The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 4, 1996 - 27 So what, Sanders? urtis carries mountain's load West Virginia linebacker/defensive end/tight end flashes and dashes in more spots than Neon The Associated Press MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Quarterback, *nning back and receiver Kordell Stewart is "Slash" for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defensive back and receiver Deion Sanders is "Prime Time" for the Dallas Cowboys. West Virginia's utility man is Canute Curtis, a linebacker-defensive end-tight end who is an eclectic mix of size, strength, speed and ability. Quarterback Chad, Johnston grins widely when asked about Curtis, a 6-foot-2, 258- pound fellow senior whose bench press is in the high 400-pound range, but can run a 4.7 40- *rd dash. "Canute is a beast," Johnston said. "Canute is probably one of the most talented players, if not the most talented player, on this team. I don't know why we. don't run behind him the whole time." The Beast showed scads of ability in a sea- son-opening, 34- 0 win Saturday over rival Pittsburgh. He had 2 1/2 sacks, four solo tackles, recovered a fum- ble that he forced, and had a crushing block on an opponent when he lined up with the Mountaineers' Curtis call Who: West Virginia against Western Michigan Where: Morgantown, W. Va. When: Saturday, noon What: Canute Curtis slashes, flashes and dashes at three positions against the Broncos - linebacker, defensive end and tight end. goal-line offense. Curtis, now just 1 1/2 short of Renaldo Turnbull's school-record 22 sacks, subsequent- ly was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week. He had eight sacks and 60 tackles as a sophomore, then added 10 sacks and 62 tackles last season. But solid as those stats were, they were mainly in a supporting role: Former defensive standouts Steve Perkins, Barry Hawkins and John Browning earned a lot of the attention. This, however, seems clearly destined to be Curtis' year. "It's quite evident he's the dominant player," said defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap. "His size, speed and quickness is what separates him from the rest of the guys." Offensive line coach Bill Legg says Curtis, of Amityville, N.Y., knows all the Mountaineers' goal-line formations and plays. It's not clear yet if an end zone pass is headed Curtis' way soon, but smart money wouldn't bet against it. "He's a guy who's a big body and has been in a lot of big games and is a great athlete," Legg said. "We just felt like with having a couple young tight ends ... that it would give us anoth- er big guy down on the goal line to try to knock people off the ball. "Canute wanted, and was interested, in doing it," Legg said. Dunlap believes Curtis is headed for the NFL, and even compares his star to Kevin Greene of the Carolina Panthers. The kudos come after Curtis improved his conditioning. "He would get tired and loaf last year, but he doesn't do that now because he's in shape," Dunlap said, his voice rising so Curtis, finish- ing an interview session nearby, could hear. Some of his teammates showed similar prac- tice habits last year, but Curtis promises West Virginia will avoid letdowns in 1996. "We've got a great group of guys, not just the seniors," Curtis said. "I think some of the young guys are more mature than they have been in the past. They know what they're doing. They know what we want to get done." Curtis and the Mountaineers play their home opener Saturday against Western Michigan (0- 1). Kickoff is scheduled for noon. Clemson football troubled off the field Ex-Wolverine among 8 suspended players p .1 MOVIE STILLS OVIE POSTERS S FINE ART ROCK BANDS 0 HUMOR w z O: 0 BACK TO SCHOOL POSTER SALE s I0 The Associated Press CLEMSON, S.C. - This summer made Anthony Simmons angry. Last Saturday made him want to cry. The Clemson linebacker spent the v -season crumpling newspapers instead of ballcarriers, angered by the arrests of eight teammates and the dis- missal of star Antwuan Wyatt. When things couldn't get worse off the field, North Carolina, shredded the Tigers, 45-0, Saturday. "I feel like we got people (on the team) questioning what we can do," he said yesterday. "We've had a lot of dis- *ictions to keep us from building our- selves up." Simmons said it grew distressing during the summer to read about all the transgressions and to deal with the taunting or questioning of friends and family. But he felt like the team recov- ered enough of its self-respect during training camp to forget about it. Maybe he was wrong, in light of a two-game NCAA suspension for prized nsfer lineman Trevor Pryce - who 'ft Michigan in 1995 - and now a police investigation into a student's complaint that receiver Tony Horne hit him at a party over the weekend. "It's beginning to get on my nerves," Simmons said. "It's time for everyone to get over it and get on track. I'm tired of it and I'm going to mention it (in meetings). Coach Tommy West said it was easy point to the arrests, claim they are stractions and blame an out-of-con- trol program for one of the team's worst performances in history, against North Carolina. But that doesn't ring true, he said. The team practiced hard in August and bonded together like no group West had before. All signals the coach got were of a team ready to grab the season with gusto and determination. .,So what happened? T "Why you lose like this, everybody is oking for a reason," West said. "To say you didn't make that play, that is way too simple. But that's what hap- pened." West is growing weary with the ques- tioning about his players' troubles. Wildcats buspend defender The Associated Press EVANSTON - Northwestern's sec- ondary, revamped after losing three starters from its Big Ten championship ason, expects to see plenty of passes the season opener at Wake Forest. And now the No. 13 Wildcats will have to defend against Wake quarter- back Brian Kuklick without one of their top players from last year's Rose Bowl team. Hudhaifa Ismaeli, a big-play nickel back who had been moved to corner, has been suspended for the game at Winston-Salem, N.C. "He's broken a team rule and is sus- pended for one game," Wildcats coach Gary Barnett said Monday, refusing to elaborate. Ismaeli, who made seven sacks last season with four fumble recoveries and a pass interception, will rejoin the team the following week. He said the courts have proved out most of his decisions on discipline, and students, fans and alumni should believe the program is on the correct course. Four freshmen accused of sexual assault were set free this summer when their accuser would not testify. Star tail- back Raymond Priester, caught with an illegally bought phone number, was accepted into pretrial intervention and will have his records wiped clean if he completes that program. Wyatt, a receiver, and backup tail- back Anthony Downs were dismissed from the team and still face marijuana possession charges. West met with a group of students Monday to address their concerns and left satisfied he had calmed their fears. "It could become a hindrance if you're going to spend all your time talk- ing about it," West said. "It's human nature that it is going to be brought up right now. (But) the incidents that occurred are behind us." Most Images Only $6, $7 and $8 4V Sponsor: Michigan Union Arts and Programs fi ' , '_ 4,, 3] t_. . z z w4 r7 C') Q Date: Thurs. Aug. 29 thru Sat. Sept. 7 Time: 9 A.M. - 6 P.M. 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