Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 31

MSG TWICE SEES BIG LEAD MELTfAWAY 26 Past Inaiana. 30 Spartans Sta gger shoe Memorial Stadium and wondered how a team hot full of weakness such as Michigan State showed could be ranked as the Nation's No. 1 power. There was sound basis for their skepticism. The lackluster performance probably will cost the Spartans their top ranking and may kill their chances for the first National collegiate championship in the school's 55-year gridiron history.

THE EASY ALIBI for Michigan State is that the players -were "flat" after the Notre Dame triumph. That doesn't explain, however, their dismal overall performance, in which they showed little zest for fundamentals like blocking and tackling. Despite the unimpressive performance, Michigan State in seven previous starts, Michigan State staggered and stumbled all the way. DESPITE THEIR FOUR touchdowns and a field goal, the Spartans were ineffective offensively most of the game. The "smooth-as-silk" manner in which they worked formations against Notre Dame was totally lacking.

The direction was ill-conceived and jittery. Defensively, Michigan State turned in its worst performance of the season. Throughout the campaign it had been the proud boast that no team had put together consistent marches against the Spartan defensive unit. Indiana, an outfit with a "powder puff" punch, did. 1 A slim crowd of 16,000 fans rattled around in the horse BY TOMMY DEVINE Free Pres Staff Writer BLOOMINGTON, Ind.

A world-beater one week, a stumble-bum the next. Michigan State filled the latter role with all the trimmings as it blundered its way to a narrow 30-26 victory over oft-beaten Indiana. A week ago the Spartans approached gridiron perfection as they turned in a dazzling 35-0 victory over Notre Dame. The gridders Coach Clarence (Biggie) Munn sent out against Indiana wore the same green jerseys and bore the same numbers as the players who faced Notre Dame. There the resemblance between them ended.

Against a Hoosier team which had been beaten five times remained among the Nation's select group of undefeated and untied teams. The victory was the Spartans' eighth straight of the season and their 14th in a row over a span of two years. THE ABSOLUTE LACK of variety and deception to the Michigan State attack is indicated by the feebleness of the Spartans on passing. They tried 12 aerials and completed only five for a meager gain of 47 yards. The one bright spot to the Spartans' drab performance was a brilliant 83-yard dash by Sophomore Billy Wells, of Menominee.

Wells, who repeatedly has been a saviour for Michigan State when it has been in trouble, provided the Spartans with their third touchdown on his breakaway dash. It was a touchdown sprint which pulled the team temporarily off the ropes and momentarily made it look like a team befitting its rank. s- But after that shot in the arm Michigan State lapsed back into its lackadaisical ways. Prior to facing the Spartans, Indiana could point only to STATISTICS INDIANA 17 178 173 17 9 0 32.0 3 25 MSC 14 289 47 13 5 1 29.3 31 First downs Rushing yardage Passing yardage Passes attempted Passes completed Passes intercepted Punting average Fumbles lost Yards penalized Michigan State Indiana -tilO-' 4 WSrt i'J hv 14 0 0 14 7 0 930 1226 iiTflrMnthtia-i igTiHwffahirtTTM-ii i-ffli rmtfrffTTBfti Free Press Photo by Ton; Spins SPAKTAXS STAGE THRILLING GOAL-LINE STAND TO TAKE BALL AWAY FROM INDIANA A SCANT FOOT FROM A TOUCHDOWN MSC offensive team comes in as Hoosiers leave field after getting five shots at touchdown from the two-yard line Cats Make JM Mighty Miserable, 60 5t7t Defeat Costs Title in Big Ten It's Worst Season in Many Years Michigan State: Touchdowns R. Tamburo, Dekker, Wells 2.

