Football vs. Northwestern Tomorrow, 1 p.m. Michigan Stadium SPORTS Ice Hockey vs. Minnesota Tonight and Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. Yost Ice Arena The Michigan Daily Friday, November 8, 1991 Page 12 M'tries to tame 'Cats Northwestern puts two-game streak on line by Matt Rennie Daily Football Writer tile Williams. Even though the and become the Wildcats' top One can hardly tell who is hap- Wolverine defense has been success- threat. pier about Northwestern's two- ful at containing the running quar- "He's just got a great atitudo K.game winning streak: Wildcat coach terbacks it has faced in recent weeks, and fantastic work ethic. It's really Francis Peay or Michigan coach Moeller warns of Williams' explo- gratifying to see a Mark Benson Gary Moeller. sive potential. progress," Peay said. "Not only is While Peay can revel in the "He handles the ball a great deal he a very consistent receiver, he's a Wildcats' first two-game winning for them, both running and throw- clutch receiver. He'd be the closest streak since 1986, Moeller has ing," Moeller said. "Anytime you thing we have to a big-play player. found the elusive motivation for his. We're going to try to exploit tha team as it prepares for Saturday's Thy Red talent that he has.y clash with Northwestern. Before On the other side of the ball the Wildcats'arecent roll, Moeller Northwestrnuisreins the bene had little material to make the :.526 fits of past frustrations. Because of erne ake th onents e inuries to his defense several years k. " 7 riously ago, Peay was forced to play a num- After all, Michigan and North- ber of inexperienced layers, such as ends of the conference standings - and defensive back Dwight James. t the Wolverines at the top, the . .Today, both Homco and James are Wildcats at the bottom. Moreover, T oQrgv veteran seniors leading a solid the two teams haven't played each "t0 dig 7eltipm Wildcat defense. g,, K.other for two seasons, and the last However, Peay will have to de- z. REtime they did, in 1988, Michigan got a guy offensively that can make part from his usual defensive strat- won in a laugher, 52-7. However, big plays for you, you got a chance." egy, which entails stacking the line s £given the Wildcats' recent success, Williams' favorite target, Mark of scrimmage to stop the opponents' Moeler has all the material he Benson, is a former quarterback running game. needs. himself. Benson was named the Big "People would like to be able to e"They're a team that scares you. Ten offensive player of the week af- (stack the line) against Michigan, I've got a lot of respect for them," ter catching 10 passes, including but Desmond Howard really denies Moeller said. "They're having fun both Northwestern touchdowns, in that," Peay said. "To Gary y< playing football, and they're play- the Wildcats' 16-13 victory over Moeller's credit, he has a very wel- ing very hard." Michigan State. balanced offensive system. It is very t ..,"' Moeller is particularly wary of Peay recruited Benson as a quar- well-conceived, and as a result, it the Wildcats' offense, engineered by terback, but Benson moved to wide will be very difficult to stack our BRIAN CANTONi/Daily junior quarterback Len Williams. receiver after severely injuring his defense because you've got to play Ricky Powers and the Wolverines put their unblemished Big Ten record on the line tomorrow against a Whatever Northwestern does of- rotator cuff. Since making the coverage against Howard. Howard's Northwestern team that is coming off consecutive victories over Illinois and Michigan State. fensively, it does through the versa- change, he has progressed steadily a gamebreaker." . 1 9- Marcus Walker plays role of understudy by Phil Green Daily Football Writer It seemed like a simple enough play - a screen to the outside. But when Michigan inside linebacker Steve Morrison remained lying on the field, most of the Wolverine faithful felt a sudden rush of fear. "He's been playing so well alongside Erick Anderson," Michi- gan fans screamed. "What are we go- ing to do? He's helped anchor our defense. Who will replace him?" Redshirt frosh Marcus Walker, Morrison's replacement, was al- most as worried as the fans. "I was pretty nervous when he went down," Walker said. "I knew I was going to go in, but I didn't know I could play ina game like that - against Michigan State. Practice and a game are a lot differ- ent - the pressure." However, after Walker's first play, everybody's fears began to subside. "On that first play, I made the tackle," Walker said. "But I couldn't believe that I did it until my teammates came over to con- gratulate me. I settled down by the fourth or fifth play." The Chicago native relaxed well enough to lead the Wolverines in tackles - in only one half of play. "(The Spartans) were trying to pick on me. They saw a freshman