Page 10- The Michigan Daily- Wednesday, October 16, 1991
Golfers card 7th place
in Louisville Tourney

Verduzco, Illinois
passing Big Ten test
by Phil Green

by Todd Schoenhaus
The Michigan men's golf team
learned an important lesson yester-
day - Dean Kobane cannot produce
a victory for Michigan by himself.
Kobane provided the only bright
spot for the Wolverines in the Per-
simmon Ridge Invitational in
Louisville, Ky. He shot rounds of 73
and 76 to earn the tournament's
third-best finish. However, his
teammates failed to keep pace. An-
thony Dietz carded a 157 to finish
second for Michigan. Carl Condon
and James Carson followed Dietz,
shooting 161 and 167, respectively.
Michigan finished tied for sev-
enth in a 12-team field with a score
of 630. Kentucky placed first with
607, with Marshall, Northwestern,
Indiana, and Ball State close behind.
Michigan coach Jim Carras pin-
pointed a lack of consistency as the
Wolverines' biggest problem. This
was evidenced by Bob Henighan,
who finished tied for last on the

team with a 172, even though he
carded the team's lowest overall
score in the previous tournament.
Frosh Bill Lyle also carded a 172,
leaving room for improvement.
Although the Wolverines failed
to play up to their potential, they
were handicapped by adverse condi-
tions. Rain created a wet course and
cut the tournament from 54 to 36
holes.
In addition, Michigan did not
complete a practice round Sunday
because of darkness. This left the
Wolverines unprepared to play the
very demanding course.
The absence of one of Michigan's
top players, Denny Sikkila, also
harmed the Wolverines' perfor-
mance. However, Carras was not
content with using excuses.
"We went with our best players
at the time and definitely did not
play up to our ability," he said.
"Besides, every kid out there played
golf in the same weather we did."

Daily Football Writera
Last basketball season, Illinois
and Michigan State shocked the
experts. The Illini were expected to
reside near the conference basement
while people believed the Spartans
would contend for the national ti-
tIe.
Ironically enough, a similar phe-
nomenon has occurred on the foot-
ball field this fall.
Illinois, picked to finish in the
middle of the Big Ten, ranks 13th
nationally and sits atop the confer-
ence with Michigan and Indiana at 2-
0; Michigan State, picked in the pre-
season top 25, stands at 0-5.
The Illini (4-1 overall) defeated
Minnesota to open their conference
season, and this past Saturday they
beat then-undefeated Ohio State, 10-
7.
With quarterback Jason
Verduzco returning after a solid
sophomore season, Illinois' offense
was expected to be very strong. The

KENNETH SMOLLER/Daily
Illinois quarterback Jason Verduzco has led his team to a share of the
Big Ten lead. The Illini's improbabi surge should make the Nov. 16 game
against Michigan pivotal in the Big Ten race.


defense, however, which lost a nuz
ber of starters from last year's
squad, was supposed to cause the
Illini problems.
"They show a great ability to
rush the quarterback," Gopher coach
John Gutekunst said. "They're much
stronger up front than I think peo-
ple expected them to be."
Purdue coach Jim Colletto is not
one of those people.
"They didn't surprise me at a10-
he said. "They're at the point that
when a player leaves they have a re-
placement who has been playing
two or three years in a backup role."
The Illini attribute their success
to the ability of the younger players
to play an active role on defense, and
Verduzco's ability to run the of-
fense as well, if not better than, last
year.
"We've had a little bit of every
thing.... We've had some seniors
that have stepped up and some tal-
ented youngsters perform too,"
Illinois coach John Mackovic said.
"And we played some tough games
early on and that's probably helped
us as well."
While optimists might have ex-
pected Illinois' hot start, the great-
est pessimists (or Wolverine fan*
- even in their wildest dreams -
couldn't have predicted State's 0-5
start.
Ever the realist, Spartan coach
George Perles easily simplified
what his team must do to crack the
victory column.
"We have to improve on passing
the ball and getting the running
game going," he said. "We also hav
to stop the other team's runnin
game better."
WAKE-UP CALL: Purdue's
Colletto benched his starting quar-
terback Eric Hunter in last
Saturday's 6-3 loss to Minnesota.
Colletto is pleased with the ju-
nior's grasp of the offense, but other
problems led to Hunter's removal.
"He's just too doggone lethargic
for me," Colletto said. "His d
meanor with the rest of the footba
team is very important. He's the
general out there. When he's half
asleep, they'll play half asleep,
too."
Colletto remains unsure who
will start Saturday against
Wisconsin - Hunter or fellow ju-
nior Scott Hoffman.
TELEVISION TIME: Saturday's
Michigan-Indiana game will 0
televised on ESPN. The game will
begin at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate
the network.
ESPN was also supposed to carry
the Wolverines' following game,
next Friday night in Minneapolis.
However, Gutekunst didn't want
the game televised because it would
conflict with Minnesota high
school football that night.
(P)Griddes
The close contests in the Big Ten
games last week reveal a new parity
which is making proper prognostica.
tion a prodigious problem.
Rather than allow people to
preen their record, the Daily has
presented puzzling match-ups for
the public's pondering.
To show your picking prowess 1
sure to produce your picks at 420
Maynard by 5 p.m. Friday to be
eligible to win a $10 gift certificate
to O'Sullivan's Eatery and Pub.

1. Indiana at Michigan
2. Illinois at Iowa
3. Wisconsin at Purdue
4. Northwestern at Ohio St.
5. Minnesota at Michigan St.
6. Mid Tenn. St. at Florida St.
7. Colorado at Oklahoma
8. Georgia at Vanderbilt
9. Texas A&M at Baylor
10. Tennessee at Alabama
11. Marshall at N. Carolina St.
12. Syracuse at Pittsburgh
13. Washington at California
14. Rutgers at Penn St.
15. Notre Dame at Air Force
16. Long Beach St. at Miami
17. W. Michigan at E. Michigan
18. C. Michigan at Kent St.
19. Butler at Valparaiso
20. N. Illinois at Florida
Tiebreaker:
Michigan:
Indiana:__
Name:
Phone:

*1