Conversions Bob Carey 3. Field Goal Bob Carey. Indiana: Touchdowns Gedman 2, C. Anderson, D'Achille. Conversions D'Achille 2.

its 32-10 triumph over Ohio State as a gridiron gem in a disappointing season which has cost Coach Clyde Smith his job. THE HOOSIERS CAME close to puling one of the season's major upsets by toppling the Spartans. They went into the game a three-touchdown underdog but made that rating look foolish. In addition to a lot of bad football, the teams tossed in a bit of alley brawling for the benefit of the shivering spectators. Play was stopped twice in the fourth period because of the fisticuffs.

Tackle Frank Kapral, of the Spartans, and Guard John Morgan, of Indiana, were banished after the first exchange. Then Hoosier Tackle Pete Russo was ejected for fighting, and his outburst touched off a melee that saw both benches empty as the squads streamed on the field. Michigan State twice had golden opportunities to take charge of the game and win with ease. But as has been the case so often this season as soon as the Spartans went to the front, a letdown followed and they had to fight for their lives to pull out the triumph. MICHIGAN STATE SQUANDERED a two-touchdown lead it accumulated in the first period and saw a 30-14 lead it held early in the fourth quarter fritter away in the dying portions of the contest.

The Spartans were off galloping. Three minutes and 20 seconds after the opening kickoff they had a gift touchdown from Indiana. After an exchange of punts at the outset of the game, the Hoosiers were pushed back to their own 15. Lou D'Achille, the southpaw quarterback fumbled while back to pass. The ball squirted across the goal line and Linebacker Dick Tamburo recovered for a Michigan State touchdown.

Bob Carey converted, and the Spartans were off running. Before the period ended, Michigan State had another tally. Another Hoosier fumble, which again was recovered by Tamburo, set up this scoring chance. Tamburo came up with a bobble by Halfback Bill Dozier on the Indiana 26-yard line. Three running plays and two passes negotiated the distance.

The score came on a five yard too from Quarterback Al Dorow to End Paul Dekker. Again Carey converted and Michigan State led, 14 to 0. IT LOOKED EASY, the old "taking-candy-from-a-baby" Turn to Page 6, Column 3 1 'V STATISTICS l'-M First downs 17 Kushinc yardage 244 Passing yardace Passes attempted 18 Passes completed 5 Passes Intercepted 1 Punting average. 30 Fumbles Inst 3 lards penalized 25 11 81 1A 2 43 'd i i 'I 4 r-87 KKAGSETH NORTHWESIERhLJ, "St Free Press Photo by Dick Tripp CHUCK IIREN-, northwester: fullback, blasts his way through u-m defenses to oxly score of game THE DETROIT FREE PRESS FINANCIAL SUNDAY, NOV. 18, 1951 SECTION iff JF RIVALS MARCH ON Dip in Grid Glory Seen for Spartans PI Jlla-X i Lf flA'M A cv.

ash, nutAMVi-w BY HAL MIDDLESWORTH Free Presi Staff Writer ANN ARBOR Northwest-em's spoilers did it again. Just as they knocked Illinois out of a trip to the Rose Bowl a year ago, the Wildcats upset Michigan, 6 to 0, here Saturday and slammed the Big Ten title door in the faces of the frustrated Wolverines. The defeat eliminated the Wolverines from consideration for the title they had won or shared for four years. ILLINOIS IS the Conference pace-setter with a 4-0-1 record, but Wisconsin (4-1-1) and Purdue (3-1-0) still have a chance to pull down the crown and take the Rose Bowl journey. The mini will be forced to beat Northwestern to get the bid.

Saturday was a dark day in Michigan football history. The Wolverines piled up a lot of yardage but couldn't convert it into touchdowns principally because they lost the bail five times on interceptions and twice on fumbles. They spotted the hustling Wildcats a second-period touchdown after one of the fumbles. Then they tried all afternoon to get it back, in vain. When Michigan failed, it had lost its fifth game of the season and its second in conference play.

