The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-11-25
Russ J. Cowans'
Snort Chatter
I'm picking Michigsn IN Ssiest
hio State, come this Saturday

I'm picking Michigsn In .ksiest
Ohio State, come this SATURDAY
when the two teams peet in CO.
lumbus, Ohio, 10 determine the
championship OF the Big Nine.
You're surprised Al nv timeriyy
Wei honey. dop't be surprised al
anything | do. m hanging on the
lena,Ic- fringe and may flop over
any minute.
Sure. know Ohio State has a
powerful big line. with a guy by
the name Of Bill Willis, an All
American tackle. IL there ever was
one, leading this powerhouse OF
destruction. both Extensively and
detensively.
I'm also acquainted with the ex-
plots on the playing field Of such
backs rs Cline. Flanagan. and Les
Horvath. another guy who will be
among those listed for ALI
American seiection-if Michigan
doesn't put the damper on his &C
tiNitiex.
I'm also well grounded In the
know ledge that the blaming Scarlet
and Gray submerged Indiana. 81
90 Z. while the Hoosiers, . few
weeks before. had scalped Michi-
gan. 20 10 o. sfS the Hoosiers
demoralire the Wolverines In the
early stages Of the game. and the
Michigan attack fell apart COM
plet,ly after the first period. The
blocking was miserable and the
tackling sloppy.
But in subsequent games the
Wolverines have squared away
with some blocking and iaekllns
that IS credit 10 the workman
ship of Coach Fritz CriSler. This
was especially true in the Illinois
game where Michigan bottled up
the mercury-fooied { laude
Buddy Young and held him
kcorelcss for the first time this
season. Ohio State duplicated the
feat last Saturday.
In add tion. Gene Derricotte, Don
1und. Ralph Chubb. and Joe Poin-
sctta form a versatile group OF good
backs, and Dcrricoi,e is capable OF
giving Horvaih good fight for
top honorS, providing those VOL
VERNE linemen can pin back the
ears OF Bill Willis and Bill Hack
etc
Furthermore. Michigan has
played more consistent football
since that Indiana debacle. They've
marched over Minnesota. 70 10 IL;
trounced Northwestern q 10 o;
blasted Purdue out Of the cham
pienship fight To the tune Of 90 to o:
buried Pennsylvania, Il TO 10. and
defeated Illinois and Wisconsin by
the same scores. II to 0.
So. with all that racing through
my mind. I'm picking Michigan to
defeat Ohio State by two touch
downs.
When Coach Clark Shaughnessy
cooked up new defense for llli-
nois and mainly Buddy Young. he
nodded a pattern which has been
followed successfully by Michigan
and Ohio State. While Young was
able 10 run wild against Pittsburgh,
Shaughnessy's defense proved sue
cessful for Michigan and Ohio
State.
Pittsburgh used four-man line.
Crislcr adopted the same system,
using two tackles and two guards
rs the primary line. The ends were
dropped back a yard and half or
two yards and were free and loose
to float 10 the outside IL Young
attempted sweeping end runs.
with this system employed
Michigan held Young to ~ yards In
II attempts at carrying the ball His
two long gains were u and "a
yards.
Ohio State. employing the same
system, with slight variations. held
Young Ia 66 yards at rushing
around the ends. Tie carried the
ball Ave times for 70 yards In the
first period. twice In the second
quarter for "a. He carried the ball
twice In the last half for six more
yards.
There were none OF those long
gains such as he completed against
Illinois Normal. Indiana. Purdue.
Notre Dame. Pittsburgh. Iowa and
Great Lakes. The four-msn line
had stopped Young. And his chance
Of gaining an All-Americsn berth
was lost on the soggy field at Ann