Volleyball
vs. Indiana
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Cliff Keen Arena
SPORTS
Football
vs. Houston
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Michigan Stadium
;r
Page 18.:
The Michigan Daily
Wednesday, September 23, 1992
Cougars' offense rebounds
Houston rediscovers success with run-and-shoot
by Albert Lin
Daily Football Writer_
Illinois coach Lou Tepper went
into last week's game against
Houston with a perfect mark against
the run-and-shoot offense. Five
times his Colorado and Illinois de-
fenses had taken the field against
teams using the high-powered attack,
and five times they had come out on
top. And the opponent was always
shut down with incredible success.
Tepper's record was finally blem-
ished by the Cougars Saturday in the
Astrodome. Houston ran up less than
400 yards of total offense but still
managed a 31-13 victory.
"Prior to this game, we faced the
run-and-shoot in the Big Eight and
gave up three points and 10 points,
and in the Big Ten gave up zero and
zero, and against Houston (last year)
gave up 10," Tepper said. "And I
think Houston was a more skilled
run-and-shoot team a year ago than
they are this year."
Tepper's last comment says a lot
about the run-and-shoot. The re-
quired passing game leads to an all-
or-nothing offense. Either you walk
over defenders with quick touch-
down strikes, or you turn the ball
over and go home with a defeat.
Houston's last two seasons per-
fectly illustrate that matter. Cougar
coach John Jenkins, previously of-
fensive coordinator under Jack
Pardee, had a fantastic debut in
1990. Houston finished 10-1 with an
average margin of victory of nearly
20 points while quarterback David
Klingler set 42 NCAA records with
a team that was on NCAA probation.
Expectations were high for 1991.
Klingler was back, and the team was
off probation. But the offense didn't
click, outscoring opponents by only
nine points the entire year. Jenkins'
sophomore campaign ended with a
4-7 mark.
Houston opened the 1992 season
by squeaking out a 28-25 victory
over Tulsa. Hardly impressive. So
Tepper did not really know what to
expect last Saturday. He said his
team actually performed quite ad-
mirably, and only a long touchdown
pass on the last play of the game and
nine points allowed on turnovers
turned the game into a blowout.
"If we had lost 16-7, which was
the score at the time the other things
occurred, I don't think people would
feel as though Houston marched the
ball up and down the field," Tepper
said. "So even though we didn't play
as well as I hoped we would, we
certainly could have held them to 16
points and 360 or fewer yards very
easily."
So just how effective can the run-
and-shoot really be? If it is on -
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you can get a lot of yardage and a lot'
of points. But it's not unstoppable.
The Illini, specifically quarter-
back Jason Verduzco, also faced a;
other type of pressure Saturday. The,
forgotten Houston defense sacked
Verduzco eight times. Linebacker
Ryan McCoy is considered by soffit
to be the best at his position in tlke,
Southwest Conference. The Cougars:
usually take a Loyola Marymodh(:
mentality - it doesn't matter how
many points you score, as long as we
score more - so this extra wrinito
may be a new area of concern fb:
opposing coaches.
"(The Houston defense) played'u
very emotional game against us, and
I think any time a defense plays witlh
that kind of emotion, it's gonna have
a chance to perform well," Teppe:
said. "But I think they will have-
some trouble with physical teams
that run well. We just did not protect
very well. They did exert a very;
good pass rush against us, and we,
took a lot of losses, which probaliy
ended up being our undoing as much{
as any single factor."
But Michigan's offensive lin
should provide ample time for iin
quarterback - be it Elvis Grbac 6t
Todd Collins - to throw. And thy;
added athleticism in the defensive
backfield should help in nickel aho,
dime packages.
"Quite candidly," Tepper said, "t
think Michigan will do very well
against Houston."
The Wolverines will find out just
how well Saturday.
INJURY UPDATE: Michigan
coach Gary Moeller received sof&O
encouraging news about his injured
players. Tackle Rob Doherty, insid
linebacker Marcus Walker aU4
safety Pat Maloney all went througf 9
a full practice yesterday and should
be close to 100 percent at game time,:
Defensive tackle Chris Hutchin$Dnl
and fullback Burnie Legette are ex4
pected to start Saturday.
However, the reports on Grbac'
and Tyrone Wheatley are question-
able. Moeller lists both players'
chances of playing at 50 percent.
_ _ ti8FM f
.._ m
i
Tepper
and sometimes that is a big if - it
can be nearly impossible to stop. In
Houston's first two years using it,
with Andre Ware at the helm, the
Cougars' average margin of victory
was 31 points.
