The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 21

Ilinois no longer unknown factor Yardstick i By Jim Barnhart Pantagraph sports editor CHAMPAIGN The Hiding Illini were forced out of their closet Saturday where they had been secreted since Gary Moeller took over as head football coach last winter. Sheltered from the eyes of newsmen and fans during spring practice and preseason drills, Illinois went public before 60,477 people, the largest opening-day crowd in school history. But second nationally-ranked University of Michigan ruined Moeller's debut with a 37-9 Big 10 Conference football victory and spoiled Illinois' streak of having won four straight opening games. The much-quicker Wolverines turned loose quarterback Leach and tailback Harlan Huckleby to torment the Illini on offense and the losers were able to get into Michigan territory just once on their own. All Illinois points were set up by Michigan fumbles in Illini territory.

Illinois penetrated as far as the Michigan 47-yard line early in the second period but that was it as far as sustained drives went. "I expected a close game," said Moeller. "I really thought we could win. Obviously, I was wrong in my appraisal. "The game was radically different from what I expected.

I thought we'd play better and it was very disappointing for me." Illini quarterback Kurt Steger, extremely vocal in pre-season interviews as to what was wrong with former coach Bob Blackman, suffered through a long day before being benched midway in the fourth period in favor of Mike McCray. Steger, who skipped out on the post-game news conference, finished with minus 31 yards rushing and completed just three of eight passes for 37 yards. He also threw an interception. One Chicago writer "I had a chance to interview Steger. He walked by me but I didn't recognize him stand- Illinois 11-yard line.

Linebacker John Sullivan, who registered 17 tackles, credited Michigan with having a great offensive line. "They just outplayed us all the way," said Sullivan. "They didn't come out and do anything to surprise us. We were very emotional and up for Ihe game. We really thought we could beat them.

"They weren't coming off the ball and punching us. They were position-blocking us. Leach is a very smart quarterback. "He and that offensive line are the keys. Huckleby didn't run hard; he sort of tip-toed up to the line and tried to get outside.

"Leach knows when you're outside and then breaks it back inside on you. We felt the defense was on the field too much." Defensive tackle Jim Kogut echoed Sullivan. "They weren't physical in coming off the ball," said Kogut. "They just got in your way. They executed and didn't make mistakes.

"Leach read what we were doing and took advantage of it." Moeller was just as impressed with Leach, who's been a starter since his freshman year and has another to go. "Their offense is very good and Leach makes it go," said Moeller. "His ability to run inside with the option is the key. "Our defense didn't play as well as it should have but the defense can't play that often. You can't give Michigan the ball that much.

"They have a good defense but you have to execute against it and I don't think we did that. This was the big killer. "We didn't handle the ball as crisply as we should have. We wanted to throw the ball more but we had to establish a running game first. "It will be tough to gear up for Missouri next week but we'll find out what kind of people we really have.

I'm not trying to downgrade Michigan; they have a good program. That's where I'd like to see this program some day." The unruffled Wolverines came right back after the Illini field goal with two touchdowns for a 13-3 lead at the University of Illinois tailback James Coleman fumbles the football deep in Michigan territory during fourth quarter action Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. See additional photo on page B-4. (Pantagraph' photos) Oops Mo vs. Bo show yields few surprises in end in.

Mich. 26 20 5 1 Total First Downs 9 By rushing 6 By passing 2 By penalty 1 Net yards gained from scrimmage 107 426 By Rushing 59 350 By passing 48 76 Passes attempted 10 12 Completed 5 6 Intercepted by .12 Number of punts 7 '2 Average distance 39.6 46.5 Number of Fumbles 4 4 Own fumbles recovered 2 2 Yards penalized 5 15 Leach hit Clayton with his 30-yard scoring strike with 3 15 left in the period and moments later Charlie Weber fumbled and Mike Jolly recovered for Michigan on the Illinois 41. Five plays later, Huckleby went 15 yards around right end for the score. Michigan dominated the second quarter on a time-consuming 76-yard touchdown drive in 15 plays with Huckleby taking an option pitch from Leach for the final three yards. Big play in the drive was a Leach-to-Huckleby pass for 12 yards.

Michigan scored on its first possession in the third quarter with Gregg Willner booting a 23-yard field goal. The Wolverines then drove 62 yards, culminated by Leach's 11-yard scoring pass to Johnson for a 30-3 lead. Illinois tailback Jim Coleman fumbled midway in the fourth period and Ron Simpkins recovered on the Illini four. Davis pounded across for the touchdown. Michigan Illinois 13 7 10 7-37 3 0 0 6 I II Finzer 42 FG Mich Clayton 30 pass from Leach (Willner kick) Mich-Huckleby 15 run (kick failed) Mich Huckleby 3 run (Willner kick) Mich-Willner 23 FG Mich G.

Johnson 11 pass from Leach (Willner kick) Mich Davis 4 run (Willner kick) III Baker 1 run (kick failed) INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING-Michigan, Huckleby 24-128; Davis 18-98; Leach 12-78. Illinois, Coleman 18-64. PASSING-Michigan, Leach 6-11-2, 86. Illinois, Steeger 3-8-1, 37. RECEIVING-Michigan, G.

