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The Michigan Daily - Rose Bowl Preview- December 10, 1992- Page 7
U-W faces possible
NCAA violations
Associated Press
Cash, jobs and benefits were pro-
vided to University of Washington
football players by boosters in appar-
ent violation of NCAA rules, The Los
Angeles.Times reported in yesterday's
editions.
The newspaper interviewed more
than two dozen former players and
others familiar with the Washington
program, and found that two promi-
nent Husky boosters have allegedly
dispensed much of the cash and jobs.
They are James Kenyon, a Los
Angeles real estate developer, and
HerbertMead, a Seattle businessman.
Both are Washington graduates.
Five former Washington players
told The Times they made as much as
$10 an hour doing little or no work in
summer jobs arranged by Kenyon
through his position at a Los Angeles
real estate development company.
The players were ostensibly hired
as messengers, laborers and security
guards at Cabot, Cabot and Forbers.
Washington coach Don James said
the school gets about 750 athletes
jobs for the summer, and that they all
worked for their wages.
"We run too clean a program,"
James said. "I've worked my whole
career, and my pride and image is at
stake because of what people are do-
ing. It's frustrating to me when we've
gotaprogram that has worked so hard
to abide by all the rules."
Tailback Vince Weathersby said
he was provided with cash payments
totaling about $3,000 from both
Kenyon and Mead between 1984-88.
Kenyon denied providing
Weathersby or other Husky players
with cash. Mead also denied giving
cash to Weathersby.
Such special favors are apparent
violations of the NCAA's "extra ben-
efits" rule, which prohibits represen-
tatives of a school's athletic interests
from providing athletes with benefits
not available to students.
Twice this season the Washington
program has been shaken by highly
publicized incidents. Linebacker
Danianke Smith was charged with
selling cocaine, and quarterback Billy
Joe Hobert was suspended after he
admitted receiving $50,000 in im-
proper loans.
Under James, the Huskies' coach
since 1975, Washington has gained a
reputation for being clean of the field
as well as successful off it. The H-us-
kies have not been sanctioned by the
NCAA for major rules violations since
1955.
None of the former Washington
players interviewed by The Times
said they believe that James has
knowledge of improper activities by
boosters.
However, former player Kevin
Conard said that Kenyon and Mead
have such high profiles within Wash-
ington football circles that it would
be difficult for anyone involved in the
program to be unaware of what the
two boosters might do on the
program's behalf.
James dismissed the allegations
of illegal cash and jobs, saying that
every program has a few disgruntled
athletes.
"I trust Jim Kenyon, and I trust
Herbert Mead. They know the rules,
and we've gone over the rules, and
they've assured us that they've al-
ways abided by the rules," James
said. "They don't want to get their
school into any kind of trouble."
Earlier this year, Hobert, the 1992
Rose Bowl MVP, admitted borrow-
ing $50,000 from Charles Rice, a
nuclear engineer from Idaho.
Hobert was suspended indefinitely
Nov. 6, less than a week after he lost
his starting job. The Pac-10 subse-
quently ruled that Washington need
not forfeit any victories in which
Hobert was used.
In order to be reinstated, Hobert
would need approval fromboth Wash-
ington and the NCAA. But he wanted
the decision by Jan. 6, the NFL dead-
line for underclassmen to declare for
the draft. The school declined to re-
view his petition until after the Rose
Bowl, so Hobert has elected to turn
pro.
- Drake Witham of The Wash-
ington Daily contributed to this re-
port.
Drive for Five is
incomplete without
Rose Bowl victory
Before you get ready to mark this team's place in history (although
after those last two regular-season games, who really is), let's remember
one thing. As great as this team may be - five straight Big Ten titles,
including four outright; only two conference losses in that same span,
coming in back-to-back games during the 1990 season - the seniors,
who want their class to go down as the best ever at Michigan, have failed
to accomplish one teeny-tiny task.
Not one of them has won a Rose Bowl.
That's right, friends, these Wolverines have been oh-ferred by the
Granddaddy of Them All.
The problem may stem from skewed goals. Michigan players always
say at the beginning of the season that their No. 1 objective is to win the
conference and go to the Rose Bowl. Go to the Rose Bowl. Winning the
game seems secondary. Now it may sound a little ridiculous, but ...
"That may have had an effect this year," said senior guard Doug
Skene, nodding his head in agreement.
It certainly did in Columbus. After clinching a fifth straight
conference crown via a tie against Illinois, the blue '5' had already been
scratched off of watches. The season was complete. Players came out
against Ohio State already fulfilled. We're going to the Rose Bowl. It
showed in their performance that mid-November Saturday. Who's to say
the same thing won't happen Jan. 1?
True, at most schools a bowl game is a reward for a great regular
season and should be treated as such. But, This is Michigan, as coach
Gary Moeller might say. Let's face it, the Wolverines win the conference
every year. It's a forgone conclusion. And, barring any act of God (or
that of ABC-TV), it should be that way for quite a while. So why
maintain a low ceiling?
The Big Ten is a tough conference. We're the biggest game on
everybody else's schedule - they're all gunning for us. We're the top
dog, and everyone wants our bone. (Oops, that's a Steve Fisher line.)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I clich6, you cliche, we all cliche.
