a vS -. V S re M 10 20 30 40 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50 4a 30 20 IG IEN PRE EVI 10. Wisconsin 9. Northwestern BY ADAM BENSON LB Brad Quast may be the best Iowa linebacker ever. If QB Tom Pohol- The conference will again feature some of the country's top players, sky and RB Tony Stewart get over particularly at running back, where Indiana's Anthony Thompson, injuries from last season, Iowa's Minnesota's Darrell Thompson, and Wolverines Tony Boles and Leroy offense could be powerful again. Hoard lead a strong class of returning ground gainers back for another Worst scenario: 6-5. Iowa season. usually breezes through their non- On defense, the Big Ten has as menacing a set of linebackers as any conference schedule, but the Big Ten. conference in the country. Michigan State's Percy Snow, Iowa's Brad Quast will be brutal. Hayden hopes last and Minnesota's Jon Leverenz are the top three linebackers, but several season's injury problems will not others could crack this elite group. haunt the Hawks, but the team still -Yetonly one team really distinguished themselves last year, the Iowa to stgglehealth Watch Br conference and Rose Bowl champion, Michigan. This year, the Wolverines Ten, but finish well. Morton Christian return a solid chunk of the squad that finished fourth in the nation last The Good: They don't play season. Michigan is the consensus pick to win again. Three other teams The Good: Eight starters returning Michigan...stronger on offense, return a nucleus of players with somewhat serious hopes of preventing the 6. Indiana on defense...one of the best crowds with depth at wide receiver, and a Wolverines from becoming the first team to repeat as outright conference The Good: The return of Dave in the nation. solid replacement for TB Byron cham-pions since Michigan State's 1965 and 1966 teams. Schnell, possibly the conference's The Bad: The eight starters Sanders in the form of Bob the Ten into a division and top quarterback, and Anthony returning helped Wisconsin to a 1- Christian...October 21, the date the Taddiion. Fognostior slt- Bi goo d h Thompson, who may be the confer- 10 record last year...weakpasn WidtsrvetoM io. a bad division. For most of the late-1960s and 70s, fans referred to the ence 's top player ...light early game. .little experience in the conference as the big two, and the little eight, better known as Michigan and schedule,tgiving this young team a backfield...an ugly showing in the The Bad: They need a quarter- Ohio State. chance to develop confidence, under opening game against Miami (Fla.) back...the tradition of Northwestern. But in all likelihood, this season will be the year of the the big one, and one of the most patient coaches in Best scenario: 4-7. Coach Don Best scenario: 4-7. As coach the little nine. the Big Ten, Bill Mallory. Morton said that this year his team Francis Peay points out, two-thirds The Bad: They lost their most of "would look like a Big Ten team of his players have three years of 8, Purdue of the transfer from Air Force that their offensive line, and 10 players when they get off the bus." The eligibility remaining. The Wildcats he is. on defense...October. Indiana starts Badgers for years have moved their will begin to improve defensively, s Worst scenario: 2-9. Has the the month at Ohio State, comes top players to defense. An improved and continue their study climb as an -0loss of Fox shaken this team's faith back to Bloomington to play Minn- defense, plus good execution of the offensive team. in Akers? Purdue has recruited well, esota, travels to Michigan, and then one-back offense could make the d th far f b returns home to play Michigan St. Badgers competitive in the lower Worst scenario: 2-9. The current and tey are not from eing Best 74 Mall find division of the BigTen. QB, Jim O'Brien, doesn't adjust to andstarts usingknewcomers, this an offense line that canyprotect Worst scenario: 0-11. The life as a starter n the Big Ten, and year could be a disaster for Purdue. Schnell. The defense makes the most Badgers last season wouldn't have all that skill at wide receiver goes of its ability and overcomes its lack been competitive in the Mid-Amer- wasted. The Wildcats will beat 7 Iowa of experience. ican conference. The Badgers will sonesn, eand tshuld surprut AkersWorst scenario: 5-6. Schnell, probably finish more like this, than someone ele is yea ut es Gwho has missed parts of two like the previous paragraph of anything more might be to much to The Good: Seven starters return on ask. offense, including five offensive seasons, turns out