The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 4, 1996 - 25 Sony Socrates, Nebraska 7bz 't Purdue So what exactly happened in East Lansing last Saturday? Michigan State's 52-14 win over Purdue raised a lot of eyebrows, but no one is really sure what to make of it. Are the Spartans that good, or is rdue just really, really bad. Purdue coach Jim Colletto, while being careful to give Michigan State credit, is leaning heavily toward the latter. "The lack of focus to do the things we prac- ticed was very disturbing to us as coaches,"' hlletto said. "1 Wink we did RYAN some things that WHITE helped them White on move the ball." Target Really, it was a nice way of saying that, from the side- lines, Colletto saw as many hits from his defense as David Lee Roth did in his solo days. Colletto is still upset about the way. I4is defense performed and, let's face ;was coach at Purdue, Colletto has seen his fair share of bad games. To still be mad about what hap- pened Saturday must make it an exceptionally awful outing. That's not to say, though, that Michigan State didn't perform well. True freshman Sedrick Irvin dis- played big-time talent in his first career game. Irvin cut, slashed and ed to four touchdowns and a team- Uh 73 yards rushing. Michigan State coach Nick Saban said he wasn't surprised by the way his offense played. In fact he knew early on that things were going well for the Spartans. "The game changed in our favor when we went ahead," Socrates, er, Saban said. Whichever it was, Purdue's apathy or Michigan State's juggernaut Wense, more will be known about the partans after this weekend. Michigan State has to go to Lincoln, Neb., and once the Spartans kickoff against Nebraska, the only score that's liable to matter is 63-3, the final score of last Saturday's game between No. 2 Tennessee and UNLVJ With the Vols dismemberment of the Runnin' Rebels, Nebraska is going t& want to prove that it belongsaop e polls. The only way to do that is to dis- mantle the Spartans, and forget to put them back together. Which is what is most likely to hap- pen. THEY'RE BACK: Ohio State kicks off its season Saturday eager to erase the memories of last season's finish. For those who don't remember, the Buckeyes were 11-0 before coming 'o Ann Arbor and choking on an I ject approximately as big as, oh, Michigan Stadium. Ohio State followed that perfor- mance up by heading to Orlando to face Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl, only to choke on an object the approx- imate size of, well, Neylon Stadium. Ohio State opens the new season at home against Rice with 15 players lj ely to see their first collegiate tion, including 11 true freshmen. 'same of them will help fill the holes left by the departure of quarterback Bobby Hoying, running back Eddie George, wide receiver Terry Glenn and tight end Rickey Dudley. "We're going to start seven new players on the offensive side of the ball, and I don't think we've ever done that at Ohio State," coach John Cooper said. In spite of the questions on offense, *ooper is looking forward to finally getting the season under way. Especially since the start is much later than last season, when the Buckeyes played their' first game Aug. 27. "We've had the maximum number of practices the NCAA allows," Cooper said. "So we've beaten up our- selves and are anxious to get started" REVERSING FIELDS: It's not uncom- on for a Mid-American Conference am to face a Big Ten opponent. What is odd is when the game occurs in a MAC stadium - in fact, it's never happened. That, however, will change Saturday when Indiana travels to Toledo. "I grew un in the MAC as a player FOOTBALL Continued from Page 22 "This extra week will prove to be of some advantage for us, even though I think an extra week is a much greater advantage later in the year," Carr said. "The negative side is that Colorado will get to play again this week." If the Buffaloes didn't pose enough problems on the field, the Wolverines will be concerned about something they normally can take for granted - the air that they will breathe. Folsom Field's high elevation could make the Wolverines feel like they are on the moon without oxygen masks. "We've talked to a lot of teams that go out to play Colorado," Carr said. "We've researched (the oxygen problem) as well as we can research it. I think that today, the general consensus is to go out as late as possible, play the game, and not make a big deal out of it." Boulder's thin air might snake it tough for Michigan sophomore Charles Woodson to double as corner- back and wide receiver like he did against Illinois. The extra week Carr saw the Dallas Cowboys' Deion Sanders go both ways Monday night against the Chicago Bears, and wondered how Prime Time could keep that up for an entire season. He has similar concerns about his young defensive back. "I think about Woodson and he's only 19-years old," Carr said. But he quickly added that the sopho- more's two-way days are far from over. "You have to take guys who have special talent and do things with them," Carr said. The Wolverines sustained no serious injuries in last Saturday's win over Illinois and welcome back two key players for the Colorado game. Junior linebacker Rob Swett will return from a sprained ankle and tailback Chris Howard is also slated to see action next Saturday after sitting out against the Illini because of incomplete coursework. Carr would not comment specifical- ly on Howard's situation. "We expect Chris to play," he said. "I feel very strongly that any academ- ic problem is to be kept confidential" will prove to be of some advantage to us, even though I think an extra week is a much greater advantage later in the year. The negative side is that Colorado will get to play again this week" - Lloyd Carr Michigan football coach Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Michigan linebacker Jarrett Irons was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week yesterday for his performance in Saturday's 20-8 Michigan victory over Illinois. He recorded 15 tackles - 12 solo - and one sack. EVAN PETRIE/Special to the Daily Michigan strong safety Marcus Ray helps Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Jarrett irons take out Illinois tailback Ty Douthard on Saturday in the Wolverines' 20-8 victory at Michigan Stadium. a 1 ® Complete multimedia computer customize for students Campus Z-Station® features: " Powerful Intel® processor * Large capacity hard drive Sr -a....._., L.-d..:.: Processor= Hard drive Monitor Price with LAN card Pentium 100 MHz 1.2GB 14" (13.2" viewable) $1799 $1899* Pentium 133 MHz 1.6GB 15" (13.7" viewable) $2199 $2299 Pentium 166 MHz 2.1GB 15" (13.7" viewable) $2499 $2599 I