Rose Bowl Coaches Discount Fiesta : Schembechler, Smith Say Their Game Is Still the Big Show

Bo Schembechler was fielding questions about Monday’s Rose Bowl game against USC, about how and why he’s lost 7 of 8 games in Pasadena, about how good a football team he brought here this season, when a radio broadcaster piped up:

“Is this team as good as the Chappuis team that you brought out here?”

Schembechler broke up laughing.

“Chappuis is older than I am, for gosh sakes,” he finally managed to say.

Bob Chappuis was the quarterback on Michigan’s 1948 Rose Bowl team. Schembechler was a freshman at Miami of Ohio at the time.

“I’ll take the score, though,” Bo added quickly.

The score was Michigan 49, USC 0.

Schembechler and USC’s Larry Smith, who twice was an assistant to Bo, appeared together Friday for a final pregame press conference. Both came from morning meetings at their hotels in Orange County, Schembechler by helicopter and Smith by car.

When Schembechler arrived 20 minutes late, Smith said, “I’d never get a ‘chopper unless I won the national championship.”

“It comes with longevity,” replied Bo, who is in his 20th year as head coach and his first as athletic director.

Both were asked if they thought that interest in the Fiesta Bowl, with No. 1 Notre Dame meeting No. 3 West Virginia in a battle of undefeated teams, might detract from the Rose Bowl and lower its TV ratings.

Schembechler: “I don’t know about ratings, but I didn’t plan on watching that game anyway. I flew over the Rose Bowl this morning in the helicopter and I’ll tell you, it’s a very good feeling to know you’re going to be in it.”

Smith: “I don’t care, frankly. The first bowl game the average person thinks of is the Rose Bowl. The average fan is not that wrapped up in TV ratings and the polls. I know when there are several games on TV, I’ll switch around until I find the best one. I don’t think any one game Jan. 2 will heat up the ratings.”

Schembechler: “Last year, I got to sit home on New Year’s Day so I lined up three TV sets. The big one in the middle had the Rose Bowl game and that was the one I watched. I glanced at the other two once in a while to see what the score was.”

Kicking, particularly placekicking, is a big part of the Wolverines’ arsenal. Mike Gillette is the all-time scoring leader at Michigan with 303 points. He has 56 career field goals, including a 56-yarder against Ohio State that was the longest in Michigan history.

Smith, on the other hand, believes that forgetting the 27-10 loss to Notre Dame in the final game is most important in the Trojans’ pregame preparation.

“I think if we had had to play a game a week after the Notre Dame game, or even 2 weeks after, that we’d have been in trouble,” Smith said. “But time is a great healer. You can’t let a team dwell on something like that too long, you have to get them to put it behind them. I think we’ve done that. It’s been a month now and I haven’t heard any talk among the players about that game for the last 3 weeks.

“We’ve been looking forward to the Rose Bowl for a year, ever since we lost (to Michigan State, 20-17,) last time. That loss became a motivating force for us, starting with spring practice and carrying over into the season. Our team, especially the seniors, have an unfulfilled goal, to win a Rose Bowl game.

“I’ve seen some extra intensity among the seniors this week. Rodney (Peete) has been very sharp. I just hope he didn’t peak too early.”

Turnovers, says Smith, will be the deciding factor Monday.

“Since I’ve been at SC, we’ve lost 5 games in 2 years, twice to Notre Dame, twice to Michigan State and once to Oregon, and in all 5 we lost it was because we turned the ball over. That’s the bottom line, if you turn the ball over, you’re going to get beat. I don’t care how well you kick, run, throw or play defense, if you turn the ball over more than the other guy you’re going to lose.”

If true, USC may be in for a long afternoon waiting for Michigan to turn the ball over. In 11 games they have lost the ball only 10 times and have not throw an interception in 11 of its last 12 games.

“That’s just a phenomenal statistic,” Smith said. “That’s the biggest concern we have in facing Michigan.”