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| Friday, November 3 Michigan knows Wildcats can strike any time By Jeff Potrykus Special to ESPN.com | |||||
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and his players should be nervous.
The 12th-ranked Wolverines are favored to beat No. 23 Northwestern Saturday in Evanston. Yet unless you've been in a coma for the last two months, you know by now that no team is unbeatable and no lead is safe.
And if there is any Big Ten team capable of manufacturing an improbable victory this fall, it has to be Northwestern. (See Minnesota coach Glen Mason for the gory details).
"We beat Wisconsin when they were what, No. 7 at that time?" Northwestern wide receiver Sam Simmons said earlier this week. "Michigan State was 18 and we beat them. We're feeling good. We know we can beat anybody."
Although Purdue (7-2 overall, 5-1 Big Ten) can secure the Rose Bowl berth by winning its final two games, both Northwestern (6-2, 4-1) and Michigan (6-2, 4-1) are fighting for a probable Citrus Bowl berth. And if Purdue happens to stumble in its final two games, who knows what will happen down the stretch.
"The motivation, I believe, is to get a ring and win the Big Ten title," Michigan defensive end Dan Rumishek said. "We just want to win the Big Ten championship. Whatever bowl game we go to is great as long as we win the Big Ten championship."
Michigan is accustomed to winning Big Ten championships, having won 39 in all. Northwestern has won only seven. But the 2000 Wildcats are looking more and more like the Wildcats of 1995 and '96, who went 19-5 overall and 15-1 in the Big Ten and beat Michigan twice.
Those Northwestern teams, coached by Gary Barnett, had tremendous chemistry and consistently pulled out games that seemed hopelessly lost. That included the 1996 victory over Michigan, when the Wildcats wiped out a 16-point deficit in the final quarter and stunned the Wolverines, 17-16, on a last-second field goal.
This past Saturday against Minnesota, the Wildcats trailed the Gophers by 35-14 with 17 minutes remaining and appeared to be nothing more than road kill. "Once we get our gears going," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said, "we can be a pretty good offense. But sometimes we have trouble getting the clutch in."
Down by 21 points, the Wildcats shifted into gear and reeled off touchdown drives of 77, 72 and 67 yards to tie the game at 35-35 and then came up with one last defensive stand with 41 seconds left. A 45-yard touchdown bomb on the final play of the game, with Kunle Patrick tipping the ball sideways like a setter in volleyball to Simmons, crushed the Gophers and made the Wildcats bowl eligible for the first time since 1996.
"We kept believing," Walker said "Sometimes you dig yourself a hole, and I was a little afraid of that Saturday. But our kids kept fighting for 60 minutes. We've learned what 15 rounds of a fight means and we're ready to go 15.
"You have to work so hard you can never surrender. I think our kids have gone to that point. You have to work real hard, and if you work so hard you never quit, you'll give yourself a chance to win every week."
Illinois Do Big Ten officials dislike Illinois coach Ron Turner? The Illini were victimized by two blown calls in a 35-31 loss to Michigan earlier this season. In the 14-10 loss to Michigan State on Saturday, the officials appeared to miss another call that killed the Illini. On the third play of Michigan State's game-winning touchdown drive midway through the final quarter, it appeared that an errant pass to wide receiver Herb Haygood was behind the line of scrimmage and thus a lateral. Illinois recovered the ball but the officials ruled the play a forward pass and an incompletion. Turner barely fought back the urge to blast the officials. "I had the best seat in the house for that one," said Turner, who was standing on the sideline at midfield. "I was standing exactly across from the ball. I just can't tell you my opinion, because I can't afford $10,000. I just ... no, never mind. I need to be quiet." ... The best quote coming from the Illinois locker room had nothing to do with the blown call, though. Junior quarterback Kurt Kittner, who entered the day completing 59.2% of his passes, with 15 touchdowns and only five interceptions, was sickened by his own performance. "I played like a freshman again," said Kittner, who threw two interceptions and completed only 13 of 29 passes for 104 yards. "I was garbage, and I cost us the game." ... At 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten need to win two of their final three games to qualify for a bowl. The road isn't easy. The Illini face Indiana in Champaign on Saturday, followed by a home game with Ohio State and a road game with Northwestern. Indiana Missy Cameron gave her husband, Indiana coach Cam Cameron, quite a present on Saturday. She gave birth to the couple's fourth child, a daughter, in Bloomington. That night, Cam Cameron failed to come through for his wife as the Hoosiers fell to Penn State, 27-24, in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. "Mom did her job," he said. "Dad didn't." As a result of the loss to Penn State, the Hoosiers (3-5, 2-3) must win their final three games to give Cameron his first bowl game since taking over the program prior to the 1997 season. Good luck. The Hoosiers play at Illinois on Saturday, play