who really didn't know what he was doing," Walker explained. "I just couldn't believe I led the team in tackles, playing in one half. I didn't want to let it get to my head." The only mental effects Walker's success have had on him have been positive. He's more com- fortable with his playing time, and he works hard in preparation for his new starting role. Earlier in the season, his playing time prospects were slim at best. Thus, practice was important, but getting ready for a game was far from his mind. "I've had to study more film and I've had to learn from my mistakes in practices," he said. "Before I was starting, I was practicing, but I wasn't trying to capitalize on that. "I thought I wasn't going to play at all, but (senior defensive end) Mike Evans told me I was al- ways one play away from playing." Walker has ranked among the Wolverines' tackling leaders since cracking the starting lineup, and he led the team again in last week's contest against Purdue. "Marcus Walker has done a much better job than I would have anticipated. He's getting to the ball well," Michigan coach Gary Moeller said. "He's just a tough kid in there working hard. He's just a kid who's trying hard and has a good idea on how to get to the ball." As a high school senior two years ago, Walker entertained offers from a variety of schools, including Walker Kansas, Virginia, and Illinois, but he had a special reason to head for Ann Arbor. His older brother, Derrick, was a starting tight end at Michigan before joining the NFL's San Diego Chargers last season. Choosing the Wolverines was only natural for Marcus. "The family here, I felt I could become a part of this team," Marcus said. "'Rick was a part of that. I could really feel it, especially when I used to come visit. I'm also much closer to the older guys because of my brother. Corwin Brown and Lance Dottin, if I have any prob- lems, I can go to them." Besides receiving guidance from some of his brother's friends, Mar- cus has also earned the respect of his fellow linebackers. Their support has greatly aided Walker's progress over the last few games. Walker lines up alongside Butkus Award semi-finalist Ander- son, who helps Walker with posi- tioning throughout each game. The injured Morrison also offers con- stant advice from the sideline. "Erick Anderson helped me a lot in the Michigan State game. I re-- member the first play, the offense was walking up to the ball and I was asking where my pass drop is," Walker said. "Morrison's helped me a lot, too. I'm playing his posi- tion now, but I hope he gets back soon because he's a valuable part of the team." Morrison began practicing again this week, and he will likely be back for the Illinois game next week. Morrison's return means Walker's starting days are numbered, but for now, his focus is onlyson the imm-- diate future and stopping the Northwestern offense. "I just want to do my job," he said. "I'm looking to Northwestern right now, then to Illinois whether I'm starting or not, then Ohio State, and then the Rose Bowl." Other Bi~g Ten team~s."O only dream of roses by Mike Rancilio Michigan takes on new Big Ten powerhouse Northwestern this Saturday, but I'm planning my trip to Illinois next weekend to see Michigan clinch a Rose Bowl bid. Now on to the picks. Michigan State (1-4 in the Big Ten, 1-7 overall) at Wisconsin (0-5, * 3-5) Many people think that after last Saturday's victory over Michigan State, Northwestern should be taken more seriously. I think that the Spartans should be taken less seriously. Wisconsin's marching band does the halftime show and then stays on the field to rough up the Spartans in the second half. State's demise continues - what a shame. Wisconsin-some points, Michigan State-not as many. Ohio State (3-2, 6-2) at Minnesota (1-4, 2-6) Due to Ohio State's open admission policy, the requirements for gaining admittance are owning a pen and paper. The drawback is that most first-year students did not meet Proposition 48 requirements and are unable to attend games. Ohio State-under 700, Minnesota 9. Indiana (4-1, 5-2-1) at Iowa (4-1, 7-1) This is the battle for the Holiday Bowl bid, but the bigger story is what Indiana coach Bill Mallory was doing two weeks ago during his weekend off for criticizing officials. Rumor has it he was grilled on the full-court press breaker, in anticipation for his second job as interim basketball coach. Indiana is apparently planning ahead for Bobby Knight's comments about officiating. Iowa 24, Indiana 21. Illinois (3-2, 5-3) at Purdue (2-3, 3-5) Purdue coach Jim Colletto wakes up one morning and is ecstatic about his team's progress. He says he's going to name his son Eric Hunter Colletto, and he allows each member of the offensive line to take time off to be certified SCUBA divers. Illinois still wins. Illini 34, Boilers 7. GrdeJige5 t try ..c }C42 3