to be overrated optimism. lnmn n ih ndfne..n and Thompson has a fall off from linemen, and eight on defense...one last season. early win vs. Miami (OH.). l e The Bad: Coach Fred Akers can't hold a quarterback. First, he lost Jeff R u s hGeorge to Illinois, then Brian Fo 5. Minnesota R u hleft for Florida. Akers doesn't have a " solid replacement.. the Boilermakers Quast do not play two straight home The Good: Solid recruiting games until their ninth and tenth class .. .the usual easy schedule, and games of the season...non-confer- no more trips to Hawaii. ence games include a trip to Wash- The Bad: Losing most of the keyt ington, and then they return home players from last season.. .Coming problems of RB Ray Graham, who they may have been one of the most 5 S S tmay never play football again. disappointing teams in the nation.- 556 S. State Best scenario: 4-7. QB Steve Best scenario: 8-3. There is a Letnich gets hit really hard, wakes big jump from Purdue to Iowa. Thompson up thinking he's Bob Griese and Hayden Fry, like him or not, is one The Good: Former All-Big Ten looks like a potential star, instead of the top coaches in the Big Ten. Linebacker Jon Leverenz returns ...they play Ohio St. and Michigan The University Center for the Child and Family at home and they don't play 1007 East Huron Street Illinois...the Gophers return almost 0 Ann 1p07 as H~ror I Str4e6everyone, including TB Darnell Ann Arbor, MI 48104 1690 Thompson and QB Scott Schaffer. Wst new University of Michigan based clinical agency offering a widevariety of psycho- The Bad: ThecMetrodome Italian Restaurant logical services tochildren and families. ...Thompson must show recovery Services include: from assorted injuries, which limited - Assessment of children's social, . Group therapy for adult survivors of him to 910 yards rushing in 1988. Best Italian Restaurant--Ann Arbor News 85 emotional, aninteulectuaevelop- incest Best scenario: 8-3. Leverenz met - Evaluation and intervention for competes to be the best linebacker NOW SERVING BEER AND WINE! -.essmentoffamily relaionships infants andyoung children other than Quast and Percy Snow in + ss ss en af am~yreatonhis nfnt aC~ o un g hen ildevaiin s the conference. Schaffer improves at 'ChldandFamily Counseng -Compreensiveevauatins QB, making WR Chris Gaiters more - Parent Counseling/Education / r - - Curtordered evalu of a threat than he already is. But OUTDOOR CAFE -Supportgroups for ations none of these things matter, if children and parentsw4 Darrell Thompson doesn't return. facing family changes Worst scenario: 4-7. No win is 665-0444 Take Out .300 Detroit Street at Catherine h"asyif Thompson doesnt retulf.to (across from Farmer's Market) leasecaltX313)764-94 for frhe minfoation and appoina ents, Neil.Kaer, PhD., Director a MICHIGAN PR VIEW Wolverines hope for rosy season By STEVE BLONDER As the Wolverine basketball team returned to Ann Arbor with its national championship trophy in tow, Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler told the 10,000 Crisler Arena fans, "Who knows, maybe we'll win one in football too." But four months later, Schembechler can be heard singing a-different tune. "We're not talking national championship here," Schembechler barked at a small group of July visitors. "If we win the conference, go to the Rose Bowl, and end up undefeated, then we'll claim the national championship. "But I'll be shocked if that happens." But Bo, why is it that a national championship isn't one of the goals you've set for this year's squad? "A national title is mythical. That means you guys vote on them. You don't play someone for them." Schembechler added. "I'm not going to go in there and say this is our chance to win a national championship. It's not like my career will crumble into nothing if I don't win it. "I don't give a damn." Strong words from the coach of a team tabbed preseason number one, or at least top five, by nearly every college football publication in the country. Well, then what is in store for a Big Ten championship team that lost only seven of twenty-three starters and is vying to become the only team to win two consecutive New Years trips to Pasadena this decade? "I want to beat Notre Dame absolutely. I want to beat UCLA and I want to beat Maryland. I want to beat them all," Schembechler pronounced. "We've stuck our neck out to do the best job that we can. We're going to play to win the Big Ten championship." But some of the Wolverines don't see a second consecutive Big Ten title, fifth this decade, as just reward for the winningest active coach in Division 1-A