College Football : Schembechler Intimidates Big Ten Officials, Iowa’s Fry Says

While complaining about an official’s call here or an official’s noncall there, Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler spent more time on the field than his offense did in the Wolverines’ 12-10 loss to No. 1 Iowa last Saturday.

A Chicago Tribune columnist wrote this week that if Michigan threw the ball as well as Schembechler throws tantrums, the Wolverines might never lose a game.

If you want to make a small fortune, move to Ann Arbor, Mich., and begin repairing headphones. When you watch Schembechler fling his to the ground, you get the idea where his quarterbacks learn to pass.

One person who didn’t appreciate Schembechler’s behavior Saturday was Iowa Coach Hayden Fry.

“I worry about him having a heart attack,” Fry said at his weekly press conference.

“He and his defensive coordinator (Gary Moeller) do a great job of intimidating the officials. I can’t believe the Big Ten officials let them get away with that.

“All that rinky-dink stuff doesn’t go with football. Think of all the little kids watching that garbage. That’s not sportsmanship. All it would take would be one or two flags to take care of that.

“I want to make it clear that I don’t hold it against Bo. He gets away with it. You don’t see a flag anywhere near his bench in any of the films.

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to start raising billy heck because Bo does it. I don’t believe in it, but somebody in the Big Ten office is sure going to hear about it from me.”

In a lighter vein, Fry told this story:

When his SMU Mustangs played at Ann Arbor in 1963, they were prohibitive underdogs. But they played perhaps their best game of the season and lost, 27-16.

After the game, several executives from the Ford Motor Co., Lee Iacocca among them, visited the dressing room and told Fry about their newest model, which was lightweight but had good acceleration and a lot of spunk.

They told him they were impressed by his outmanned team’s performance against the Wolverines and wanted to name their new car Mustang.

Ford later sent Fry one of the first Mustangs, off the assembly line, a red-and-blue one to match SMU’s colors, for $1.

Iowa would not have been No. 1 this week had it not been for Rob Houghtlin, a walk-on who kicked four field goals, one of them a 29-yarder as time ran out, in the victory over Michigan.

Arkansas might have been No. 1 this week had it not been for Jeff Ward, who kicked five field goals for Texas in the Longhorns’ 15-13 victory last Saturday over the Razorbacks.

Missouri might have won its first game if Nebraska’s Dale Klein hadn’t kicked an NCAA-record-tying seven field goals, a record five in one half, last Saturday and given the Cornhuskers a 28-20 victory.

Also: Rice’s James Hamrick kicked a 57-yard field goal with 18 seconds remaining to give the Owls a 29-27 victory over Texas Tech; Illinois’ Chris White kicked three field goals in the 30-17 victory over Michigan State, giving him a Big Ten record of 47 for his career; UCLA’s John Lee has kicked 14 field goals in 14 attempts this season, and San Diego State’s Chris O’Brien has kicked 16 straight.

College placekickers are making their jobs look so easy these days that the rulemakers are considering handicapping them in the future. Kicking tees may be given the boot.

In 1958, Division I and I-AA teams kicked 108 field goals.

In 1984, those teams kicked more than 2,300 field goals.

Also last season, there were 2.3 field goals for every Division I-A game and 2.1 touchdowns by passing.

Those figures were recited this week by former Delaware Coach Dave Nelson, secretary of the NCAA Football Rules Committee, in an interview with the New York Times.

“The one change we should make is to get rid of the kicking tee,” Nelson said. That would bring the NCAA in line with the NFL, which does not permit tees on field goals and extra points.

“The tee is a mechanical device to assist in a skill,” Nelson said. “It’s tantamount to golf, where you tee it up for the first shot each hole but once out on the playing ground you can’t tee it up.

“The kickoff is at the teeing ground in football, and then you’re out on the field of play from then on and should not get such help.”

College Notes

The nation’s highest-ranking teams in total defense this week are Oklahoma, Arkansas, Central Michigan and Michigan. What do they have in common besides good defenses? They all lost for the first time last Saturday. . . . It took three of the nation’s best passers to beat Oklahoma, Michigan and Central Michigan. Miami’s Vinny Testaverde completed 14 of 27 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns in the 27-14 victory over Oklahoma. Iowa’s Chuck Long completed 26 of 39 passes for 297 yards in the 12-10 victory over Michigan. Bowling Green’s Brian McClure completed 26 of 40 passes in the 23-18 victory over Central Michigan.

McClure set a Division I record for career pass completions with 825. Former Duke quarterback Ben Bennett set the previous record. . . . Another record that figures to fall soon is Walter Payton’s mark for the most touchdowns in a career. He had 66 in four seasons at Jackson State. With three games remaining, Plymouth State’s Joe Dudek has 65. Plymouth State? It’s in Plymouth, N.H. . . .

After the winning field goal against Michigan, thousands of Iowa fans ran onto the field to join the team’s celebration. Mark Vlasic, the Hawkeyes’ backup quarterback and holder for field goals and extra points, was trapped at the bottom of the pile and may miss Saturday’s game against Northwestern with an injured leg. An Iowa student has been charged with inciting a riot for leading the charge on the goal post, which was torn down.

Trailing only Auburn’s Bo Jackson in rushing statistics, Temple’s Paul Palmer figures he should receive more recognition when people mention Heisman Trophy candidates. As of now, Palmer is getting more recognition for his size--he’s 5-9 and 173 pounds--the two stud earrings in his left ear and the tattoo on his right arm. The tattoo says, “Boo-Boo,” after the character of that name in Yogi Bear cartoons.

His college career cut short by a knee injury last Saturday, Tennessee quarterback Tony Robinson will be replaced by Daryl Dickey. He is the son of former Tennessee Coach Doug Dickey. . . . Oklahoma quarterback Troy Aikman broke his left leg against Miami and also is out for the season. He will be replaced by freshman Jamelle Holieway of L.A. Banning High, who runs better than Aikman but has difficulty throwing. . . . Rice has had 22 consecutive losing seasons, an NCAA record for ineptness. But the Owls, 2-31 in their last three seasons, are 3-3 under Coach Watson Brown and have reason for optimism. The previous longest loser, with 19 consecutive losing seasons, was Iowa.

Before this season, Brigham Young never had a problem with its students scalping tickets. University officials said that was because of their students’ ethical standards. But since the Cougars finished No. 1 last season, tickets this season have been more in demand than ever. Guess who has said to heck with ethics? BYU officials are calling other athletic departments to find out how they prevent their students from scalping tickets.