THE SEASON OF THE SOPHOMORE
Coach Jack Mollenkopf of Purdue (above) is an upsetting man. There is something serene about his appearance, the look—almost—of a mild-mannered mathematics professor, yet football people know him for what he is—aggressive and excitable. Mollenkopf has never won a Big Ten title; only one Purdue team ever has, but there is no team which hasn't felt the sting of the "Spoilermakers," as the riveters of Lafayette, Ind. have come to be known. Purdue won but two conference games in 1960: it handed Minnesota its only league loss 23-14, and bumped Ohio State out of a share in the title 24-21. In 1961 Iowa had scored in 78 straight games, averaging 25-plus points a game; Purdue beat the Hawk-eyes 9-0. This year, for a change, Purdue is a favorite in the Big Ten, along with Ohio State, the favorite, and Michigan State. Yet Mollenkopf is still upsetting. He says things no college coach should.
Item: Stepping on faculty sensitivities, he comes right out with this: "The finest thing that has happened to our league was the elimination of the 'need factor' from the grant-in-aid program." Three years ago, under pressure from educators, the Big Ten agreed that each football player would be allowed the amount of money he needed to get through college. A rich boy on scholarship got nothing; a poor boy got everything, up to the NCAA limit. Many good prospects, whose families could afford to educate them but preferred not to, were directed to other conferences. That is all over now and, as Michigan State's Duffy Daugherty says, "The quality of Big Ten football will be the highest in history next fall. We're reaching an apex."
Item: Jack Mollenkopf fearlessly predicts a big year for his team. "I can't deny we'll finish high," he says. "It's going to take a whale of a team to beat us." Mollenkopf says he has 15 sophomores who are better-than-average Big Ten players. "Nobody," he adds, "has better quarterbacks than Ron Di Gravio and Gary Hogan. We've got five good fullbacks, and that's the kind of dogfight I love. If Tony Fugate comes fast, we could have [with Dave Miller and Tom Boris] the best halfbacks since I've been here." His defensive line, as always, is excellent.
Item: Mollenkopf talks frankly about the other Big Ten teams. Ohio State should win because of its favorable schedule. "Paul-Warfield," Mollenkopf says, "is a tremendous halfback and Daryl Sanders one of the outstanding tackles in the league. Also they don't have to meet Minnesota, Michigan State or Purdue."
Michigan State is a possible champion. "Daugherty has got Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan all at home and he doesn't have to play Ohio State, Iowa or Wisconsin. He's got terrific halfbacks, particularly Sherman Lewis, and two great linemen in Jim Bobbitt and Dave Behrman.
"The sleeper in the league is Minnesota, mostly because of its imposing defense. Michigan won't be as good as last year, but it shouldn't be sold short. Northwestern is much improved, Wisconsin is young but strong, Iowa lost a lot of players and Indiana and Illinois don't figure, but that could come back to haunt me," Mollenkopf concludes.
The summary, even coming from an involved coach, is probably as accurate as any you can get. The Big Ten again is the strongest conference in the country. Its record last year against outside competition was 20-6-1; the year before 19-2-2. The losses from graduation in 1961 were unusually low and almost all teams inducted an exceptional freshman class. For the first time since World War II, there has not been a single head coaching change. So confident are the coaches that there have been only two noticeable tactical alterations: Michigan State has junked the two-platoon system and Northwestern has adopted it.
There will be no radical change in the Big Eight either. As Oklahoma Coach Bud Wilkinson notes, "With the widespread use of film, whatever seems to work is rapidly copied. Football is becoming standardized all across the country."
The best Big Eight teams, Wilkinson says, compare favorably with the best from any other section, including the Big Ten. "What little difference there is in teams from rival areas comes in the range from top to bottom. Some areas have a few more topflight teams than others."
Like the Big Ten, the Big Eight is generally stronger this year and the reason again is better sophomores. Wilkinson has a whole raft of them, so many that that normally dour pessimist told a news conference, "I'm real optimistic. I feel our team has more athletic ability than we've had in several years and it should be a rapidly improving team."
It will be, but so will Missouri and Kansas and Iowa State. Missouri, if for no other reason than that its coach, Dan Devine, is a very smart and very resourceful man, is favored to win the conference title. Devine overlooks nothing in teaching individual and team play. He is also a brilliant recruiter, as many a Big Ten school has discovered to its dismay, and he has a knack for adapting his style of play to his material. His 1960 team was noted for its devastating sweeps. Last year, when it turned out he didn't have the backs for the sweeps, Devine stressed defense. Missouri won four games in which it failed to score more than a touchdown.
The enthusiastic and silver-tongued Jack Mitchell of Kansas, like Devine, is a persuasive recruiter. He did his job so well two years ago (see below) that, despite the loss of such backs as John Hadl, Curtis McClinton and Bert Coan, he expects to be as good or better than last year.
