty capable hands.
Bo's achievement becomes even more amazing when you think back to the start of
this season, and remember the gloom with which people foresaw it, how the
pollsters treated Michigan like old meat, ignoring them completely.
But things rarely turn out like you expect. Just ask the Minnesota fans,
who were streaming to the exits by the third quarter. A gopher knows a hole
when he sees one. A Wolverine can smell his next meal.
All eyes on Saturday. It's that time again.
COLUMN