St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 18

2C Dec. 23, 1975 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Improbable Big Red Are Playoff Mystery Team jeffmeyers At the Cardinals' office yesterday afternoon, Jim Otis was sitting on a couch trying to be composed and the National Football Conference's leading rusher at the same time. Across the hall, Jerry Latin walked through a doorway. He has the longest run from scrimmage in the NFC this season, and was hiding his identity under dark shades.

It's not easy being a star. At the beginning of the season, the smart money would not have been on either Otis or Latin to finish ahead of too many healthy running backs in any statistical category. But the Big Red have been noted for the improbable this season, as the press conference in the next room proved. In a season when the Cardinals could be expected to do the unexpected. Big Red operations director Joe Sullivan chose yesterday to announce plans for training camp next July.

Be assured that the Los Angeles Rams aren't looking any further ahead than their playoff game Saturday against the Cardinals. But it is this unconventionality that makes the Big Red such a mystery team in the playoffs. Nobody knows what they're going to do next, especially the Cardinals. They can't seem to make up their minds whether they're the team that dismantled the Dallas Cowboys, fell apart against the Buffalo Bills or came from behind against just about everybody else. air until the game begins so he's going to have to be prepared for any eventuality.

"You don't go bananas over any one phase of offense or defense," he said. "I honestly don't know what we're going to do in LA." Although Coryell has developed a reputation as an offensive-minded coach, he actually plays the game close to the book. When the Cardinals ripped the Cowboys 31-17 two weeks ago, it appeared that the Big Red opened up offensively. But Coryell said that was an illusion. "Maybe that's what it looked like because a few things we did worked," he said.

The Cardinals have an edge on the Rams offensively, primarily because LA's starting backfield won't be intact. But the Rams have an advantage where it's supposed to count in the playoffs: on defense, particularly the front four. But Coryell bristled when it was mentioned that his offensive line might be the key to the Big Red's chances. "The whole team wins or loses the game," he said. "The offensive line doesn't do it by themselves.

The defensive backs don't do it by themselves. Every player on the field, every coach, is involved. "Our defense gives up yardage, but they come through in clutch situations. They help each other out. If one man gets beat, another will fight as hard as he can to make up for him." In three years, Coryell has just about filled the roster with this kind of player.

"We're working toward that," he said. "The vast majority are real winners who can rise to the occasion. "That occasion is now." Coryell was in the Big Red office yesterday, bleary-eyed as usual, bobbing along with his jaw resting on his chest and eyes taking in everything in quick, sideways movements. He was wearing a sport jacket for television interviews, and the jacket came off as soon as he returned to the comfortable familiarity of his own rf ice. If anything has remained constant in Coryell's three eventful seasons in St.

Louis, it is the coach himself, even though his teams have changed personalities from 'gotta -establish-our -passing-game to ball control. They are merely a reflection of Coryell's adaptability and his willingness to do whatever it takes to win. When he became coach nearly three years ago, he said that the only way a weak team could beat a strong team was by throwing the football. In his first season, the run-pass ratio was about even; last year it was weighted slightly toward the run, and this year the Cardinals ran exactly 200 more times than they passed. Presumably, the Big Red are no longer a weak team in Coryell's eyes.

"My philosophy is exactly the same," he said. "If we're capable of running against a good team now, we will. But you're right. We've matured in a lot of ways, and now we can run the ball. But you never really know how it's going to go until you get up nose to nose and find out.

"Our first Washington game we couldn't do a thing on the ground. The second time around we gained 230 yards, got 32 first downs and blew them out of the tub." Coryell maintained that the Big Red "approach each game the same way." He won't know if the Cardinals will be more effective against the Rams on the ground or in the The Cardinals have a knack for doing things the hard way. Last week they were congratulated by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen for winning the NFC's Eastern Division title and then typically, learned that the vote was 23-5. They had less trouble with the Chicago Bears.