The best teams of the Mid-American Conference—Bowling Green, Miami, Ohio and Kent State—can, as they have already proved, play with the lower rung of the Big Ten and Big Eight, and sometimes win. The top five, however, are: 1) Ohio State, 2) Michigan State, 3) Missouri, 4) Purdue, 5) Kansas.
Bowling Green
There's a joke around the Mid-American Conference that Coach Doyt Perry spends the first half of the year teaching his teams cannibalism and the second half staying out of their way. Over the past seven years the Falcons have produced a 53-6-4 record, the best compiled by any NCAA team. Perry sees some weaknesses at end and quarterback, but his victims have heard that one before. In those same seven seasons, 22 Bowling Green players have made first string on the all-conference team. Perry annually has a first-team tackle, and will again this year with 6-foot-6, 260-pound Bob Reynolds. All-MAC Guard Gary Sherman, Center Ed Bettridge, Guard Joe Grant and Tackle Willis Jones complete an awesome inner line. Halfbacks Don Lisbon and Roger Reynolds need no introduction, and Fullback Ray Bell, who made 36 points and gained 416 yards in 1961, is back. Should he need relief, any of three sophomores could start in his place.
CONCLUSION: Bowling Green's "problems" have a most disquieting way of vanishing at midseason. So do the school's opponents.
Cincinnati
Two years ago, after Cincinnati managed to gain 250 yards per game and get 153 first downs while being outscored 150-113 and losing six games, new Coach Chuck Studley was brought in. Sure enough, the Bearcats stopped wasting so many yards and first downs. They gained under 200 yards per game, made only 130 first downs, were out-scored 142-97 and lost seven games. Having lost the best of that team—including All-America Tackle Ken Byers-Cincy must rely on sophomores. Exceptions are the very fast Rufus Simmons at guard, bruising Fullback Phil Goldner, End Jim Paris (16 catches, 185 yards in 1961) and Halfback Fred Hynoski, who both kicks and runs well. Bruce Vogelgesang and Larry Harp, teaming at quarterback, are just adequate. Best and most needed sophomores may be fast Halfbacks Al Nelson (6.3 at 60 yards), Errol Prisby and John Smedley, but Cincy, rightfully, is nervous about its line.
CONCLUSION: Last year Cincy lost seven games, six by a touchdown or less. Improvement should be easy, but it won't be.
Colorado
The great gold rush is over now that Coach Sonny Grandelius has left. While Boulder has not become a ghost town, the Buffs are nearly a ghost team. What little life remained was nearly extinguished when End and Captain Ken Blair, representing players not tainted by a recruiting scandal, protested the hiring of high school coach and alumni director Bud Davis. "You have your new coach. Now get yourselves a new team," he told the school's Board of Regents. What was left of the team stayed, but 17 men graduated, 10 others left, nine were declared ineligible, Olympic sprinter-Halfback Ted Woods withdrew for personal reasons and breakaway Fullback Bill Harris developed grade trouble. Halfbacks Leon Mavity and Ted Somerville, Tackle Bill Frank and Guard Dan Grimm are the only proven players back. End Marty Harshbarger, Guard Bill Bearss and sopho more Quarterbacks Frank Cesarek and Ed Belt fill out a fairly spooky roster.
CONCLUSION: If Davis can make his fancy three-end "swingin' T" go, it'll be the greatest comeback since Hamlet's father.
Dayton
Whatever melancholy satisfaction can be gleaned from a season whose chief accomplishments were ending an 11-game losing streak and upsetting Wichita sustained Dayton footballers over a long winter. Fortunately, spring practice brought some promise. The reserves were improved, several sophomores showed progress and 10 of 11 starters were back. Before, spectacular Halfback Andy Timura, who averages over five yards a carry, made football seem worthwhile almost singlehandedly; now he will be joined by sophomore Tom Kosewic and Halfback Bob Ireton. If Kosewic helps enough, both Jim Overman and Bob Michigan, a closely matched pair, can stay at fullback. Ends Bob Heckman and Dick Pagliari will form an effective reception committee if Quarterback Tom LaBeau can bring his passing up to the level of his running. Smothering runs and passes, Guard Bob Donley heads a line backed by sophomores.
CONCLUSION: In Coach Stan Zajdel's first year Dayton's record was 1-9. Last season it was 2-8. Improvement continues.
Detroit
The big auto manufacturers are advertising more horsepower and more style. So are the Titans, and they may prove as impressive as this year's new cars. Flashy passer Jerry Gross, injured during the sixth game in 1961, is back. Gross had averaged 221.5 yards of offense per game, the second best total ever recorded. Strong again, he could win national honors this year. He and new Coach John Idzik will be helped by leading ground-gainer Vic Battani, who returns at fullback, and George Walkosky, sophomore Bob La Porte, Mitch Skorski and Gary Wilkie, all fast halfbacks. The "extended motion" of Idzik's T will be projected far downfield by such linemen as sophomore Tackle Joe Henze, Guards Bob Koval and Ed Greeves and capable pass-catching Ends Tom Bolz and John Lower. By a strange coincidence, the 1962 Titans will get a tough road test in their first game, at Boston College, new home of departed Coach Jim Miller.
