Thursday, October 7, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 13A 0 Big Ten, Seminoles provide top conference games Saturday By Jeff Phillips For the Daily The conference schedules are in full swing for most of the nation. The Big and SEC will have a different look after this week when the weak are weed- ed out in a brutal natural sel:ction. Well, that may be excessive, but this week features key games throughout the nation. There will surely be some goal- posts torn down somewhere, and some wet-eyed faces will be broadcast nation- ally. The following guide will help shed some light on the big weekend in college football. 9o0. 17 PURDUE AT NO. 21 OHIO STATE The Big Ten will be shaken up again in Columbus on Saturday afternoon. Each team has something to prove to the nation. The stakes are great in this game as the loser can kiss the Rose Bowl goodbye. The Buckeyes will hope to rebound after being stomped by Ron Dayne and th Wisconsin Badgers. After giving up 4zonsecutive points, the traditionally stingy Ohio State defense will have to pull the turf from its helmets and change its defensive strategy. Drew Brees and the Boilermakers are also look to get back on track. After completing fewer than 50-percent of his passes against Michigan, Brees hopes to pick apart the Ohio State secondary. After viewing Wisconsin's performance, Purdue may also look to J. Crabtree to c the ball. He had some initial suc- ec last Saturday before the Boilermakers went airborne. Buckeye quarterback Steve Bellisari and wideout Ken-Yon Rambo look to mbombard a Purdue defense that allowed nearly 18 yards per pass play last Saturday. Running back Michael Wiley will not need the help of any ACME products in order gain yards on the ground against the pourous Boilermaker se. ' the end, it will come down to which defense can limit the opposing offense. 30th teams have proved they can put up iglumbers, just not against good com- >etition. This is a must-win shootout for wo evenly matched opponents. OHIO STATE 34, PURDUE 31 No.2 PENN STATE AT IOWA After the departure of Iowa legend Hayden Fry, the Hawkeyes have looked ro nded, to put it lightly. After being lit J Spartan Stadium, Iowa will attempt a regroup at home. The Hawkeyes will ace a tough Penn State squad for at least wo quarters, at which time coach Joe arterno will pull his starters for fear of nother punter-linebacker incident. This game will give Penn State an pportunity to brush the dust off their niforms and perhaps find some answers a the quarterback question. Passer Thompson will share time with rd Casey, as well as third-stringer 4at Seneca. The Nittany Lions will also n a struggling Eric McCoo, who is veraging just 3.3 yards per carry. Iowa will look to find an offense that ilb score.. Ranked No. 109 in scoring ffense with 44 points in four games, the Hawkeyes have their work cut out for them. There is hope for Iowa to get out of their offensive slump when they face a Lion defense that allowed 24 points to Akron. The biggest fear for Penn State in this matchup will be limiting injuries. The Nittany Lions' national title hopes could be diminished with a key injury to wide receiver Chafie Fields or to the volatile linebacker LaVar Arrington. Penn State will try to avenge their 21- 20 home loss to Iowa in 1996, the last time the two teams met. This year, the Nittany Lions have all the weapons, along with a knack for running up the score. Iowa will fight, but this one won't be close. PENN STATE 63, IOWA 9 No. 20 Wisconsin at No. 25 Minnesota At the beginning of the season, this matchup would have been viewed as just another speed bump in the Ron Dayne Heisman trophy parade. While this still may be the case, Minnesota has made some noise in the Big Ten by winning their first four games of the season. The winner of this game will take home the Paul Bunyan Axe, commemo- rating the longest-running series in Division I-A history. Wisconsin will ride the high of rout- ing Ohio State in Columbus. Ron Dayne is still on track to beat Ricky Williams' NCAA rushing record, and sophomore quarterback Brooks Bollinger looked solid in his first start. Minnesota looks to continue its defen- sive dominance. The Gophers are allow- ing just 211 yards of offense and 7 points per game. With that in mind, the most potent offense the Gophers have faced is Northern Illinois. Led by linebacker Sean