Alderman Albert (Red) Villa, one of the five dissenters, wanted to reassure the voters than he was motivated by civic duty and not by any covert loyalty to the Washington Redskins. It seems the Cardinals weren't patriotic enough to send the aldermen their customary free season tickets. Villa claimed that all the aldermen were miffed. "They're afraid to say so," he said. The aldermen couldn't play for Big Red coach Don Coryell.

He doesn't stand for dissension in the ranks, and he definitely wouldn't want anybody who's afraid of anything, even bad publicity. Cards See Mo We 'Monsters' purine For Hours i rafanP Fi Stop In For nrr7 -rTfowT DO I IAINCHECKS Will ISSUIO rot OUT Of StOCK TOMS. By Tom Barnidge Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Dan Dierdorf is spending about an hour and a half each day this week watching films of Jack Youngblood. Conrad Dobler is watching those same films, but all he's seeing is Merlin Olsen. If you haven't heard of either of those movie stars, you obviously are not a National Football League quarterback.

They are horror creatures, passers will tell you. Stars of monster flicks. How well the Cardinals' offensive linemen understand and analyze the monsters will determine in large part how well the Cardinals fare in Saturday afternoon's first-round playoff game at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The monsters belong to the Rams and they'll line up across from Dierdorf and Dobler all afternoon. "The thing about Olsen," explained Dobler, Big Red right guard, "is that he's been doing the exact same thing for years.

He's like Bob Lilly (former Cowboys star). Everybody knows what he's doing the object is learning how to keep him from doing it." Defensive tackles generally fall into one of two categories, according to Dobler. Either they are physical or they are quick. "Merlin," grunted Dobler, "is a mixture of both." Ordinarily, Dobler gears himself for a physical opponent or he gears himself for a quick one. He claims it requires a different mental approach for a different opponent.

A particular peculiarity in Olsen's play is that his pass rush is a restrained one. He gets his sacks, but not because he comes blowing in like a bulldozer. "Sometimes he has spy responsibility," said Dobler. "He'll penetrate a couple yards, then he'll wait to read a screen pass or a draw play." Dierdorf said Olsen's role is an integral one in the Ram philosophy of pass rushing. "Merlin's job is to contain the quarterback," he said.

"They get their pass rush from the ends circling in and forcing the quarterback up in the pocket. When the quarterback steps up too far Merlin's got him." Which brings up the problem Dierdorf is facing. Namely, Youngblood. "We were together in the College All-Star game a few years ago (1970) and we became pretty good friends, Dierdorf said. "He's extremely competitive and extremely strong.

(Fred) Dryer may be their best pass rusher, coming from the other (right) end, but Youngblood is the best overall. "He's different from a lot of defensive ends I have to block because he's shorter, 6-3 or so. He's also a lot stronger. He's a weight-lifting nut." Dierdorf said the most disturbing aspect of Youngblood's play can only be seen by watching film after film against different opponents. "The better the person across from him plays," said Dierdorf, "the better he seems to play." Many teams have attempted to break down the wall in front of Cardinal quarterbacks Jim Hart with blitzes, stunts and gimmicks.

Neither Dobler nor Dierdorf expects a lot of that. "When you play a 43 defense (four-man front) all season like they do," said Dobler, "you're saying you think your front four can win the battle head on head. You weaken yourself when you blitz, and when you've got a pass rush like LA's, why weaken yourself?" "Connie and said Dierdorf, "will have our own little wars on Saturday. We won't be seeing much of each other." The physical matchups, for what they're worth, are interestingly inverted. Dobler, at 6-3 and 255 pounds, is a bit smaller than Olsen, 6-5 and 270.

Dierdorf, at 6-3 and 280, is bigger than Youngblood, 6-3 and 255. The Cardinals have permitted only eight sacks this season. The Rams have collected more than 40. How the battle will go Saturday not even Dobler and Dierdorf would try to predict. They were in agreement on the answer to another question, though.