CONCLUSION: Able to defeat any of its opponents, Detroit will have the best won-lost record of any major Midwest independent.
Illinois
Out on the green-and-black Illinois prairie there are enough good football players to gladden any recruiter. Unfortunately, few of them go to the University of Illinois. (A couple of years ago Yale had more good Illinoisans than Illinois.) Last season, worst in Illinois football history, the Illini were out-rushed 2,138-945 and outscored 289-53, ranked last in the Big Ten in every important category and lost all nine games. But no one is drinking hemlock in Champaign, not yet. The exodus has slowed, and several fine young Illinoisans, notably gifted Quarterback Mike Taliaferro, Fullback Dave Pike and sophomore Linemen Bruce Capel, Dick Butkus, Lynn Stewart and Rich Callaghan, are on hand. Among maturing returnees who should help Coach Pete Elliott immeasurably are leading rusher and Fullback Al Wheatland, all-round Halfback Ken Zimmerman, big, quick Guards Dick Deller and Frank Lollino and a raft of tackles and ends.
CONCLUSION: Let's hope Elliott has enough true-Blue (and Orange) Illinoisans. Losing coaches are not always popular in Illinois.
Indiana
Give a football to a kid in Indiana and he'll throw it through a hoop. Coach Phil Dickens has fine football players from Hattiesburg, Miss, and Neptune, N.J. on his first team, but none at all from the heart of Hoosierland. Halfback Marv Woodson (Hattiesburg), who led the Hoosiers and made the Big Ten second team as a sophomore by running over or around people for 435 yards and 36 points, looks better than ever. Hitting from the other side is Wingback Nate Ramsey (Neptune), who has averaged 4.3 yards per carry for two years. Guard is solid with top sophomores Mel Branch and Don Croftcheck hustling two-lettermen Mike Wasdovich, Larry Coleman and Ken Ellis. Just as gratifying are Centers Jack Holder, a candidate for football honors, and Dave Reda. But these aren't enough Hessians to hold the fort. Ends are nonexistent, tackles are game but small and the quarterbacks—well, they just can't find the basket.
CONCLUSION: In 15 Big Ten seasons, Indiana has been 16-75-3. No wonder IU leavens its schedule with outsiders.
Iowa
Like Iowa corn, the Hawkeyes are hybrids. Indeed, the less the purity of the strain, the better the team. When Iowa tied for the Big Ten title in 1960, there were as many Illinoisans as natives on the roster. Last year, with twice as many Iowans, Iowa sank to 5-4. This season the formula has been partially restored and the top four players are foreigners: End Cloyd Webb (Illinois), 25 catches for 425 yards; Quarterback Matt Szykowny (Pennsylvania), who completed 120 passes for 1,078 yards; Tackle Gus Kasapis (Michigan), mean enough to play pro right now; and All-America Larry Ferguson (Illinois), who rushed 665 yards (7.3 average) for six touchdowns in 1960. The other standouts—Flanker Sam Harris, Fullback Bill Perkins and Halfback Paul Krause—are also non-Iowans. The interior line, by contrast, is native-grown and it isn't very good. Coach Jerry Burns, in fact, has had to replace a tackle with an out-of-state flanker.
CONCLUSION: The Hawkeyes will increase their yield per acre with a blitzkrieg offense, but they could use some more outsiders.
Iowa State
After futile years of impersonating embattled good guys fighting impossible odds, the Cyclones have a team. It isn't a big one, as Coach Clay Stapleton will be the first to tell you, but even he will admit that the cast of supporting characters is impressive. The star, as usual, will be Dave Hoppmann, who led the nation in total offense last year, rushing 920 of his team's yards and passing for 718 more (41 of 91). But no longer will he be the nation's best tailback. Stapleton has switched from the single wing to the wing T. Why? Because, to his considerable surprise, he found he had too many good backs. In front of potentially the best backfield in ISU history (in addition to Hoppmann, who will play halfback, there are Quarterback Larry Switzer. Wingback Mike Cox and Fullback Tom Vaughn, all sophomores) is a big, steady line which won't be hurt a bit by the emergence of such sure sophomores as Jack McGonegle and Norm Taylor.
CONCLUSION: With more and better sophomores than he had players in the "dirty '30s," Stapleton could upstage the Big Eight.
