Rose Bowl : Mini-Vacation Over, Michigan Is Back at Work

Coach Bo Schembechler ended a three-day vacation for his Michigan Rose Bowl team Friday by putting the Wolverines through a stiff workout at Mt. San Antonio College, the first of five they will have here before meeting Pacific 10 champion Arizona State next Thursday.

“It was good to do some hitting,” defensive captain Andy Moeller said. “After three days off, I was getting antsy. I was looking forward to working up a real sweat.”

The 95-member Michigan squad flew into Ontario Airport on Christmas afternoon after two days off at home but remained at their team headquarters at the Industry Hills & Sheraton Resort until Friday morning.

Schembechler first opened up the gates for a brief photo session, then got down to serious work at 2 p.m., a starting time which coincides with the starting time of the Rose Bowl game.

It was Michigan’s first workout in pads since the team traveled to Honolulu nearly three weeks ago and defeated Hawaii, 27-10. It was also the Wolverines’ first workout on grass since the end of last year, when they played in the Fiesta Bowl.

“There’s a big difference playing on grass and on (artificial) turf.” Moeller said. “The game is so much faster on turf, but it’s a cop-out for anyone to use that for an excuse when they lose. We’ve been practicing on turf for five years, but we’ve won the last four games we played on grass.”

That would be 24-23 over Notre Dame and 31-7 over Purdue this season, and 27-23 over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl and 34-3 over South Carolina last season.

“We know that Arizona State is used to playing on grass fields, but we’re confident we can win (on any surface),” Moeller said.

Schembechler, who once held such a close rein on his team that he banned most extracurricular activities leading up to the Rose Bowl, is letting the team have some fun this time. Friday night, they were at Lawry’s Prime Rib for their share of the annual Beef Bowl. Today, they are going to Disneyland, and Monday night they will be toasted by Bob Hope at the Hollywood Palladium as part of the Big Ten Club’s Dinner of Champions.

“I’ve tried it both ways, keeping them at the hotel and letting them loose and I still don’t know what works best,” Schembechler said. “If I did, I’d have a better record out here.”

The Wolverines are 1-6 since Bo first came to the Rose Bowl in 1970.