16A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 4, 1997 AROUND THE BIIN- CONFERENCE Big Ten teams out for dessert in cupcake nonconference slate 0 By 8. Luia Daily Sports Writer The college football season begins in earnest this weekend, and football fans around the country will be flocking to see their teams in action. Michigan fans, however, will have to wait one more week before they can see the 1997 installment of the Wolverines. Luckily, there are plenty of Big Ten teams in action Saturday, so even Michigan fans can get their fix of college football. Without further ado, we present the year's first Around the Big Ten: PENN STATE AT PITTSBURGH: Penn State finished 11-2 last year and is now the top-ranked team in the nation. Pittsburgh went 4-7 in 1996 and is unranked. Who do you think is going to win this game? The Nittany Lions boast several of the nation's premier offensive players. Junior running back Curtis Enis rushed for 13 touchdowns and more than 1,200 yards last year. Senior wide receiver Joe Jurevicius was second in the nation in yards-per-catch with an average of 21.2. Pittsburgh also has some offensive play- ers, though none of them made the cover of Sports Illustrated like Jurevicius did. Penn State's Billy West and Dwayne Schulters combined to rush for more than 1,200 yards last year and quarter- back Matt Little passed for more than 1,200 yards. Don't count on the Panthers doing much offensively or defensively in this battle of oversized cats. Penn State 63, Pittsburgh 3 ILLINOIS VS. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI: Illinois is coming off a less-than- impressive 1996 campaign. The Illini won only two games all year, one of which was in the Big Ten, and finished last in the conference. New coach Ron Turner replaces Lou Tepper, who lasted six seasons as the Illini's skipper. Turner will depend upon the contribution of senior running back Robert Holcombe, the lone bright spot in Illinois' 1996 season. Holcombe was the fifth leading rusher in the Big Ten, aver- aging more than 116 yards per game. If Illinois is going to win this game, or any game for that matter, Holcombe will have to carry the bulk of the offensive load. Illinois 20, Southern Mississippi 14 INDIANA VS. NORTH CAROLINA: If this were a basketball game, it would be on national television. Unfortunately, this is a football game between two basketball powerhouses - one game that could get ugly. Indiana was another of the cellar dwellers in 1996, finishing tied with Illinois and Minnesota for the dubious distinction as the Big Ten's worst team. The Hoosiers did manage to win two nonconference games, but the three wins were not enough to save the job of coach Bill Mallory. Mallory is replaced by former Michigan assistant Cam Cameron. Cameron faces the daunting task of com- peting without twelve starters from last year's squad, including the Big Ten's third leading rusher, Alex Smith. This year will most likely become what is referred to as a rebuilding year. North Carolina 45, Indiana 14 IOWA AT NO~rHUERN IowA: Ah, the traditional Iowa vs. Northern Iowa football bonanza. Anyone caught caring about this game outside of Iowa should be smacked. Believe it or not, this game does have national implications. No, no, don't laugh. Iowa is ranked 20th in the nation and a loss would probably knock the Hawkeyes out of the poll. Don't count on them losing. Iova was tied for third place in the Big Ten last year, posting a 9-3 record. The Hawkeyes return several capable starters from last year's squad, including leading receiver Tim Dwight, leading passer Matt Sherman and second leading rush- er Tavian Banks. On the other side of the ball, the Hawkeyes return their two leading tack- lers from last year, linebackers Nick Gallery and Brion Hurley. These two teams last played each other in 1995 after an 81-year layoff. Northern Iowa is probably looking to avoid another 95-0 loss like they suffered in 1914 at the hands of Iowa. Iowa 35, Northern Iowa 10 MICHIGAN STATE VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: For the third time in the past seven years, the Spartans have chosen to start their season against another team from Michigan with a directional prefix in its name. Western Michigan will try to follow in the footsteps of Central Michigan, which defeated the Spartans to open the 1991 and 1992 seasons. Michigan State, in its third season under Nick Saban, looks to improve upon two straight six-win sea- sons. The Spartans return running back Sedrick Irvin and Butkus Award candi- date Ike Reese. Todd Schultz is penciled in as the starting quarterback after sharing the job last year with Gus Ornstein and Bill Burke. Don't count on the Broncos to put up much of a fight in this rodeo. Michigan State 45, Western Michigan 23 NORTHWESTERN (1-0) AT WAKE FOREsT: The laughingstock of the Big Ten for many years, Northwestern has become a national powerhouse in the past few sea- sons after winning back-to-back Big Ten championships. The Wildcats head into their second game of the season ranked No. 24. They will have to try for their third consecu- tive Big Ten title without the help of sev- eral important parts of their champi- onship teams. Northwestern will have to replace run- ning back Darnell Autry and quarterback Steve Schnur, both of whom ranked near the top of the Big Ten in their respective positions. The Wildcats will also have to replace D'Wayne Bates, who was lost for the season after suffering a leg injury. Wake Forest will have to deal with the loss of Tim Duncan to graduation. Oh wait, strike that last sentence. Actually the Demon Deacons lost only five starters to graduation, and none of the went to the NBA. The players who a returning, however, are not very good, and compiled only a 3-8 record last year. Look for Northwestern to bump their record to 2-0 with an easy victory here. Northwestern 38, Wake Forest 7 PURDUE AT TOLEDO: The only interest that this game holds for the typical resident of Ann Arbor is that it will be played nearby. Not very close, but pretty close. Seriously though, Purdue is openi the season under a new coach, Joe Tiller, who replaced Jim Coletto. Tiller will try to improve upon Purdue's eighth place finish in the Big Ten from a year ago. Senior Ed Watson returns after lead- ing Purdue in rushing and scoring last year. A Toledo native, Tiller will have a little added motivation in this game. But his team will not need any extra motiva- tion in this contest. Purdue 24, Toledo 7 WISCONSIN (0-1) VS. BOISE STATE: Wisconsin has imitated its Big Ten friends and ordered up a bit of a powder puff opponents to pad its nonconference record. After falling to Syracuse, the Badgers will look to record a win behind super sophomore running back Ron Dayne. Boise State posted only two wins in its 1996 campaign before hiring new coach Houston Nutt during the off-season. Lo for Dayne to rush for about 500 yards. Wisconsin 61, Boise State 0 Wei S C £41 Sv reak4 Ma y 101 R11 MICHIGAN toRECOR rboo __ _ _ _ _ _ _ e wex' hCre pe real music. great prim, * e phone: 663.5800 1140 south univerity (abov1goodtime chadeysAA * -fri. & sat.: 9:00a-11:00p 11:O0a-8:00 Rvs s oOS 'Il - "99 Y DC 5 S "99 5vM AW St Jd Zia 3tt *,SING at Michigan State, like Its Big Ten counterparts, play an easy nonconfer- nce game this weekend when It takes on Western Michigan. AP Photo w tI '", -1I >:z::, . .. .$ . The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S HAPPENING I Intramural Soccer Officials Needed! 0 ii 1 7a o No Experiei Necessary nce t T- * Officials are Paid for All Games Worked NI Get a Free Shirt Flexible Fours S Training Clinics Begin aPc.. .tiX.:. I I