ROSE BOWL
WASHINGTON
When they care to, the Huskies can be just about the best team in the country. Their offensive patterns are tricky, but masked behind the shifting, rapidly swirling patterns is a solid attack featuring counterplays and traps, with Fullback Ray Jackson going up the middle and Halfback Don McKeta off tackle. If driven to the outside, as it most likely will be by Minnesota, Washington can still move. Halfbacks George Fleming and Charley Mitchell are hard to catch. Bob Schloredt, at quarterback, is master of the pass or run rollout. Schloredt, unfortunately, missed most of the season because of a broken collarbone and may be rusty. This is the same team that all but dismembered Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl last year. Washington should be favored against Minnesota, but the Huskies, their appetites apparently sated, eased through a not-too-difficult schedule, winning four games by narrow margins. This is not the stuff of famous victories.
MINNESOTA
There is nothing fancy about the Gophers. Rated for the first time in 19 years as the nation's toughest team, they forced their way to the top by brute force, and that is what they will show at the Rose Bowl. Indeed, Minnesota is most impressive when the other team has the ball. Then its huge, monolithic line, led by All-America Guard Tom Brown and All-Conference Center Greg Larson, confronts opposing backs with a fierce determination, often forcing them to fumble or to pass wildly. When Minnesota has the ball, Quarterback Sandy Stephens will either hand off to one of the three 200-pound backs churning into the line at four yards a clip, or he will roll out and run himself. Occasionally, to spice the running, Stephens will pass to his tall ends, Bob Deegan and Tom Hall. Minnesota's one weakness is its lack of speed, but against Iowa, perhaps the nation's fastest team, it proved that quickness won't kill it—and neither will Washington.
[originallink:10502726:43278]
PHOTO
PHOTO
WASHINGTON'S SCHLOREDT (15) PASSES, RUNS EQUALLY WELL ON OPTION
PHOTO
ALL-AMERICA GUARD BROWN (69) IS THE CORE OF MINNESOTA'S DEFENSE
ILLUSTRATION