Had they ever faced a pair of defensive linemen comparable to Olsen and Youngblood? "Never," they said. In unison. lIllDrDAMl 2-WAY LED 6 it is 3 MM SPEAKER SYSTEM rcv I WCOUPON 8 Mlmlil MM Reg.VW hMMM i i if I i J4Q i i'l'nnx Package of 5 2V-10mA LargeRed Type LIMIT 1 PKG. PL-233 SP-154 HANDS -FREE TELEPHONE AMPLIFIER Live Presence wide dispersion of sound An ideal main or ext. speaker Battery Powered Ready to use NOT a kit! RA-618 Olson RA-660 Save $5 sL iJ itoSr Red.

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LOCK 8-Tnsck TAPE MOUNT ijjjjf Locks Scanner, CB in place Slides inout With keys LOW AS witlt I YOUR CHOICE His Famous Manufacturer FROM PAGE ONE deke said. "But deep down I knew we were." It might have been worse. The Billikens, who have lacked the killer instinct this season, had the Rivermen down by 15 points early in the second half. "At that point I thought we might win by 30," Albrecht said. "I thought we had a chance to really step on it." The Rivermen, though, pulled within seven point, 50-43, with more than 13 minutes to play.

But a three-point play by Carl Johnson and then another by Howard Jackson enabled the Bills to coast to victory, their fifth in seven games. For the Rivermen, the loss was their second in six games. The Billikens' shooting 53.9 per cent from the field was their best of the season. But it was their defense that frustrated the Rivermen. "They did what they had to do to stop us," said Smith.

What the Bills did was stop Bone. The 6-foot guard had entered the game with a 33.2 points a game average, tops among the nation's NCAA Division II players. But he hit just seven of 21 shots from the field and was held to 18 points the first time in 34 games that he had been held below 19 points. The man who made life miserable for Bone was Lod-deke. "I knew I had a job ahead Camp FROM PAGE ONE college for more than a year.

Bidwill and Joe Sullivan, the Big Red's director of operations, cited a number of advantages in training close to St. Louis. Among them were proximity to a major airport and St. Louis's medical facilities. Sullivan also said the Cardinals now will be able to hold a longer training camp and still avoid conflict with baseball games in Busch Stadium.

Sullivan also said that the regimentation of the Big Red training camp would be little different from seasons past even though the players will be close to home. They still will be required to live in Lindenwood dormitories. of me, Loddeke said. "He's a lot quicker than I am. But I was getting a lot of help." "He couldn't get a shot off," said Billiken guard Kevin King, noting Loddeke's four-inch advantage in height.

"He couldn't get around me, either," Loddeke said, noting another advantage. "I got all that weight." "I just don't know," said a disconsolate Bone as he sat and stared in the UMSL locker room. "This wasn't one of Bone's better nights," Albrecht said. "But you have to give a lot of credit to Loddeke. He did an excellent defensive job on him." Albrecht then pointed out the differences in the team's schedules as a factor.

"I don't think there's a great deal of difference in our talent, though we may be stronger at forward. But one of the differences in the game is that our guards have played against outstanding guards this season. We've seen Phil Bond at Louisville, Clint Johnson at Kansas. Then you see Bobby Bone in a different light." While the Bills contained Bone, they had troubles with Warren Wynn. UMSL's 6-9 center was tops in scoring with 21 points and in rebounding with 16.

He certainly impressed Carl Johnson. "I didn't know he was going to shoot that well," said Johnson. "What more can I say? That turnaround jump shot of his is superb." The Billikens had a balanced attack with Johnson and Lew McKinney each scoring 18 points. Jackson had 15 and Loddeke added 10. "I feel they're a good team," said McKinney.

"But you've got to have depth at all positions." Bill Moulder and Mike Newbold and Loddeke and King certainly give the Bills depth at guard. They all contributed. As Moulder said, "I think everybody wanted to prove something." But then the Rivermen wanted to prove something, too. They'll have to wait two months for their next chance. They meet the Bills Feb.