THE LAST Michigan team to lose as many as five games in one campaign was in 1936 and the last to drop two conference decisions was in 1944. l- Worse than that, this was a Northwestern team which had won only one other Big Ten game in four previous starts. It also had been the lowest scoring team in Big Ten play. But the Wildcats weren't reading the records as they tangled with Michigan under clear skies before 58,300 well-chilled fans. Theirs was to be the spoiler's role once again.

THE TEAMS sparred through the first period with both missing scoring chances. Michigan flubbed on an early pass which was intercepted deep in Northwestern territory. The Wildcats missed when one of Bob Burson's passes sailed incomplete over the head of End Bill Kuehl in the end zone. Then the Wolverines set ub the Northwestern score, which came early in the next quarter. Michigan had moved to mid-field, largely on a 34-yard sprint by Halfback Frankie Howell.

On the next play, Howell fumbled on an attempted reverse. Turn to Page 2, Column -X. -V juio 5 v- i--y-m- Michigan State's rating as the nation's No. 1 collegiate football power may he about ready to totter. While the Spartans were stumbling to a 30-26 victory over Indiana, all challengers, except third-ranked Illinois, were winning by box car scores.

TENNESSEE, No. 2 in the Associated Press poll a week ago and heir-apparent to the Spartan throne, soundly whipped Mississippi, 46 to 21. But the Vols had lots of company in Saturday's touclidown parade. Maryland (No. 5) walloped North Carolina State, 53 to 0.

Wisconsin (No. 8) trampled Iowa, 34 to 7. Kentucky (No. 9) buried George Washington University, 47 to 13. Baylor (No.

10) stunned Wake Forest, 42 to 0. Only Illinois shared MSC's misery. The Ulini managed to escape with a lack-luster scoreless tie against Ohio State. Free TretB Photo by Vince Witek via Speci il Wirephoto Transmission PUSHING AROUND is taken by MSC End Hoosiers kept them on the go all afternoon. Bill Carey from Indiana's Jerry Van Ooyen Carey was unable to hang on to this pass as be tries to catch a pass! But Bill fared no and it was ruled incomplete, worse than the rest of the Spartans as the "V- 1 'I i 1V 1 i ,,,,111,1 mmniii 30 Indiana 26 46 Mississippi 21 0 Ohio State 0 35 Oregon State 14 53 N.

C. State 0 27 Yale 0 27 Alabama 7 34 Iowa 7 47 George Washington 13 42 Wake Forest 0 1 Michigan State 2 Tennessee 3 Illinois 4 Stanford 5 Maryland 6 Princeton 7 Georgia Tech 9 Kentucky 1 0 Baylor Gridder Killed While Hunting BELLMAWR, N. Harold Lee, 18, a star football player at Audubon, high school, was accidentally killed by his own gun while duck hunting. Police said Lee reached into the bow of a rowboat and pulled a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun toward him. The -weapon went off, fatally wounding" him in the left side of his neck.

Green Terrors Finish Unbeaten BALTIMORE (P) Western Maryland's Green Terrors closed their 1951 football campaign with their first undefeated season since 1929 by rolling over Johns Hopkins, 33 to 6, It was the Westminister eleven's eighth victory and it was good enough to capture the Mason-Dixon Conference grid championship. Virginia Tech Finally Wins BLACKSBURG, Virginia Tech's battered football forces slammed over three first-half touchdowns here in a minor blizzard and defeated the University of Richmond, 20 to 14. It was its first victory after 17 straight losses. Susquehanna Wins for Stagg undefeated and untied season for a six-game campaign. Stagg, co-coaches the eastern Pennsylvania collegians with his son, Amos, Jr.

COLLE GEVILLE, Pa. (JP) Susquehanna University's football team beat Ursinus, 19 to 14, to present its 89-year-old coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg, with an Tree Pres Pboto by Tony Spina Tia Special Wirephoto Transmission SPARTAN END PAUL DEKKER GRABS TD PASS Quarterback Al Dorow was on the throwing fad.