football. "We would like to (win a national championship) for Bo. Everybody would," quarterback Michael Taylor said. "Since I was a little kid, I've wanted to be number one. But only one team can sit up there and be the best." Schembechler gave the starting quarterback job to Taylor (who was expected to win the job) after academics felled Rose Bowl-starter Demetrius Brown. And the other Big Ten coaches annointed Michigan king, unanimously establishing the Wolverines as the conference favorite. The Associated Press went one step further, as Michigan received the preseason number one ranking. But lofty preseason rankings don't phase Schembechler, who says he'd "feel worse if we were not in the Top 20." Offensive tackle Greg Skrepanek said the expectations for this year's team don't put additional strains on the players. "It's not that much pressure, at least as not as much as people think we've got, because we always get pressure from Bo anyway," Skrepanek said. "He keeps that pressure even when he doesn't have a national championship around him." Linebacker Erick Anderson disagreed, saying, "We have a lot of pressure on us to perform well. It will be embarrassing for us if we lose and let people down." How far Michigan goes will depend on several factors. "First of all will they have the same attitude as a year ago, and second, will this team lead the USA again in fewest turnovers," Sch'embechler said. Schembechler answered the first question on Media Day when he pronounced, "This is a good squad. There is a tremendous attitude here." The offense was anything but charitable last season, turning the ball over only eleven times in twelve games, while the defense picked opposing offenses' pocket thirty times. One of the keys to a winning season involves holding onto the football, as everyone knows that a Schembechler-coached team will try and run the ball down opposing teams' throats. And with Rose Bowl MVP Leroy Hoard and Heisman Trophy candidate See PREVIEW, page 9 Pre-season prognosticaton? Coming into this season, the Michigan football team has been ranked in the top football poll. The Wolverines, who finished last season ranked No. 4 in the coun team to beat by Street and Smith, Sport magazine as well as many other medi speculation among the media that this team could provide Head Coach Bo Sch Championship. Adam Schrager Come tomorrow, expect over 105,000 people to fill Michigan Stadium with images of grandeur and National Championships floating about due to what is being billed as "The Game." "The Game" contains Michigan and Notre Dame in a colossal battle between the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country, right? Don't tell that to Nebraska which also boasts No. 1 and 2 rankings from pre-season prognos- ticators or to Miami, Fla. or Auburn which also have received No. 1, 2, and 3 rankings in various polls. The mere fact that this game is being referred to as "The Game" is because the Associated Press rankings, or the writers' poll, says it is. The UPI poll, which is a representation of a board of coaches, ranks the Wolverines fifth behind the four schools mentioned above, somewhat decreasing tomorrow's extravaganza. Think about where all the hype for this game has arisen. Every day in media organizations all over the country as well as this newspaper, this, matchup is being written about or discussed. "I guess we added to all the hype, by ranking (Michigan and Notre Dame) as our top two teams in the country," said Sport magazine's managing editor Joe Garza. "(The rankings) though are just something for the fans to play with." Two of the more well-known sports magazines, The Sporting News and Street and Smith both rank Michigan ahead of Notre Dame. Street and Smith has the two schools as the top two in its poll supporting tomorrow's hype. But The Sporting News, which willingly terms itself "The Baseball Bible," places 'The Gary game aft( Nebraska ahead of bc impact. There's something marks surrounding th just doesn't sit well w month's supply of M not played and Notre E is a lower-division Big It is obvious that Fighting Irish than it because Michigan's p the conference and the has no conference cha neither coaching staff hype. Notre Dame head c doesn't believe his tea that the game is no Michigan head coach that the writers ar proportion and that th should focus upon. Ir head coach Gary Moe "until No. 1 plays No With so much dis spots in polls leading coaches deemphasizin this game is already contests of the decade You're reading one PAGE 18 A1WEEKD D4/SEPTEMBER 15,1989 'WEEKEN)/SEP'TEMBER I, 1989