Kansas
This year it's definite: Bert Coan will not play for Kansas. Again ineligible because of his penchant for expense-paid trips to all-star games, Halfback Coan has hied himself off to the less confusing world of pro football. Unhappy Coach Jack Mitchell lost another 50% of his dream backfield when All-America Quarterback John Hadl and multi-all-conference Halfback Curt McClinton picked up diplomas. Sadder yet are the line coaches, who have seen the last of every first-teamer. Clearly these are not the Jay-hawkers of the past, but there are bright spots. Ken Coleman, a spectacular fullback, running Quarterback Rodger McFarland and some tough reserves, including Slotback Tony Leiker, End Jay Roberts and Center Kent Converse, remain. Running, receiving and passing from halfback, sophomore Gale Sayers will cheer Kansans. So will an improving line if, as Mitchell hopes, his new flip-flop deployment succeeds.
CONCLUSION: Last year the Jayhawkers often creditably imitated a Kansas tornado. In 1962 they could look like the aftermath.
Kansas State
Certain unworthy Kansans, never known to I jaywalk, let alone tackle below the knees, would like you to forget the state's old gun-slinging tradition, and for most of 26 years I they seemed to have Kansas State football teams in their camp. But Coach Doug Weaver & Co., weary of being model citizens, are plotting insurrection. Nine of the 11 starters who beat Indiana and Air Force last year are back—with friends. The Wildcats are three-deep at six positions, and have enough sophomores around to forestall any malingering in the ranks. Fast Ends Darrell Elder and Willis Crenshaw (second team Big Eight in 1960 with 18 catches for 190 yards) return to action and are backed by five returnees. Tackle is full-up, too, but the backfield has real depth. Larry Corrigan, Joel Searles, Spencer Puls, Ralph McFillen and Ben Cochrun—all potent, if small—must hold off sophomores Doug Dusenbury, Jim Perry, Denby Blackwell, Larry Condit and Bud Roper.
CONCLUSION: Determined to forget the past, dangerous Kansas State will garrote at least one major opponent, possibly more.
Kent State
Kent can still improve at several positions but quarterback is not one of them. In one season plus four games, Jim Flynn has completed 50 of 105 passes for 557 yards and eight touchdowns. His importance as leader was never more evident than in 1961, when Kent lost seven straight after Flynn was injured. It was only Kent's second losing season in 20 years. But Coach Trevor Rees has other accurate passers in George Jenkins (34 for 74, 387 yards, 3 touchdowns in 1961) and Arnold Edwards (23 for 41, 278 yards, 3 TDs). Tom Kilker, Bob Harrison and Dick Wolf, top Mid-American receiver, head the league's best end staff. Strong and fast, Tackle Jim Phelan (255 pounds) and Guard Jim Eismon will clear holes for the option, along with Bob Thiele and Denny Kempf. Sophomore Fullback Willie Asbury may displace Marty Malatin and Dick Merschman, who rushed 479 yards. The team's weak spots are at center and halfback.
CONCLUSION: A healthy Flynn will make a world of difference. Alternating passes and fullback smashes, Kent will improve.
Marshall
The rest of the Mid-American Conference has run away and left poor Marshall. The Big Green has sought consolation in picking on smaller schools like Morehead and Eastern Kentucky—still with little success. Last year Morehead held Marshall scoreless. This season the school is taking no chances, scheduling Findlay and Butler. Having lost an all-conference halfback and center plus his entire backfield, Coach Charlie Snyder will be lucky to beat them. Featured at fullback are Gary Zickefoose, who gained nine yards last year, and Larry Dezio, a 178-pound sophomore. Quarterback is dubious at best and the end situation is singular—literally. After Ron Mazeska (two catches, 12 yards) comes the void. Hope springs mostly from a letterman inner line aided by sophomores Bill Bobbitt, Fred Anderson, Rich Winters and George Balak, and from deceptive halfbacks Zeke Myers and Jasper Wright, the only returnee who scored a point in 1961.
CONCLUSION: Marshall is out of its depth. Big Green vs. Bowling Green is a mismatch to rival Keokuk vs. the N. Y. Yankees.
Miami (Ohio)
The tree-shaded Georgian campus of Miami fairly exudes such pleasant things as memorable parties, pretty girls, renowned coaches and good football teams. Current renowned coach-in-residence, John Pont, exudes coaching principles as solid and tough-minded as McGuffey's Reader (appropriately, another Miami product). This suits Miami players just fine. Typical Redskin terrorists, Tackles Tom Nomina (6 feet 4, 265 pounds) and Paul Watters (6 feet 3, 260) grind out enemy linemen like cigarettes. Catching 20 passes for 359 yards, End Bob Jencks received and kicked for 50 points in 1961. Halfback Scott Tyler, who runs a 9.5 hundred, dashed 349 yards at 5.3 per try. Adding 249 yards, Allan Fisher and Larry Miller (3 TDs) averaged 4.0 and 3.6. Not as good as reputed, Quarterback Vic Ippolito will get help from passer Jack Gayheart (34 of 77 completed for 551 yards, 5 TDs) and sophomore Ernie Kellermann.