Hoffman, who was last week's Big Ten player of the week, the defense will try and stop Dayne, who rumbled for four touchdowns against Ohio State. Against Northwestern, the Gophers showed they also have a running threat. Running back Thomas Hamner ran for I 18 yards on 25 carries and had a 64- yard touchdown reception. Quarterback Billy Cockerham will need to improve in order for the Gophers to be victorious. Minnesota has sold nearly 60,000 tickets for the game, which will be played in the Metrodome. The crowd support will help, but will not be enough to stop Wisconsin, unless Dayne is side- lined with his fifth ankle injury of the season. WISCONSIN 24, MINNESOTA 13 NORTHWESTERN AT INDIANA The Antwaan Randle El show will be the feature when Northwestern comes to Bloomington. The Wildcats are hoping to stop the Indiana quarterback, who accounted for 90 percent of the Hoosier offense against Illinois. Randle El was honored with the Big Ten offensive player of the week after producing 422 yards of total offense against the Illini. Unfortunately for Indiana, he doesn't play on both sides of the ball. I The Hoosier defense is giving up nearly 410 yards per game, which is good enough for tenth in the Big Ten. The Wildcats will look to take advantage of this by running Damien Anderson, who was stifled by the Golden Gophers. The Wildcats passing defense will have to come up big if they expect to win this game. If they can contain Randle El and running back Levron Williams, they should be able to come away with a win. If not, Wildcat fans look out. INDIANA 31, NORTHWESTERN 28 No.9 GEORGIA AT NO.6 TENNESSEE Georgia and Tennessee fans should collectively thank Shaun Alexander. After his performance in the Swamp, leading Alabama past Florida, the SEC East is wide open. Both teams would like to take advantage of this unexpected turn of events. Tennessee is hanging to itshopes of repeating as national champions by a thread. The Volunteers have retained most of their 1998 team yet are off to a shaky start. After losing a heartbreaker to Florida, the Vols nearly lost to Memphis. Last week, Tennessee shut down a hopeful Auburn team. Running back Jamal Lewis is running well, but is being outshined by backup Travis Henry. Quarterback Tee Martin has already thrown five interceptions while making just three touchdown con- nections. The Volunteers' defense is strong and has only allowed 14 points per game. Georgia is in the best position in the conference. The Bulldogs control their own destiny if they can somehow get past their difficult schedule. If they do, it will not be due to losing the close games. The Bulldogs have won their past two games by a total of two points. Sophomore quarterback Quincy Carter has looked solid and running back Jasper Sanks is averaging six yards per carry. The question is whether they will be able to hold it together at the end of the game. Both teams have trouble putting points on the board. This close battle will come down to key turnovers and defen- sive miscues. TENNESSEE 20, GEORGIA 14 NO.7 FLORIDA AT LOUISIANA STATE What is another name for buried trea- sure? Louisiana State fans think it's Booty. Quarterback Josh Booty leads the Tigers against some angry Florida Gators. After finally deciding that they want- ed to lose last week, the Gators hope to regain some of their defensive compo- sure and begin the trek back up the national ladder. While there is no doubt that Florida can put up big numbers offensively, their defense is still giving up the big play. Lousiana State will look to bayou native Booty to get the job done. Still struggling in the Tiger offense, Booty has thrown five interceptions and just two touchdowns. An ill-advised decision by coach Gerry DiNardo to go for a two- point conversion prevented Booty from taking a big step in the right direction. If the Florida defense can hold back a Eddie Drummond and the rest of the second-ranked Nittany Lions will probably be able to fine tune their offense this weel against Iowa this weekend, The Hawkeyes have recorded a dismal 44 points in the last four games combined. lackluster Tiger offense, Florida should win this game. Quarterback Doug Johnson is one of the nation's leading passers and wide receiver Darrell Jackson has stepped up his game in' Travis Taylor's absence. The Tigers will score often, but it should not be enough to keep up