If They Call This a 5% Day, What Is a Good Day?

The Heisman? The Heisman ? Jon Vaughn needs somebody to reassure him that he’s going to start for Michigan next week. Michigan’s coach can’t even make his own mouth describe Jon Vaughn as Michigan’s best running back, much less America’s. Michigan’s players say most anybody could run this way behind this blocking, not just Jon Vaughn.

Yeah, but. . . .

Two games, 489 yards?

Against Notre Dame and UCLA?

Anybody could do this?

“I guess everybody in the country likes to pick this guy, pick that guy,” Vaughn said Saturday after running against UCLA like nobody had run against UCLA before. “But not me. I’m not the best running back. I’m not a Heisman guy.

“Take Ty Detmer (Brigham Young’s quarterback). He’s paid his dues. He already did what he did through 11 games and a bowl game. Ty Detmer already put in a whole season. I’m just getting started.”

Yeah, but. . . .

What about that 43-yard run in the first quarter? What about that 63-yard run in the last quarter?

“Oh, I could have run that last one,” said Michigan Coach Gary Moeller, who is 49 years old.

The holes were that big?

“I think it’s 60% offensive line and 40% Jon Vaughn,” said Michigan’s quarterback, Elvis Grbac, who took 0% for himself.

Yeah, but. . . .

“I think it’s 95% line and about 5% me,” Jon Vaughn said.

Yeah, but. . . .

“I think Jon’s giving a little too much credit to the line,” said the line’s largest man, 322-pound Greg Skrepenak.

Yeah?

“Yeah. Jon deserves at least 10%,” Skrepenak said, slapping Vaughn on the back.

This could very well be the most reluctant star ever born.

On a day when Michigan’s marching band spelled out “OL 98” at halftime, observing the 50th anniversary of the late Tom Harmon’s becoming Michigan’s first--and still only--winner of the Heisman trophy, Jon Vaughn had a rushing day unlike any “Ol’ 98” ever had. Vaughn rushed for 288 big ones. Harmon’s greatest ground-yardage day was 206.

Of course Harmon, who would have had his 71st birthday this week, had qualities this 20-year-old never had and probably never will. Half a century ago against Ohio State, Harmon gained 139 yards rushing, hit 11 of 12 passes for 151 more, scored three touchdowns and passed for two, converted four extra points, made three interceptions and averaged 50 yards per punt.

Now that’s a Heisman man.

Yeah, but. . . .

Watch out for this new kid on the Ann Arbor block. He is fast as the Flash--did the 100 meters once in 10.19 seconds. He has mahogany-hard legs--carries 200 pounds on a 5-11 frame. He has exceptional vision--teammates can’t believe how Vaughn finds and hits the holes.

Yes, they do praise the guy now and then.

“All he needs is a little crease,” said center Steve Everitt. “He’s not only running around people and running through people, he’s running over people.”

“I think Jon Vaughn could still get at least 100 yards if it was Ann Arbor Pioneer’s line in front of him,” said guard Matt Elliott, invoking the name of a nearby high school.

Yeah, but. . . .

Get a load of Michigan’s line. Five returning starters. Weights: 290, 269, 270, 292, 322. Two of them potential All-Americans--Skrepenak and Dean Dingman. They moved UCLA like tractors through dirt. Drove the Bruins backward into piles. Dug enough trenches to irrigate the whole field.

From the very first play from scrimmage, Vaughn’s 43-yard run, “I think we took the starch out of them,” Skrepenak said.

And Vaughn--what did he think of UCLA’s defensive linemen?

“Can’t say,” Vaughn said. “I mainly got hit by linebackers.”

That’s because he was already past the linemen. UCLA’s line never laid a hand on him. “The way I figure it, my job doesn’t begin until I’m 10 yards into the secondary,” Vaughn said. “That’s why I don’t take too much credit. I see the film, I look at the holes, I tell myself: ‘You should score a touchdown with that hole. Anybody should.’ ”

So, when Saturday’s game was over, Vaughn wouldn’t speak to a soul unless his entire line accompanied him to be interviewed. Which made the massive tackle Skrepenak feel warm all over. He said: “That made us as proud of Jon Vaughn as what he did on the field.”

Remember, that’s Jon Vaughn, the Heisman non-candidate.

“What Coach Moeller tells me is, ‘Don’t get a big head. The more people who pat you on the back, the more soft you get,’ ” Vaughn said. “And he’s right. Too many athletes get too many swelled heads.”

Yeah, but. . . .

At least ol’ Coach Moeller must be willing to admit that Jon Vaughn is a great running back in the making.

“Noooooo,” Moeller said, drawing out the syllable, thinking it over. “We’ve still got several good backs.”

Yeah, but. . . .

“Oh, I mean he’s going to start the next game,” Moeller said.

Yeah. I mean, let’s not bench the guy or anything.