CONCLUSION: Even Miami could use more players, but Pont has never had a losing season. Many think he never will.
Michigan
The Michigan tradition may be erudite, but the opposition, which has won only 159 football games against 474 losses, has good reason to view this posture with suspicion. The Spartans have an excellent sophomore quarterback with a familiar Michigan name, Forest Evashevski, but chances are he won't edge Bob Chandler or fellow sophomore Bob Timberlake out of the second quarterback spot. No. 1 quarterback is the private preserve of Dave Glinka, who to date has completed exactly 100 passes for 1,343 yards and 10 touchdowns. Dave Raimey (14 TDs, 788 yards at a 5-yard average in two years) has a similar lock on halfback, where Coach Bump Elliott has plenty of good players. Only at fullback, where sophomore Mel Anthony and ex-Halfback Bruce McLenna contend alone, could Elliott use more help. His line, particularly at the tackles, is typically Big Ten. And he has Michigan's finest freshman team in years to draw on.
CONCLUSION: Michigan's schedule is rougher than last year's, but a fine first team will prolong the winning tradition.
Michigan State
There is at least one striking similarity between Big Ten coaches and men about to carry fat bankrolls down dark Singapore alleys: neither brag about their assets. Even Michigan State's Duffy Daugherty, relatively an optimist, mumbles something about having a losing season every fourth year. This season he has to invent worries. He can hardly complain away a backfield that includes Fullback George Saimes, Tailback Sherm Lewis and Wingback Dewey Lincoln, who rushed 1,224 yards as State's top three gainers last year. Having four good quarterbacks won't elicit sympathy either, although Pete Smith and Dick Proebstle, who missed almost 57% of their receivers en route to 750 yards gained in 1961, might induce a tear or two. Poor Duffy seems to think he hasn't got much behind All-America Tackle-Center Dave Behrman, Ends Ernie Clark and Matt Snorton and Tackles Jim Bobbitt and Ed Budde. He has.
CONCLUSION: State meets its most dangerous foes at home—and Ohio State not at all. The gloom looks more like a gleam.
Minnesota
Minnesota high schools turn out a lot of huge football players, for whom Coach Murray Warmath has relatively exclusive hunting rights. The problem is, they are slow and don't make particularly good trophies. To rectify matters, a couple of years ago War-math freighted in outlanders and two years running went to the Rose Bowl. Fully half of the imports—including Sandy Stephens—are gone. Warmath, however, has been left with more than a stiff upper lip. Big Halfback Bill Munsey (60 yards in 6.2) returns, as does aggressive End Bob Prawdzik. Best of all, the man-eating North Carolina tackles, Carl Eller and All-America Bob Bell, are back. Center Frank Marchlewski and Guard Bill Dallman look good, but they are both sophomores. The real rub is at quarterback. The position so depresses Warmath he may just ignore it, basing his offense on Halfbacks Munsey, Jim Cairns and Al Fischer, and hard-running Fullback Jerry Jones.
CONCLUSION: By the third game Warmath may be playing a wooden-eyed back named Paul and a blue-faced guard named Babe.
Missouri
What was perhaps the finest interior line in the country—Bill Wegener, Paul Henley, Bill McCartney, Paul Garvis and All-America Ed Blaine—left Missouri this June. Gone, too, are a first-class halfback, Norm Beal, and Quarterback Ron Taylor. But these losses have left Coach Dan Devine remarkably dry-eyed. The current backfield, consisting of hard-running Halfback Bill Tobin, explosive Fullback Andy Russell (412 yards rushing for a 4.1 average last year) and two highly promising sophomores, Quarterback Keith Weber and Halfback Johnny Roland, are helping Devine bear up bravely. So are tough End Conrad Hitchler and Tackle Jerry Wallach, as well as a crop of splendid sophomores, including Fullback Gus Otto, Guard Joe Buerkle and Defensive Back Vince Tobin. Still Devine has his problems: the interior line is slow and he hasn't enough players to repeat last year's performance when the Tigers outscored their opponents 124-57.
CONCLUSION: Relatively phlegmatic for a coach, Devine will shrug off Mizzou's losses and build an excellent, unspectacular team.
Nebraska
Last year Nebraska was outrushed 1,864 yards to 1,404, outpassed 800 to 651, out-scored 135 to 119. Nebraskans were outraged, and old Coach Bill Jennings was let out. In—as new coach—is Bob Devaney from Wyoming, his future sweetened by the return of eight starters and 25 of 34 lettermen. Devaney might prefer more talent at center and linebacker or more line speed, but his problems stop there. Ends Jim Huge and Larry Tomlinson are improved. Not particularly fast, Guards Dwain Carlson and John Kirby and Tackles Gary Toogood and Lloyd Voss nevertheless are big and strong. One of the best anywhere, Fullback Bill Thornton made 618 yards (4.9 per try) and five touchdowns last year. Rudy Johnson (193 yards, 4.7 average) starts at halfback again, as would Willie Ross (198, 4.4) were it not for power-running transfer Dave Theisen. Directing the new multiple offense is Dennis Claridge, who punts as well as he passes.
