THE TIMES HERALD PORT HURON, MICH. Sunday April 15, 1984 3C U-M sophomore to start at QB? By HARRY ATKINS AP Sportswriter ANN ARBOR - Jim Harbaugh staked his claim to Michigan's quarterback job and Paul Jokisch proved he has made a successful transition from basketball to football Saturday in the Wolverines' annual spring game. Harbaugh, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder with three years of eligibility remaining, completed 17 of 26 pass attempts for 161 yards, with one interception, as the White squad defeated the Blue team 18-15 in the traditional finish to 20 days of spring practice. "Jim's a good thrower," Coach Bo Schembechler said. "I don't know if you noticed, but he had excellent control of the ball despite the extreme wetness out there. He improvises well, he has good movement and quick feet. "He's got good size and he knows that the object of football is to put the ball in the end zone." Harbaugh, whose father, Jack, is football coach at Western Michigan, will likely be backed up in the fall by Chris Zurbrugg, a freshman who missed the Blue-White game because of a sore back. "We've been happy with Jim all spring," Schembechler said. "'He's shown a lot of maturity." Jokisch, a 6-8, 235-pounder, was an All-State performer in both football and basketball at Birmingham Brother Rice but elected to play basketball during his first two years at Michigan. However, he saw only limited playing time on the hardwoods and finally came out for foot- 69 University of Michigan running back Greg Armstrong rumbles for yardage Saturday during the team's annual spring game. The white team won 18-15. ball this spring. He will have three years of eligibility remaining in football, even though Jokisch will be a junior when school opens next fall. In the spring game, Jokisch was used as a split end and caught three Harbaugh passes, all in heavy traffic, for 44 yards. "Jokisch has the potential to be a good split end," the coach said. "I think, based on what he showed, he'd have to be in contention." The squads were about evenly matched for the contest, each with an equal share of returning starters both on offense and defense. The Blue squad, with Russ Rein filling in for Zurbrugg, grabbed an early 15-0 lead on a 1- yard TD run by Greg Armstrong, a 42-yard field goal by Mike Melnyk and a 6-yard run by Dan Rice just three seconds into the second quarter. Freshman Gerald White, a 6-1, 205-pound tailback from Titusville, Fla., got the White squad on the board with a 5-yard TD run at 8:28 of the second quarter. White, whose running style resembles that of Lawrence Ricks, finished with 57 yards on 16 carries. Thomas Wilcher, a speedster who missed last season with a knee injury, scored on a 2-yard run for the Whites at 13:46 of the third quarter to tie the score 15-15. Placekicker Bob Bergeron, the star of several games last season, booted a 29-yard field goal at 5:41 of the fourth quarter to give the Whites the victory. "I like spring ball," Schembechler said. "It's a very productive time because a lot of teaching is going on. In all honesty, however, you really can't tell what you've got coming out of spring ball because you only go against yourself." AP