Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 51

Today's television highlights; NBC 1:00 p.m. NFL football: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh CBC 2:00 p.m. CFL football: Ottawa at Montreal CBS 3:30 p.m. NFL Today CBS 4:00 p.m. Lions' football: New Orleans at Detroit Sunday, Qct.12, 1380 the scoreboard Complete sports rundown.

Page 4. INSIDE OF SPORTS HORSE RACING OUTDOORS DETROIT FREE PRESS CLASSIFIED ADS 13-24 is Michigan champ just barely By MICK McCABE Free Press Sports Writer ANN ARBOR Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler is beginning to realize that nothing will come easy to his football team this season. frX Jim NL playoffs "That was a critical penalty," Schembechler said. "My thinking for taking the penalty was if I get the touchdown, fine, but I'd be as conservative as I could. None of my coaches wanted to go for what we went for.

They wanted a safe play. They tried to exercise their veto but I called the play." U-M, A 17-POINT FAVORITE, looked the part early when Haji-Shiekh kicked a 25-yard field goal and Marion Body intercepted a pass at MSU's 22 after it was tipped by linebacker Andy Cannavino. A 21-yard pass from Wangler to Carter set up Larry Ricks' one-yard score for a 10-0 U-M lead. Andersen got MSU on the board with a 49-yard field goal and when U-M failed to pick up a first down at the Spartans' 39, the momentum shifted. Leister rolled out for a seven-yard TD to tie the score.

U-M appeared to have regained a halftime lead when Haji-Shiekh kicked a 29-yard field goal with 46 seconds left in the second quarter. But Leister led the Spartans downfield with a pair of 20-yard passes to set up Andersen's 57-yard field goal, just two yards short of Tom Skladaney's Big Ten record. After U-M took its 20-13 lead, Andersen began the fourth quarter with a 35-yard field goal. See U-M, Page 13D This Saturday, it was a rejuvenated Michigan State team that gave the Wolverines fits before U-M escaped with a 27-23 victory before 105,263 fans at Michigan Stadium. The Spartans of first-year coach Muddy Waters were Inspired by the gutty performance of quarterback John Leister and the superior effort of place-kicker Morten Andersen.

But in the end, the Wolverines, 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten, had too much talent for MSU, 1-4 and 0-2. "They're all struggles," said Schembechler. "It was about what we anticipated. People tend to underrate them, but they played a good gme. We just hung in there and persevered." THE LOSS WAS especially tough on Waters, whose team was as emotionally charged as it was in last week's 26-21 loss to Notre Dame.

"This Is the first time I've seen a team as high as we were two weeks in a row," Waters said. "It was almost a carbon copy of last week's game. I'm mighty proud of them. We played as good as we can." The Spartans may have played better than they can, except when they made a couple of key mistakes. The biggest error came midway through the third quarter, with the score tied, 13-13.

U-M's Ali Haji-Sheikh booted a 36-yard field goal but MSU's Thomas Morris knocked down the U-M kicker as he had twice before. This time, he was was hit with a roughing the kicker penalty, That gave U-M a first down at MSU's nine-yard line. The Ohio State Buckeyes, ranked ninth in the nation, demolish Northwestern, 63-0, behind quarterback Art Schlichter. The story is on Page 8D, Photy by Free Press Chief Photographer TONY SPINA Tailback Lawrence Ricks takes a plunge and comes up with Michigan's first touchdown of the day. Three plays later from the four-yard line, John Wangler lofted as pass that Anthony Carter ran under for a touchdown.

There's no telling what makes no-name Astros fly HOUSTON The year was 1965, and the $30-million Astrodome, that revolutionary glass-roofed edifice being billed as "the Eighth Wonder of the World," was brand new. The star of the struggling baseball team that called the Dome home was a rookie second baseman named Joe Morgan. The year was 1972 and the Astros, still struggling, decided they no longer needed a chunky little second baseman who flapped his wing like a chicken every time he stepped up to the plate. So they made him a Cincinnati Red. But before he left town, Joe Morgan made a vow.

"I'll come back some day," he promised, "and help this team win a pennant." How, pray tell, do they do it? Now, like Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Joe Morgan, an Astro once again, intends to keep his word. You look at the Houston Astros and you have to shake your head. How in the heck do they do it? How in the heck! Their ace pitcher, James Rodney Richard, is still battling back from a stroke. The Astros hope and pray he may someday be able to lead a normal life again.

None dare even dream of the day he will be able to return to the mound in earnest Their centerfielder, and their one true star, Cesar Cedeno, has his right foot en- ImL. I cased in a plaster cast. The sea Spartan QB silver lining on dark day By GEORGE PUSCAS Free Press Sports Writer ANN ARBOR Call back the kickoff, turn back the calendar. Start the season over again. Now Michigan State is ready.