CONCLUSION: Devaney has Mike Koehler, Jim Thorpe's grandson, but it will take a tribe of Thorpes to ambush the Big Eight.
Northwestern
Under Ara Parseghian the Wildcats have fought formidably when not crippled. In some years, though, injuries have occurred so often that Northwestern's medical school could have interned in the trainer's room. This year Parseghian may have the problem licked with a new solution: plenty of good reserves. At quarterback, Tom Myers, one of the nation's best sophomores, should displace Tom O'Grady and Fred Quinn, both good. Fine Halfbacks Larry Benz, Paul Flatley and Bob Snider are being pushed by sophomores, of whom Jim Proffitt and Dick McCauley are the best. Even Fullback Bill Swingle, who scored three touchdowns (one 95 yards, an NU record) in his first varsity game last year and led the team in scoring and rushing, has competition. Jack Cvercko returns uninjured to a well-staffed guard position. Tackle, thanks to improved returnees and massive sophomores Mike Schwager and Joe Szezecko, is another strong point.
CONCLUSION: Northwestern's football machine has begun dispensing a new product—dark horses with no medical problems.
Notre Dame
It wasn't too many years ago that you could read a silly headline like, "Irish Lack Polish," then sit back and watch Notre Dame polish off the best in the country. This year the Irish do lack polish. No one denies there are still some shiny parts: Fullback Mike Lind, an authentic line crasher who starts faster than "Six-yard" Sitko, missed three games in 1961 and still rushed 450 yards at a 5.2-yard average. Second Fullback Gerry Gray (4.2-yard average) is almost as good, but the ineligibility of Jim Snowden and Halfback Paul Costa demolished the back-field. Seven lettermen ends, led by Jim Kelly, and two good sophomores are capable, but they help illustrate the ND problem of more quantity than quality. Guard Bob Lehmann is adequate if unsupported and the tackles are inexperienced. Quarterback, where Coach Joe Kuharich cannot decide between Daryle Lamonica and Frank Budka, is an enigma but it is a key to moderate success.
CONCLUSION: The worst is over, and so are the good years. As much as Kuharich would like a big season, he isn't going to get it.
Ohio
Meticulous Ohio never, ever makes a mistake. Well, almost never. Although last year was, relatively, a bad one for Coach Bill Hess's operatives, they had just one of 98 passes intercepted and were penalized only 18.7 yards per game, best in the nation in both categories. Equally painstaking is the offense, which Hess calls a "power T" (translation: "grind-it-out football"). Ohio averaged 3.4 yards per play, or exactly 10 yards and the length of a football every three downs. This season, with eight starters back, the cautious 'Cats may add a few football lengths. Returnees scored 13 of 16 touchdowns and 111 of 129 points in 1961 and did all the passing and receiving (52% complete for 742 yards). Add three fine backs, Bob Babbitt, Jim Albert and Jim Pontuti, to a huge, mobile line—notably Tackles Dick Schulz and Charles Nickoson, Ends John Trevis and Ken Smith—and what do you have? Mid-American fear.
CONCLUSION: For additional help, Kicker Jim McKee (6 field goals last year) is ready again. Hess does not need help.
Ohio State
In the days before Ohio State disdained Rose Bowl invitations, the Buckeyes could be counted on to fight for Big Ten championships. They will still win the title; they just aren't going to have to fight so hard. The real battle will be among the players trying to make Woody Hayes's lineup. For instance: Center Billy Joe Armstrong and Guard Rod Foster are the best blockers Hayes has had, Bob Vogel and Daryl Sanders the best pair of tackles in college today and ad infinitum in the line. In the backfield are Halfbacks Paul Warfield (420 yards rushing, 5.4 average, 5 TDs in 1961) and Bob Klein (177 yards, 6.8 average), Fullback Dave Katterhenrich, Hayes's secret weapon and Quarterback John Mummey (392 yards rushing). If you are still not impressed, Hayes can fashion a couple of more teams potentially as good from men like Quarterbacks Bill Mrukowski (65% passing average for 231 yards) and Joe Sparma (341 yards passing).
CONCLUSION: OSU's 1961 freshman team was one of its best ever. The flow never ceases, nor, presumably, do the titles.