21 at UMSL. But will things be any AU-464 AU-537 8-TRACK Reams FROM PAGE ONE hadn't been coached since leaving college. The college was San Diego State and his head coach was Don Coryell and the defensive line coach was Sid Hall, who now is a Coryell assistant with the Cardinals. So it will be something of a reunion for Dryer, Coryell and Hall when the Cardinals and the Rams meet in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon and the interview with Dryer soon digressed into a testimonial of Coryell and Hall. "I have a lot of memories of both of them," Dryer said, "and they're all good ones." Of Hall, Dryer said, "I could talk to you for four days about Sid Hall, he's another one of the good guys.

Don attracts good guys." Of Coryell, Dryer said, "It's not one specific thing that sticks in your mind it's an overall thing. I know his players in St. Louis must love him. He always wants to do things for people. When he moved on (from San Diego State), he had a dinner banquet that the people of San Diego gave him.

It was a huge turnout because it wasn't just a coach who was leaving there are a lot of coaches who win but there aren't too many who leave his kind of memories." Occasionally, Dryer broke away from his memories of Coryell, Hall and San Diego State and talked about Saturday afternoon's playoff game. He said that he had not seen any films of the Cardinals the Rams had yesterday off but that, "I imagine they (the Cardinals' offensive linemen) are the best although there are some other damned good ones around." When he talked about his own team, he talked of pride. "We had five offensive starters out when we played the Steelers," Dryer said. "We're all beat up and we play the world champions. A lot of teams would have folded up their tents and gone home." Why didn't the Rams? "The organization," Dryer said, thoughtfully, "well, you get a feeling that people in our organization really care.

Carroll Rosenbloom (the Rams' owner) or Don Klosterman (the general manager) come to practice at least once a week. They're around in case you've got any questions or maybe you've got a personal problem you want to get straightened out. We've even got a good equipment man, best in the league. Everything is first class. "Hell, when things are done right, it's the difference between day and night." For sure, the Rams defense has been doing things right this season.

With Dryer and his counterpart at defensive end, Jack Youngblood, leading the way, the Los Angeles defense allowed the fewest points in the NFL this season 135, which is only two more than the NFL record held by the 1969 Minnesota Vikings. By comparison, the oft-praised Pittsburgh defense yielded 162 points this year and the Vikings gave up 180 points. The defensive front of the Rams is close to the perfect blend Dryer offers quickness, Youngblood plays with tremendous strength. The tackles were as strong as the ends until Larry Brooks considered by many of the Rams to be their best defensive lineman was lost for the season because of a knee injury. Cody Jones has replaced Brooks and, of course, 14-year veteran Merlin Olsen rounds out and anchors the front.

That front four has led a Ram defense that has come up with 45 quarterback sacks this season and forced 36 turnovers. Dryer once described the feeling of playing defense the way the Rams have played this year. "I love to go out and play and see the plays from my position. I'm a great fan. Look at the beauty and timing and grace that goes into the execution of a play even a defensive play.

You watch the fou linemen get off at the snap of the ball, the linebackers go to their zones and the backs cover their guys well, it's a painting. If you had paint on your feet, you'd have a great picture." Most Los Angeles opponents have failed to appreciate the beauty of it. LA Pick By 7 Over Cardinals CASSETTE 40 MINUTE TAPE TA-854 Reg. SC-99 80 MINUTE TAPE TA-855 Tape Play with AM-FM Stereo Efficient Solid-State Circuit Volume, Balance, Tone Controls Two Wave Spkrs. Wrs- Relai'l Price- Auto Tape Player Ideal for RV's, Vans, More Fast Forward, Tone Balance FM AM Stereo Radio Built-in AM FM Radio 12 VDC Styles Vary II OESjn I tl Q53D I inrrlJJ TA-879 LIGHT DIMMER 06J iisS' XM-291 yfl Three 60 Minute XX-048 Oh 9S Cassettes Package of 3 Quality Blank Tapes 60 Minutes Each EMPIRE 2200XEE Blacklist Bulb Watch Colors Come Alivel Use In Ordinary Socket Add Atmosphere To Room For Mood Lighting Replace Wall Switch TVTufsrCtaer TE 184 i fix fssa er MUU1MEUR TESTER Eaiy to Read Mattr Color-Coded Scale Readi: AC, DC Volti.

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