The biggest cliche of all? That Michigan just wants to get to the Rose
Bowl.
See, this probably all started back in the Bo Schembechler days, when
success at the Rose Bowl was also a foregone conclusion. Those
Wolverines didn't expect any. How could they, with a 2-8 mark in
Pasadena Jan. 1?
So some time along the way, Coach Bo decided it would be wise to
tell his players to start telling the media that their goal was simply to get
to the Rose Bowl. (Maybe it happened after the 1979 loss, his third in
three straight trips.) That way, when some Pac-10 team inevitably sent
Michigan packing, it was no big deal. We reached our objective.
But that was then and this is now, as they say. Michigan football is
enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Moeller has diversified the offense (Hey,
the coach has been known to call for a pass on first down. Sacrilege?
Hardly.) and is bringing the Wolverines up to par with the pro-style
attacks used by other national powers. The Miami effect has been and
will continue to be felt. Speed is in. Big, plodding players are out.
Yet at Michigan, the rhetoric remains constant. Win the conference.
Get to the Rose Bowl.
The Wolverines certainly have had enough success under Moeller to
aim for a Rose Bowl triumph from the outset. So maybe all they need is a
victory to prove it to themselves. Is this the year to get it?
"Ordinarily, we might say we're glad to just get here," senior tri-
captain Corwin Brown said. "But the way Washington beat us last year,
it's much more of a goal that (the seniors) want to go out with a win
against these guys."
Talk, talk, talk. Where does it actually leave Michigan come Jan. 1?
Both the Wolverines and the Huskies rolled like boulders (gathering very
little moss)'early on, and both stumbled in the last month of the season.
Washington is clearly a weaker team than 1991's co-national champion,
but is Michigan improved enough to make up the rest of last season's 20-
point difference? Yes - if the real Michigan team shows up.
And we haven't seen that one for a while. Who knows what happened
to it. Fans in Seattle are probably saying the same thing about their
Huskies. A game that through October looked to have prime national
championship implications - and one which would make The Bowl
Coalition seem silly (Not that it doesn't anyway, after the Cotton Bowl
invited Notre Dame over Florida State.) - now means absolutely
nothing. Except for pride.
"This game we have to prove we're a good team," Skene said. "We
haven't won since Nov. 7 at Northwestern. We have to prove it to
ourselves. Everybody knows we're a good team, we just have to show it.
"This year (is more important) than recently, because we were
embarrassed last year. And now we have a shot to play the same team."
Chris Hutchinson always talks about how this is "our" class, the
seniors' class. It's time to do something about it. Bragging about Big Ten
titles is nice, but in five years the only thing people will say is that the
Wolverines couldn't win the big one.
The Rose Bowl is Michigan's national championship game, and the
Wolverine seniors want to be the ones walking off that field just after 8
p.m. EST with a trophy held high over their heads. After all, no one ever
remembers who finished second.
"I do believe we're going to go out there and win this game," Brown
said. "Last year, the offense didn't do it, and the defense didn't stop them
when it had to.... So we need to do what we should have done last year."
The personnel is a little more even this time, so motivation is the key.
And if you're a fourth- or fifth-year senior and can't get up for this one,
vn chc ,in't h nt there Michioan has 10 senior starters - iusthabout
igan Washington
Rushing
Player A
Kaufman 1
Turner
Brunell
Barry
Hobert
Jones
Thomas
Bryant
Huckaby
Johnson
Neal
Harris
Kralik
Hard
Totals 4
~ttiIA
vg
62
46
68
80
21
38
17
19
13
8
2
2
1
1
1045 6.5
217 4.7
197 2.9
194 2.4
129 6.1
126 3.3
91 5.4
57 3.0
55 4.2
27 3.4
15 7.5
9 4.5
0 0.0
-23-23.0
TD
6
3
8
3
2
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
26
Punting
Player n
Werdel
Team
Totals
Punt Re
Player I
Kaufman
Bryant
Bailey
Thomas
Jones
Totals
NQ Yd2
69 2659
1 14
70 2673
Avg
38.5
14.0
38.2
turns
_N YdsAvgi
L9
65
14
65
Ng
65
13
8
8
65
19
6
3
0
1
29
269
40
9
8
332
14.2
6.7
3.0
0.0
11.4
4782139
4.5
Kickoff Returns
Passing
Player _C-A Yd
Brunell 109-1891301
Hobert 71-136 716
Huard 5-5 108
Biornson 0-1 Q
Totals 185-331 2125
Receiving
TD
5
5
1
11
Lg
50
31
48
25
21
mnt
4
3
0
7
TD
3
0
2
0
0
Player f
J. Barry
Kaufman
Shelley
Bryant
Huckaby
Schmidt
Turner
Totals
Kicking
Player I
Hanson 10
8
5
3
2
2
1
1
22
-13
No Y s Av
141
89
51
39
18
10
4
352
17.6
17.8
17.0
19.5
9.0
10.0
6.0
16.0
L91
24
2E
2(
25
13
10
4.
26
Pts
66
Player
Kralik
Bruener
Shelley
Mack
D. Barry
!N- Yd2
33 487
21 210
20 382
20 221
16 158
LgPATs
4236-36
r_ i .
_ _
I