Oklahoma
The fun is over. That familiar anxiety which annually seized coaches faced with playing Oklahoma is back. Opponents can start worrying right now about sophomore Linemen Ed McQuarters, Ralph Neely and Glenn Condren, and they might as well prepare to agonize over the prospect of opposing Quarterback Tom Pannell, Halfback Charles Mayhue and Fullback Jim Grisham for the next three years. A reason given for Oklahoma's short decline was the increasing reluctance of good Texas boys to jump from the Panhandle into Coach Bud Wilkinson's line of fire. Wilkinson is still getting good Texans, but the excellent sophomores around are all native-grown. They arrived just in time, too, for Wilkinson lost nine starters from last year's so-so team. Happily, the two holdovers, Center Wayne Lee and Guard Leon Cross, are strong blockers who—along with Duane Cook and Dennis Ward—will give Oklahoma a formidable interior line.
CONCLUSION: The non-Panhandled Sooners could become as popular in Texas as Billie Sol Estes—and will have a better defense.
Oklahoma State
Rex Russell, center for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, is a diabetic. He needs 60 units of insulin a day and, often, a Coke break at practice. But nobody is worried. He is, in addition to being the hardest-working man on the squad, a consummately aggressive wing-T center and a straight-A pre-med student. He is also like a lot of other Cowboys. Despite an uncommon number of injuries in 1961, they felt then that they really were, as Coach Cliff Speegle has called them, "a knock-around football team with a lot of shake." State has quick-striking tackles and fast guards (Mike Upton, Leland Slack, Billy York). Its centers, halfbacks and Fullback Bill McFarland, who made 42 points last year and gained 331 yards rushing, are aided by Fullback Bob Adcock, Halfback Don Derrick and Wingback Tom Jackson, who together got 525 yards. State has not, however, either size, ends or a quarterback. It will feel acutely all three lacks.
CONCLUSION: Undermanned and undersized, State will again play courageous football—and will win enough to be respected.
Purdue
"If Big Ten teams made half as many mistakes as the pros, we'd set a record in number of coaches hung in effigy," says Purdue's Jack Mollenkopf. Rival coaches may find this the only non-upsetting thing to come out of Lafayette this year. The Boilermakers have a real team. Twenty-nine good reasons are the lettermen, returning from a squad that had the Big Ten's best defense in 1961 and lost but three games—by a total of seven points. A few good linemen departed, but such luxuries as End Forest Farmer and Tackle Don Brumm are back. Returning, too, are all but one of 12 scorers and every one of the 15 men who rushed 1,417 yards. Both Ron DiGravio and Gary Hogan (52% complete, 1,097 yards passing) return. So do all halfbacks, led by Tom Bloom and Dave Miller. And, as always, fullback is strong: there are Roy Walker (491 yards), Tom Yakubowski, injured last year, and Gene Donaldson, third in rushing in '61.
CONCLUSION: Strong all the way around, Purdue will spring no big upsets this year. The team is no longer an underdog.
Toledo
When Toledo cannot wear out opponents physically, it wears them out mentally. If Coach Clive Rush's equal alternate teams don't have enemy chinstraps dragging by the third period, Rush will bedevil them with 23 different formations. Whether contused or confused, no team beat Toledo in the second half last year. Had the Rockets scored more than a season total of 30 points in the first half, they might have won more than three games. But Rush thinks he has the answer: better players. At end there are Bob Smith and Jim Thibert, already drafted by the pros. A big, fast line features Tackles Ed Scrutchins and Wynn Lembright, Guards Jim Bogdalek and Ron Klotz, and Centers Bruce Bachtel and Ron Dandurand. Quarterback Butch Yenrick gained 945 yards last year and sophomore Dan Simrell may become as good. Fullback Frank Baker has rushed 1,115 yards, 4.8 per carry. Only at halfback are the Rockets shallow.
CONCLUSION: Even in the well-balanced Mid-American Conference, Coach Rush should show improvement.
Tulsa
As its name—Hurricane—implies, Tulsa is big, strong and aerial and should inflict considerable damage before the season ends The Hurricanes have, for instance, two new fast-moving twisters in sophomore Mike Gibbons, an end, and Jeff Jordan, a versatile back. Guard Ken Reed (230 pounds) is the best lineman Coach Glenn Dobbs has ever seen, but equally big Tackle Tony Liscio is not that far behind him. In the backfield a whole new quartet—junior college All-America Quarterback Billy Anderson, Tailback Ken Boone, Wingback Stu Stewart and sophomore Fullback Rich Smithwick—has breezed past five returnees, each of whom rushed for more than 100 yards in 1961. Excellent as the ground game will be, the passing will be better. All four 1961 quarterbacks, who completed 76 of 183 forwards for 816 yards, are back—behind, of course, Anderson and Stu McBirnie, who are even better at the Southwest razzle-dazzle game.
CONCLUSION: With better talent and enthusiasm, the Tulsa low-pressure area seems to be cranking up considerable velocity.