Or so it would seem. The luckless Spartans lost the big game to Michigan Saturday, as everyone expected it would, but something far more significant rMM" mmmmm MI.PIIBIWIMWMMJ1ILMI I I I III MB HM I HIMIlip Jii HI -rT' 3 vl- Cf 'i happened to the Spartans. They discovered their future. Their future is a tall, 19-year-old sopho more quarterback named John Leister. Unfortunately, they discovered him weeks too late.

JUST A FEW weeks ago, few knew Leis ter existed, but suddenly he is the kid of the hour and the promise of the next several years son he had been awaiting for 10 long years is already over for him. Their best catcher, Alan Ashby, can barely bend over because of badly bruised ribs. Their back-up catcher, Luis Pujols, has a couple of stitches in one of his fielding fingers. Morgan, their sparklug second baseman, is hobbling on a sore knee and way past his prime for Michigan State. It that seems small consolation for a team that now has fallen four times in five games, you are wrong.

The battered Spartans are ready to grasp for any hope, any sign, that can Joe Morgan Their gifted third baseman, Enos Cabell, has a pulled groin muscle and probably shouldn't even be playing. suggest better days are ahead. John Leister is it. He scared the breath from Michigan and captured the fancy of 105,263 in the huge Michigan Bowl Saturday as he threatened time and again to lift MSU to a monumental upset. A 6-foot-2, 195-pounder from Montana, the kid can pass, and he can run.

He can run dispsy-doo and he can run with power and he can throw the ball on a string for half the See LEISTER, Page 8D Free Press Photo by ALAN KAMUDA Lawrence Ricks (with ball) finds putting U-M ahead 9-0 in the first quarter is an uplifting experience. Call him 'Fry, 9 as in pennant winner top 20 teams fklh Drian PS AL playoffs athlete, the Ohio native had nothing but bit parts and behind-the-scenes jobs in the great production that is organized baseball. He never saw his name in lights, and in the list of credits he was in small print. Until now. Suddenly, 49-year-old Jim Frey is a star.

Fifteen years with the Baltimore Orioles as a scout, minor league manager, hitting instructor for rookie prospects, bullpen coach, first base coach, and winter league manager finally paid off last fall. See FREY, Page 3D NEW YORK What is a guy named Jim Frey doing in a World Series? Isn't the manager of a pennant winner supposed to be named Weaver or Martin or Anderson or Lasorda? People still wonder, even after he led the Kansas City Royals to a West Division title and an American League Championship Series sweep: Who is James Gottfried Frey? They don't even know how to pronounce his name. It doesn't sound like it looks; it's pronounced "fry," not "fray" or "free." Jim Frey has been around professional How the top 20 teams in the Press college football poll fared Saturday (records in 1 Alabama (5-0-0) beat Rutgers, 17-13. 2 Southern Cal (4-0-0) at Arizona, night. 3 Texas (5-0-0) beat Oklahoma.

20-13. 4 Pittsburgh (4-0-0) baseball a long time 30 years, in fact, starting in 1950 when he began a minor league career as an outfielder in Paducah, Ky. But he never made the major leagues, SINCE HE STOPPED making a living as an Still, the persistent Astros persevere. "Most successful clubs have problems," sighed Bill Virdon, the bespectacled boss, trying to sound philosophical. "They have to overcome them if they're to become champions.

And we certainly have had our share." You can say that again. The Houston Astros lead the major leagues in nobodys. "They ought to call us the Houston Owls," chuckled bench warmer Dave Bergman Saturday. "Whenever anybody talks about us, they go all the time." Who, indeed. Talk about your bargains The roster of the Houston Astros reads like it was put together at a rummage sale.

No fewer than five of the Astros arrived in Texas incognito, as anonymous, innocuous, "players-to-be-named-later." Bruce Bochy, Danny Heep and Gordy Pladson were so impressive as kids they were totally ignored in the amateur draft. Pitcher Ken Forsch was the 341st player picked in 1968. Relief ace Joe Sambito was No. 395 in '73 Leftfielder Jose Cruz cost the Astros $25,000 when they purchased his contract from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Joe Niekro cost Houston 20 grand. Vern Ruhle came free. Joaquin Andujar was acquired in trade from the Cincinnati Reds for a couple of minor leaguers. Alan Ashby was a flop, first in Cleveland, then in Toronto. Dave Bergman came from the Yankees, Enos Cabell from the Orioles, Art Howe from the Pirates.