host to Wisconsin on Nov. 11 and then close at Purdue on the 18th. ... Indiana's defense has been skewered this season, both on the field and in the press. However, it was the offense that faltered in the final quarter against Penn State. Trailing by 24-21, the Hoosiers moved to the Penn State 12. But the drive stalled and Andy Payne had to kick a 29-yard field goal with 1:59 left. The offense had scored 22 touchdowns (and only two field goals) on its previous 28 trips inside the opponents' 20. "When we get down there at the end we have to score (a touchdown), period," Cameron said. "That is the story of the ball game." Iowa Iowa's season from hell continues with a trip Saturday to State College, Pa., where the Hawkeyes (1-8, 1-4) will find a rejuvenated Penn State team that suddenly has a chance to qualify for a bowl game. Why are the Hawkeyes struggling? All of their problems were visible in a 13-7 loss to Wisconsin last week. Kirk Ferentz has his players working hard, but there are too few playmakers and too little depth in the offensive line and secondary. Tailback Ladell Betts was again held in check, except for one 51-yard run, and quarterback Kyle McCann was hounded all day. ... Senior wide receiver Kevin Kasper entered the day tied for third nationally in receptions per game (7.5) and 15th nationally in receiving yards per game (94.0). He was held in check by Wisconsin's Jamar Fletcher and finished with three catches for 10 yards. However, the three catches gave him 65 this season, which broke the school record of 64, set in 1980 by Keith Chappelle. ... Iowa has been out scored by a combined 174-46 in the first half this season. Michigan State With his team preparing to meet Ohio State, Michigan State coach Bobby Williams made it official: Freshman Jeff Smoker is the Spartans' No. 1 quarterback. Junior Ryan Van Dyke, who entered the season as the starter, is No. 2. Just one question, though. What took Williams so long to make the move? Van Dyke, who suffered a bruised thumb on his throwing hand in the first quarter of the opener against Marshall, had been inconsistent for most of the season. Smoker has made freshman mistakes but has been the quarterback of record for all four of Michigan State's victories. Smoker's numbers in the Spartans' 14-10 victory over Illinois on Saturday weren't gaudy (7-13 for 82 yards). However, Van Dyke completed only 6 of 11 attempts for 35 yards, with two interceptions. "It's hard for me to make that decision," Williams said. "It's very hard to sit down and go over all the reasons we needed to make the change." Smoker has played better than Van Dyke. Smoker's completion rate (51.9%) isn't as good as Van Dyke's 955.3%), but he has passed for more yards than Van Dyke and has only four interceptions, four fewer than Van Dyke. "He's had some very good performances," Williams said, "and we want to give him a chance to take the team under the circumstances where he's going to be the starter." Minnesota Remember all that talk of a Rose Bowl berth after the Gophers went into Columbus and slapped Ohio State around? Well, two weeks and two ugly losses later, the Gophers (5-4, 3-3) need to win one of their final two games to qualify for any bowl. The reason? A suddenly porous defense. Minnesota has lost its last two games despite scoring 43 points against Indiana two weeks ago and 35 against Northwestern on Saturday. The defense has allowed 92 points and 1,154 yards, including 682 rushing yards. "We're not a sound defense right now," defensive tackle John Schlecht told reporters after the 41-35 loss to Northwestern. "It's not one thing I can point to. It's not just one guy. It's two or three things going wrong by different guys on different plays. All it take is one mistake to break down a defense."*Next up is road game Saturday against Wisconsin, which has beaten Minnesota five consecutive times. Wisconsin doesn't have the ability to spread Minnesota's defense like Indiana and Northwestern did, but the Badgers have to salivating at the thought of playing a defense that is struggling. In blowing a 35-14 lead against Northwestern, the Gophers allowed touchdown drives of 77, 73 and 67 yards. ... Tailback Tellis Redmon saw his streak of 100-yard rushing games end at four but set a school record with an 83-yard punt return for a touchdown. The previous mark was 80 yards, set in 1964 against Nebraska by Bill Crockett. Ohio State Forgive the Ohio State players if they drool a bit as they peruse the final three games of their schedule. The Buckeyes (6-2, 3-2) face Michigan State Saturday in Columbus, followed by a home date with Illinois and then a road trip to Michigan. A year ago, the Buckeyes were 6-3 heading into this same three-game stretch. Three losses later, they were 6-6 and sitting home during bowl season for the first time since 1988. Is it possible the Buckeyes could be headed for another three-game swoon? "We've got to bounce back," linebacker Joe Cooper told the Columbus Dispatch. We've lost two years in a row to Michigan State." ... Junior quarterback Steve Bellisari might want to check his rearview mirror. Two days after the loss to Purdue, Ohio State coach John Cooper acknowledged he would like to give his backups some playing time against Michigan State. "I'd consider that, absolutely," Cooper said. "If I thought that would help us win a game, I'd do it in a minute." Bellisari completed just 45.1 % of his passes last season. He is completing 53.3 % of his passes this season but struggled in the loss to Minnesota (11-28 for 130 yards) and was OK in the loss to Purdue (17-29 for 208 yards with an interception). Overall, Bellisari is 11-7 as a starter. Penn State What is going on in Happy Valley? Not long ago, the Nittany Lions were 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. It appeared as if Joe Paterno would have to wait until 2001 to break Bear Bryant's major-college victory mark. Yes, the indictment of quarterback Rashard Casey won't go away, but after victories over Illinois and Indiana, the Nittany Lions are rolling. The most remarkable aspect of the Nittany Lions' victory over Indiana was that they executed the two-minute drill perfectly, marching 52 yards in eight plays, with no time outs, to set up Ryan Primanti's 39-yard field goal with 18 seconds left. "I thought we did a great job," Paterno said. "We were very careful. Nobody got in a hurry and we did a good job of getting out of bounds to stop the clock." ... Penn State cornerback Bruce Branch helped the Nittany Lions control Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El by delivering a vicious hit in the second quarter. Randle El lost his helmet, was shaken up and left the game for a few plays. Before the hit, he had rushed six times for 42 yards. Afterward, he rushed 13 times for only 24 yards. In addition, he completed only nine of 22 passes for 88 yards. Randle El threw three interceptions after throwing just four in his first seven games. Purdue After rallying to beat Ohio State last week, the Boilermakers get a week off to rest up for their final two games. Their assignment is simple. Beat Michigan State on Nov. 11 in East Lansing and in-state rival Indiana in West Lafayette on Nov. 18 and they will win the conference title and advance to the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1967 season. Is Michigan State capable of derailing the Boilermakers' Pasadena Express? Not if quarterback Drew Brees is on his game. In two starts against the Spartans, Brees has completed 66 of 104 passes (63.5%) for 705 yards. He has thrown four interceptions (all last season) and seven touchdowns. The Boilermakers have won both games, 25-24 two years ago in East Lansing, and 52-28 last season in West Lafayette. ... In the days leading to the Ohio State-Purdue game, Buckeyes linebacker Joe Cooper said he didn't think Brees liked to get hit as hard as the Ohio State defenders planned to pound him. Cooper's quotes appeared in a story that ran in the Lafayette Journal & Courier. The headline: "OSU captain believes Brees is soft" Naturally, that story made its way into the Purdue locker room. "Any time somebody's gong to bad-mouth Drew," wide receiver Vinny Sutherland said, "it's going on the board. He came out and said Drew's soft. I think he's crazy. Drew's a competitor." For the record, Brees did throw four interceptions. But he threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to rally the Boilermakers and finished 39 for 65 for 455 yards. Wisconsin Unlike Michigan State, Wisconsin doesn't have a quarterback controversy. Sophomore Brooks Bollinger, who missed the loss to Purdue because of a concussion and watched backup Jim Sorgi complete 21 of 29 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, returned to the starting lineup against Iowa and will start Saturday against Minnesota. In the victory over Iowa, Bollinger played more efficiently than he has most of the season. He was off target on a few simple routes and threw a costly interception deep in Iowa territory in the third quarter, but completed 18 of 26 attempts for a personal-high 292 yards. "I'll never lose confidence in Brooks," offensive coordinator Brian White said. "Never. He's done too much and achieved too much. My confidence will never waver in him." ... Junior cornerback Jamar Fletcher recorded his fifth interception of the season and 19th in two-plus seasons with the Badgers. The latter number broke the school record of 18, set by Neovia Greyer (1969-'71) and Jeff Messenger (1991-'94). Fletcher needed only 28 games to break the mark. ... Wide receiver Chris Chambers, who is finally fully recovered from a stress fracture in his right foot, is en fuego. The senior had 11 catches for 191 yards against Iowa and in the last two games has 22 catches for 364 yards. Jeff Potrykus covers the Big Ten for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. | ALSO SEE Big 12 notebook Mountain West notebook WAC notebook AUDIO/VIDEO   Sam Simmons catches the tipped Zak Kustok pass in the end zone to give Northwestern the win over Minnesota.avi: 617 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Purdue's Seth Morales catches this 64-yard bomb from Drew Brees for the game-winning TD.(courtesy: ABCSports)avi: 574 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Purdue's Drew Brees throws a 19-yard pass to Vinny Sutherland for the TD.(courtesy: ABCSports)avi: 1408 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Ohio State's Nate Clements sprints 84 yards for the TD on this punt return against Purdue. (courtesy: ABCSports)avi: 1673 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Purdue's Steve Ennis runs 2 yards for the TD.(courtesy: ABCSports)avi: 930 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | ||||
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