Johnson 2-30; Davis 2-4; Clayton 1-30. Illinois, Peach 1-16; Rouse 1-12; Schooley 1-9. scored two touchdowns on the afternoon for the Wolverines, who beat Illinois, 37-9. Illinois defenders are John Sullivan (97) and Richie Mitchem (32). Karr said San Diego State has to have an adequate guarantee to go on the road.

"The ideal situation is to develop home and home series with schools which are equal to you in financial potential," said Kar.r. "But getting a schedule to show off your teams can bring more credibility to your program," said Karr. "You do this by beating good teams. "Illinois State basketball has been outstanding the last decade. But it will be more difficult to bring football up to that standard.

"I won't say a school like Illinois State can't make it but it would be a tremendous uphill battle. Nothing is impossible but you all have to want the same thing. "There may be ways to overcome all these handicaps but it will take a strong effort." San Diego' State also enjoys the winning tradition that ISU lacks. The Aztecs have not had a losing football season since 1960. Only in 1971 when San Diego State was 6-5, have the Aztecs lost more than three games in one season.

Now if San Diego State has all these things going for it but still does not crack the top 20 in the football ratings on a consistent basis, where does that leave ISU? The ISU program can be improved but don't expect miracles. Miracles cfjst money. SPORTS Bloomington-Normal, III. Sept. 11, 1977 B-1 ing up." "Steger's performance was very average at best," said Moeller.

"I'd like to see him more relaxed at the beginning. "Michigan is a fine football team," continued Moeller, who was the Wolverines' defensive coordinator before coming to Illinois. "But they're not that much better than we are. We should have showed that." Illinois took an early 3-0 lead on a 42-yard field goal by freshman Dave Finzer but the rest was downhill. Leach spiced Michigan's ground attack with touchdown passes of 30 yards to Ralph Clayton and 11 yards to Gene Johnson while Huckleby ripped off touchdown runs of 15 and three yards.

Huckleby finished with 128 yards gained in 24 carries while fullback Russell Davis accounted for 98 yards in 18 attempts. Leach completed six of 11 passes for 86 yards. Illinois startled the huge crowd when Huckleby fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Jerry Ramshaw recovered on the Michigan 43-yard line. Steger hit Tom Schooley with a nine-yard pass but the drive bogged down and Illinois had to settle for Finzer's field goal. Late in the game, Roosevelt Smith fumbled and Bruce Thornton recovered for Illinois on the Michigan 25.

Seven plays later, Clarence Baker scored from the one-yard line for Illinois' only touchdown. The game ended with Michigan on the II I Diego State's favor. "There are 16 to 20 million people between San Francisco and Tiajuana," said Karr. "We have 1.3 million people within a 35-minute drive of our stadium." Then too California's junior colleges are. geared to well-run athletic programs.

Illinois Valley Community College at Oglesby is the only junior college down-state which plays football. There are four football-playing junior colleges within the greater San Diego area and 90-95 junior colleges in California which support full athletic programs. "They all have good programs," said Karr. "This includes facilities and coaching." San Diego State has just one out-of-stater on its football roster. The Aztecs don't like to go out of state because it has to pay the high out-of-state fees for its athletes.

There are no tuition waivers at San Diego State. The athletic department must pay tuition to the school for the athletes it brings in on scholarship. Karr admits that scheduling has been the toughest hurdle for the Aztecs to overcome. Now an independent, San Diego State becomes a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in July. Hawaii will join in 1979 and Las Vegas fcy "ifPr r.

I I By Bill Flick Pantagraph sports writer CHAMPAIGN It was billed as a showdown. Bo versus Mo. The teacher against the student. A young, but enthusiastic University of Illinois football team battling the likes of Michigan, the perennial powerhouse. A record opening-day crowd passed, through the gates at Memorial Stadium to watch the spectacle unfold.

And for a few fleeting moments, it looked as if 5 their money was well spent. But in the end, there were no surprises. Michigan is still one of the top grid squads in the country. Illinois is still trying to build a challenger. And the Illini's first-year man, Gary Moeller, is still learning from his former boss, Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines' head coach.

Saturday before 60,477 fans, Moeller learned a lesson in defeat. Michigan 37, Illinois 9. "It was hard to get up for the game because everyone likes him so much," Schembechler said, in reference to Moeller, who left Michigan last winter as Schembechler's right-hand man a defensive coach to take the Illinois head coaching job. But for a team that wasn't 'up', the Wolverines put on quite a disguise. After suffering a few opening-minute jitters and subsequently falling behind, 3-0, on Illini freshman David Finzer's 42-yard field goal, Michigan was virtually unstoppable at least, for Illinois.

fF NH 1- 4-A ir-trYttrm ir Tin i Michigan's tailback Harlan Huckleby dives over Illini defenders for a short gain Saturday during action at at Cham- paign. Huckleby, who gained 128 yards, The Wolverines did fumble the ball four times and Ail-American candidate Rick Leach did fire two interceptions. But Illinois seemingly could never capitalize on a stout Michigan defense. "It was a first game and we didn't play as we were capable," said Schembechler. "But you have to be satisfied to win on the road against a team that knows everything we do.