But there are still times when the
quarterback can't find his receivers,
or when an inability to establish a
running game renders the pass
nonexistent. And those times have
come more often since last season.
"I think the run-and-shoot has a
lot of problems inside the 20 (yard
line) scoring," Tepper said. "But it
certainly spreads your defense out.
"Is it unstoppable? No - we've
stopped it five out of six times. I
think it is very similar to the wish-
bone offense. The wishbone is an of-
fense which has great execution, and
when it's performed extremely well
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Houston linebacker Ryan McCoy leads the Cougar defense into Saturday's game against Michigan.
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Jury convicts former Michigan State wrestling coach of rape:
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A jury
found former Michigan State
University wrestling coach Phillip
Parker guilty Tuesday of raping a
20-year-old woman during a
Valentine's Day 1991 date.
The Ingham County Circuit
Court jury deliberated about 13
hours Friday, Monday, and yester-
day before finding Parker guilty of
third-degree criminal sexual con-
duct.
Judge Thomas Brown set sen-
tencing for Oct. 14. Parker faces a
maximum sentence of 15 years in
prison.
The jurors heard two sharply
different versions of what happened
that evening from Parker and the
woman. Both agreed that the victim,
a junior college student, met Parker
while she was working out at a
Michigan State gym on Feb. 13,
1991.
Beyond that, their stories varied
greatly.
She testified he called her the
next day and asked for a date and
they went to a Lansing nightspot
where she had one drink, a Long
Island Iced Tea.
The woman said the drink made
her woozy and she passed out in
Parker's car in a hotel parking lot.
She said she came to and found
Parker on top of her, having sex.
Parker testified the woman called
him, saying she wanted to go out and
while they were at the bar she made
a series of sexual remarks.
He said afterward, at the hotel
parking lot, the woman kissed him
and willingly had sex with him.
Assistant Ingham County
Prosecutor Linda Maloney Berryman
said the victim's testimony helped
the jurors make up their minds.
"Two other things that were help-
ful to them were the three witnesses
who saw both Mr. Parker and the
victim after they left the bar prior to
the time of the assault, which helped
establish her side of the story that
she was very intoxicated from what-
ever she drank over there," she said.
"Then, when the defendant got
up on the stand and the jury looked
at his explanation for things, the fact
that it didn't coincide with the testi-
mony of other witnesses, plus other
Hornets ink Reid to multiyear pact;Mou
If you ye ever dreamed of being behind the control
of an airplane, this is your chance to find out what
it's really like.
A Marine Corps pilot is coming to campus who
can take you up for trial flights.
We' re lookin g for a hea
college students who have the Gtis
brains and skill-as well as
Is
If youre cut out for it, well give you free civilian
flight training, maybe even $100 a month cash while
vou're in school. And someday you could be flying
a Harrier, Cobra or F/A-18.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - J.R.
Reid signed a multiyear contract ex-
tension with Charlotte Monday in a
deal that's expected to help the
Hornets move closer to signing No.
1 draft pick Alonzo Mourning.
"J.R.'s agreement to renegotiate
his contract and, in the process, defer
a sum of money until down the road,
brings us that much closer to signing
Get a taste of what life is like
1 at the top. The flight's on us.
things that didn't make logical sensd:
were helpful to them in making d
judgment as far as credibility."
Parker's attorney, John Frawley;,
didn't immediately return a telex
phone call seeking comment.
The university reassigned Parket
to off-campus duties with the athletic
department after he was charged. Hid
contract later expired and wasn't
renewed.
Parker is free on bond.
rni' to sign soon
Alonzo Mourning, and demonstrated
J.R. as being a team player," tean
president Spencer Stolpen said. '
The team did not release detail
of the contract.
The Gaston (N.C.) Gazette re-
ported in Tuesday's editions that
Mourning will sign a six-year, $21
million contract sometime this week;
"It's conceivable that it could be
done Wednesday and we're confie
dent that it will be done in short or-
der," team president Spencer Stolpen
told the paper.
Should Mourning sign this week,
he would be only the seconqJ
Hornets' first-rounder to be signed
by the opening of training camp in
the team's five-year existence.
Previous first-round picks Larry
Johnson, Kendall Gill, and Rex
Chapman were holdouts. Reid wad
signed just prior to camp.:*
Reid, who was married lash
Saturday, is coming off an injury;
plagued season.
F---
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Spring into ... K I
1OKea d
-- ~ COOKIES
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