Western Michigan
Western Michigan is a soft, warm land of lakes, gardens and orchards. Not all is cherry plucking and tulip growing in Kalamazoo, however. They play football there as taught by Merle Schlosser, which is well taught indeed. Last year the Broncos finished 4-1-1 in the Mid-American Conference. Twenty-three of that team return and only nine are gone, but those nine include Quarterback Ed Chlebek (73 of 129 passes for 1,109 yards and nine touchdowns in 1961); Bob White, who gained 441 yards; nascent pro Tackle John Lomakoski, and Linebacker Mike Snodgrass. Guard Pat Emerick, who led Western Michigan with 56 tackles, is back but the next four defenders aren't. Help must come from a good but unremarkable two-way line. Allen Schau at end is a good pass catcher and Bill Schlee a hard-driving fullback, but Halfbacks Jim Bednar and Karl Toth and Quarterback Roger Theder will be pushed hard by some fast sophomores.
CONCLUSION: Western has plenty of depth but not enough stature. Life, the Broncos will find, is not always a bowl of cherries.
Wichita
The Shockers could be halfway to a bowl bid before midwestern tongues master their new coach's name: Marcelino (Chelo) Huerta. One Wichitan who shouldn't have trouble—with Huerta or the opposition—is Alex Zyskowski. Zyskowski (57 of 108 passes complete, 13th nationally in total offense last year) has good receivers in Ends Jim Maddox and Tim Bishop as well as lots of back-field help. Running out of the L formation (actually a multiple-T variation using balanced line and variable backfield sets) are Halfbacks Bill Stangarone, best in the Missouri Valley in 1961 (5.7-yard average and 42 points), hard-running Beazy Stephens (4.4 average)and the highly respected sophomore, Miller Farr, who rushed 252 yards in one junior college game last year. Less formidable than the backfield, the line still boasts Guard Charlie Wright, Linebacker Leroy Leep and 250-pound Tackle Dick Klein, who transferred from West Point.
CONCLUSION: Thirty of the Shocker lettermen who won eight games in 1961 are back. Wichita has a lot to look forward to.
Wisconsin
The first modern Big Ten team to lose a Rose Bowl game, the Badgers have done it twice—the last time, on New Year's Day, 1960. They may not get another chance to lose—or just possibly to win—at Pasadena for years to come. During the last two years Big Ten foes tarred and feathered the ex-champions five times. What success Wisconsin did have was due largely to Ron Miller, the nation's second best passer (104 completions for 1,487 yards and 11 TDs in 1961). He won't be back. Pat Richter, the nation's second best receiver (47 catches, 817 yards. 8 TDs), will be, but even an authentic All America end can't throw his own passes. Harold Brandt, one of an adman's dozen illustrious sophomores imported from Illinois, must come on fast. Halfback Bill Smith (a 60-yard dash champion), Center Ken Bowman and End Ron Carl son a re proficient ballplayers, and beyond them, Coach Milt Bruhn has depth, but not stature.
CONCLUSION: New players may help to fashion a team that can regain Big Ten respect but not a Big Ten title.
Xavier (Ohio)
Ed Biles, the new coach at Xavier, is an innovator. To promote understanding with the press, he entrusted his team during the spring intrasquad game to two sportwriters. The final score: Lightning 20, Thunder 7. Unlike Army's Paul Dietzel and his imitators, who divide their teams into offensive and defensive units, Biles has formed a speed offensive unit (Lightning) and a power offensive unit (Thunder). Each has its own set of plays and they share a third attack plan. With 23 lettermen returning, Biles has ample reserves, most notably in the line where the "X" men are two deep. Best are 234-pound Tackle Jim Thrush and Guard Jim Higgins. Biles could use more backfield strength, but he does have a good quarterback in Walt Bryniarski, who last year rushed and passed 219 yards although he played only eight minutes per game. Halfbacks Ed Smith, Don Stupica and Mike DeFazio have to carry the rest of the load.
CONCLUSION: More names like Thunder and Lightning aren't going to make this year's Musketeers the equals of the 1961 team.
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ILLUSTRATION
SAUL LAMBERT
PHOTO
SOPHOMORE TO WATCH
Halfback Gale Sayers of Kansas University
If Kansas has any kind of a season, Gale Sayers may become an All-America in his first year. Coach Jack Mitchell has already said that the 6-foot 190-pounder will carry the ball at least 60% of the time. There is no doubt that he can. In his senior year at Omaha Central High, Sayers scored 25 touchdowns, three quarters of them on runs of more than 50 yards. Last fall the Kansas freshmen made six touchdowns in their only two games—all by Sayers. The 19-year-old Sayers probably is the Jayhawkers' best defensive back right now. He passes almost as well as he receives, but above all else he is a runner. A 9.7 sprinter in high school (he also broad-jumped 24 feet 10½ inches), Sayers possesses a deceptive change of pace, a fine football sense and, according to all who have coached him, unusual determination.