"If we continue to play football like that, then we aren't going to build any winning streaks, that's for sure. But I was satisfied. "Mo's (Moeller) a great coach and that team will, as the season goes along, improve. They played very sound football. I expected them to run an offense like ours, but when you do that, it helps if you have a Rick Leach." The Wolverine junior signal caller, who is accustomed to Schembechler's trademark style of running over the opponent instead of passing, certainly didn't win a Heisman Trophy Saturday.

But he didn't have what you would call a bad day, either. Leach found Ralph Clayton on the end of a 30-yard pass for Michigan's first touchdown and also threw an 11-yard strike to Gene Johnson in the second half. Still, Leach wasn't satisfied. "I didn't think I had a particularly outstanding day, to say the least," the left-handed quarterback chuckled. "I could have hit a lot more if I was on target a little more.

The one time I felt I was going to hit someone, did I ever get hit, myself." Ken Kan San Diego State, where Illinois State graduate Ken Karr is athletic director, is a school, which in nine years, pulled itself up from college division status to being rated among the top 75 football schools in Division 1. However, San Diego State started its move in 1969, long before inflation began to run rampant and the women wanted half of everything, whether they earned it or not. The first thing Karr did was put together a full Division 1 schedule. ISU has yet to do this and can't before 1981 because the football schedules are full until after that season. But even 15 years ago, San Diego State's leaders evidently were more far-sighted than ISU's.

Illinois State's Hancock Stadium was constructed in 1963 and has a seating capacity of 15,000. San Diego State can park that many cars. San Diego State broke ground for its stadium in 1965 and if Leach wasn't talking about hitting passes. On a running play late in the second quarter, he was knocked windless when an Illini linebacker barrelled into his stomach. He sat out the remainder of the quarter.

"We should have passed more," said Schembechler. "But then again, the pass was there when we wanted it. I thought Rick did a good job." Illinois took a 3-0 lead four minutes into the contest after Michigan running back, Harlan Huckleby, fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. Finzer followed with his field goal. But neither Schembechler nor Huckleby seemed overly concerned about the early Illinois score.

"We weren't at all shook when they took the lead, not at all," said the coach. Huckleby echoed his coach. "It was my fault," said the 6-foot-2, 200-pound tailback from Detroit. "I should have never fumbled that ball like that. "But I wasn't worried about us losing the game because of it.

If that three points meant the difference in the game, then we didn't deserve to win anyway." After the game, Schembechler strolled across the field and slapped his old pupil, Moeller, on the back. "Hang in there, Mo," he said. "You're doing a good job. Just hang in there." Said Huckleby, "We admire Gary. He's a great guy.

But today, we just wanted to show him Michigan is Michigan and Illinois is Illinois." Gary Moeller is still learning. dedicated it in 1967.. It has an 122-acre parking lot with room for 15,000 cars. The stadium seats 53,000 people. San Diego State has an enrollment of 33,000, about 14 000 more than ISU.

But 15 years ago there wasn't that much difference. Karr says that 25 per cent of the Aztec football crowds are made up of students and his school averaged more than 38,000 pei1 football game last year. Students pay up to 50 per cent of full ticket price. However, right now, they're paying $2 per game and about $1.80 per game if they purchase season tickets. But whereas ISU athletics lean heavily on student fees, San Diego State receives just $150,000 from the university for men and women's athletics.

The school's athletic department self-generates about 80 per cent of its budget. It does this through ticket sales, booster club activities, and private donations. The operating budget for men and women's athletics is 1.5 million dollars. The athletic department self-generates 1.3 million. However, Karr admits the women have not generated any funds through gate receipts.

So, unless new ways are developed to raise additional monies, the budget will have to stay as it is. Population is another factor in San Successful football more than just coaching By Jim Barnhart Pantagraph sports editor The pundit who claims nothing is impossible has never tried to install a successful college football program on the NCAA Division 1 level. And anyone who thinks Illinois State someday is going to be challenging the likes of Illinois, Purdue, and Iowa for high school football talent has gone off the deep end. The Redbirds have a first-rate head coach in Charlie Cowdrey and his predecessor Gerry Hart did a great deal to reverse the trend which had less than desirable characters coming in on football rides. Before Hart started to recruit first-class citizens, there were times when it appeared Redbird Rap-up would have to be held at te McLean County Jail.

During the first few years of his career, Gerry was saddled with the leftovers of a previregime but once he began recruiting on his own, he brought in people who didn't have to be pointed toward the classroom. The coaching is there but the facilities, money, winning tradition, and population necessary for big-time football are not. Without these pluses, Illinois State can't even begin to think about being among the top 100 football schools in Division 1. Second Guessing in 1980. "This will give us a nine-team league and will be a sound affiliation, especially from an income standpoint," said Karr.

Even so, San Diego State was able to entice Iowa State to come out to California four years running for its. 11th football game. "People like to come out here where it's warm at the end of the season," said Karr. Although Karr said scheduling has been difficult, he has Missouri, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma State on future charts..