Houston got Denny Walling from Oakland, Bobby Sprowl from Boston, Frank Lacorte from Atlanta, Craig Reynolds from Seattle, and Rafael Landestoy from Los Angeles. These are the players who yearn to represent the National League in baseball's most prestigious event. "We've been scrapping like this for two months," said Bergman, "and we've shown we can be successful. But we don't do anything easy. "We've been blessed with some talent, and big hearts." Still, you look at the Houston Astros and you have to shake your head.

How in the heck? at Florida night. 5 UCLA (4-0-0) vs. Stanford, incomplete. 6 Georgia (5-0-0) beat Mississippi, 28-21. 7 Notre Dame (4-0-0) beat Miami, 32-14.

North Carolina (5-0-0) beat Wake Forest, 27-9. 9 Ohio State (4-1-0) beat Northwestern, 63-0. 10 Nebraska (4-1-0) beat Kansas, 54-0. 11 Florida State (4-1-0) vs. Pittsburgh, night.

12 Oklahoma (2-2-0) lost to Texas, 20-13. 13 Miami, Fla. (4-1-0) lost to Notre Dame, 32-14. 14 Penn State (4-1-0) beat Maryland, 24-10. 15 Arkansas (3-1-0) vs.

Wichita night. 16 Stanford (4-1-0) at UCLA, incomplete. 17 South Carolina (4-1-0) vs. Duke, night. Miami no match for Irish, 32-14 SOUTH BEND, Ind.

(AP) Jim Stone battered Miami of Florida's heralded defense for 224 yards rushing and Tom Gibbons returned an intercepted pass 53 yards for a touchdown Saturday as undefeated and seventh-ranked Notre Dame defeated the 13th-ranked Hurricanes, 32-14. Blair Kiel, the first freshman to start a game at quarterback for the Irish since Ralph Guglielmi 29 years ago, scored the first Irish touchdown and Harry Oliver booted field goals of 19, 28, 38 and 37 yards to hand Miami its first defeat. Stone, filling in for injured Phil Carter, the nation's second-leading rusher with a 166.3 average, picked up 131 yards in the first half against a Hurricane team that had allowed only 63 total rushing yards in four previous starts, for an average of 15.7 yards a game. But this time it was the Irish defense that stood out as Notre Dame notched its fourth victory. The Irish didn't allow a Miami first down from midway in the first quarter until the fourth.

MIAMI FINALLY made a move early in the fourth quarter and scored when Jim Kelly hit Pat Walker with a 1 3-yard pass. See NOTRE DAME, Page 7D CMU streak dies in 24-9 Ohio loss By TERRY FOSTER Free Press Special Writer ATHENS, Ohio Central Michigan University's unbeaten streak ended where it began as Ohio University quarterback Sam Shon completed 20 of 32 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Bobcats to a surprisingly easy 24-9 upset and ending the Chippewas' string at 23. Ohio tallied the first 24 points of its Homecoming game, with tight end Shawn Silcott collecting two touchdown passes for 12 and seven yards while flanker Mark Green collected the other on a 14-yard aerial. Place-kicker Ron Harter gave the Bobcats a 17-0 halftime lead on a 25-yard field goal. The Chips staged a mild rally when quarterback Kevin Northup scampered one yard for a touchdown with 2:31 remaining In the third quarter.

Place-kicker Novo Bojovic provided the final points of the game on a 38-yard field goal one minute and 40 seconds into the fourth quarter. But CMU never threatened thereafter, as Chip receivers dropped passes and the Ohio defense teed off on CMU's offensive line, forcing Northup to scramble. CMU began its 23-game unbeaten string here Oct. 7, 1978, with a 17-3 victory. Ohio held CMU to 184 yards total offense, while they rolled up 336.

See CMU, Page 9D Contest response is un-Billy-vable! We're overwhelmed. Our post office trays runneth over. When we asked you to suggest nicknames for Detroit Lions' football hero Billy Sims, we expected a good response. But we didn't expect what we got more than 37,000 suggestions by the Oct. 1 deadline So we're still opening and sorting and reading.

We'll finish this week, and we'll announce the winners next Sunday. (4-0-0) (4-1-0) 30-7. (4-0-0) 18 Baylor vs. SMU, night. 19 Missouri beat Oklahoma St 20 SMU 1 at Baylor, night.

NHL sizeups: Free Press sports writer Bill McGraw offers team-by team assessments, while five of the Red Wings' staunchest The Texas Longhorns, ranked third in the nation, defeat the No. 12-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 20-13. Story on Page 9D. fans offer their own views. Inside Sports page, 10D..