with Steve Spurrier's offensive guidance. FLORIDA 42, LOUIsIANA STATE 20 No. 21 MIAMI AT No. 1 FLORIDA STATE After losing a tough game to an up- and-coming East Carolina team and a heartbreaker to Penn State, Miami will look to run Florida State into the ground, literally. With quarterback Kenny Kelly's arm still unproven, the Hurricanes will continue with the running game. Bobby Bowden has other ideas. After receiving a large pay raise on Monday, Bowden will attempt to prove that he is worth every penny. Expect him to pull out his bag of tricks for the Hurricane defense. Florida State uses an innovative strat- egy to win games: Score more points than the other team. With Heisman front- runner Peter Warrick, wide-out Laveraneus Coles, and experienced quarterback Chris Weinke, the Seminoles' offense is difficult to stop. By scoring nearly 44 points per game, opposing offenses have trouble keeping pace - just ask Joe Hamilton and Georgia Tech. Miami's James Jackson looks to take Edgarrin James' place. The Hurricanes will slow down the pace by running and playing ball control offense. The inexpe- rience of Kenny Kelly has caused him to thrown eight interceptions so far. If Miami is to win this game, Kelly will have to get the ball into the hands of the Hurricane's big-play man, Santana Moss. On defense, Miami will not let Warrick to beat them. Expect Travis Minor to come through for the Seminoles if Warrick cannot finda place to go. Miami will win this game if they limit Peter Warrick and cause turnovers to compensate for the giveaways their offense will surely have. This will be a Florida shootout will test the Florida State defense and erratic Miami offense. FLORIDA STATE 35, MIAMI 27 No. 22 SOUTHERN CAL AT ARIZONA This match-up is just one of the many completely unpredictable games in the wide-open Pac-10. At the beginning of the season, both teams were Rose Bowl hopefuls. Now both teams are playing catch-up to a surprising Stanford team. After getting one of Chris Fowler's woodshed beatings at the hands of Penn State in the first week of the season, the Wildcats have been trying to make a comeback. They have struggled mightily in their attempt to climb back into the top 25. The Wildcats had their wills tested after losing to Stanford, 50-22. A win against Southern Cal would be a step in the right direction. Southern Cal also has hopes of smelling roses. The Trojans have steadi- ly won three of four games, but not by much. Quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst has filled in well for an injured Cason Palmer, but the Trojans have yet to find a solid offensive strategy. The Southern Cal defense will have its hands full with Trung Candidate and Arizona's running attack. The Trojans have made up for the loss of Chris Claiborne in the middle and have the No. 1 rushing defense in the Pac-10. The better defense will win this game and with Arizona's ability to limit oppos- anick's status insure for Saturday TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - ide receiver Laveranues Coles tissed Florida State's practice Vednesday and will not play in the sp-ranked Seminoles' game against iami. Coles and Peter Warrick, a top Icisman Trophy candidate, were t ioned by police in connection an alleged theft scheme in hich police said a clerk sold cloth- sg to customers for far less than it vas worth. Neither player has been charged with any crime. Florida State coach Bobby owden said that he would make a b cision on Coles' future with the am tomorrow. *arrick, also a wide receiver, tended practice for the second raight night yesterday. Bowden has not said whether Warrick will play Saturday. The All-American senior from radenton has 36 catches for 508 Ards and four touchdowns for the rminoles. Coles, a senior from Icksonville, said Tuesday that he d Warrick answered investigators' *ons about the purchase of a tan at and four shirts with a total esti- gted value of $244, according to a 6lice report. According to the report, the play- s bought the merchandise Sept. 29 ir far less money. Both players were described by Alice as possible "witnesses or sus- ets," in the case. READ DAILY SPORTS. DAILY. P PHorO Heisman hopeful Peter Warrick may miss Saturday's game against the Hurricanes because of a connection to teammate .averanues Coles in a theft scheme. 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