The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 18, 2001- 9A Buffs head to Austin for Big 1 ,showdown By Jonite Scheyer For the Daily The middle of October means only one thing - the pressure is on. For some teams, it's desperation time, trying to redeem themselves after a disappointing start. Such is the case for an anxious Florida State squad. Other teams ACROSS THE like Colorado and Stanford have surpassed all expectations except NATIoN their own and are still looking to prove that they'll be around to handle the cold come December. No. 14 COLORADO (3-0 BIG 12, 5-1 OVERALL) AT No. 8 TEXAs (2-1, 5-1), 3:30 P.M., ABC: Hoping to feed off its momentum after two straight victories over Kansas State and Texas A&M, Colorado is looking to waltz in to Austin and bring its five-game winning streak to six this weekend. But the eighth-ranked Longhorns don't want to see any dancing, unless it's Texas wide receiver Roy Williams strutting through the Colorado endzone come Saturday. Not only could Colorado end up ranked in the top ten if it beats the Longhorns, it could stay in contention with undefeated Nebraska for the Big 12 North title. For the Longhorns, the Buffaloes will be only the sec- ond ranked opponent they've encountered this season. To justify their top ten ranking, Texas will have to stop the tough Colorado running game. But if the past is any indication for the future, it doesn't seem like it will be a problem. The Longhorns haven't allowed a 100-yard rushing game since the opener against New Mexico State. Colorado quarterback Craig Ochs has been incon- sistent in recent weeks, and in order to beat talented Texas at home, he will need to play well for four quar- ters. In the past three weeks, the Buffaloes have. lost standout linebacker Jashon Sykes and wide receiver John Minardi for the season, and the most recent loss came against the Aggies, as starting cornerback Roder- ick Sneed went down with a torn hamstring. These fac- tors make the forecast seem a little bit cloudy for the Buffaloes. Texas, known for losing games it should win, will come ready to play on Saturday, and beat the upstart Buffaloes - but not without a fight. Texas 34, Colorado 24 STANFORD (2-1 PAc 10, 3-1 OVERALL) AT No. 5 ORE- Second-place Big Ten foes meet this weekend By Brian Schick For the Daily Texas quarterback Chris Simms and the Longhorns were pushed around in their lone challenge this seas against Oklahoma, 14-3. Against a surging Colorado squad, Simms will have to step it up in Austin. GON (3-0, 6-0), 3:30 P.M., ABC: Slipping out of the Top 25 after a heartbreaking 45-39 loss to red-hot Washington State was devastating enough for the Car- dinal. Can Stanford handle another loss this weekend when it travels to Autzen Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the country? After Florida State's home loss last week to Miami (Fla.), the undefeated Ducks now have the nation's longest current home winning streak -23 games. But who better to challenge the streak than a hungry Stan- ford team that is out to prove it belongs in the Pac-10 elite? Heisman-hopeful quarterback Joey Harrington will have to rally his troops after two easy wins at Ari- zona and California, because Stanford isn't about to roll over and play dead. Look for the Oregon special teams to take advantage of Stanford's weak punting game, hurt by the removal of Mike Biselli in that role. Can the Ducks really extend to a 7-0 record for the first time since 1931? It appears so. Oregon 31, Stanford 17 No. 21 FLORIDA STATE (2-1 ACC, 3-2 OVERALL) AT VIRGINIA (2-2, 3-3) 7:45 P.M, ESPN: The Cavaliers better hope their helmets are on tight. Florida State isn't about to hold anything back Saturday night when it takes its frustration out on a Virginia team coming off two straight losses. For the first time since 1995, Florida State two games in the regular season - and it's onl ber. While Florida State coach Bobby Bow company have faith in redshirt freshman qua Chris Rix, it's obvious that Rix wasn't up to h the speed of then No. 2 ranked Miami (Fla.) las The Hurricanes came into Tallahassee, destr longest home win streak in the country an leave anything standing. Rix was intercept times and fumbled twice. But that doesn't seer in character, because in the previous four ga threw just two interceptions. The Seminoles are hoping to forget ab week's beating and concentrate on the task atl Scott Stadium. Virginia shouldn't be tota matched, especially with the golden hands of the nation's best receivers, junior Billy Mc who has caught 11 passes in each of the , games. The Cavaliers have shown flashes of brillia season, especially in their upset of Clemson road. But it's up to Florida State; this is a ch save face. Look for the Seminoles to turn it upa FSU 37, Virginia 21 One of the best features of the Big {ยข Ten is that teams constantly jostle for position. Although Michigan enters its bye week with a perfect 3-0 record, 'AROUND THE five other teams - Illinois,* Purdue, BIGT N N or t hw es tern, Ohio State and Wisconsin - are right behind with a 2-1 record. Another interesting characteristic is that no lead isever secure in the Big Ten, which the Buckeyes demonstrated with their 20-17 loss, in a game they led 17-0 late in the first half. WISCONSIN (2-1 BIG TEN, 4-3 OVER- ALL) AT ILLINOIS (2-1, 5-1), 12:10 P.M., ESPN: Which Badger team will show up in Champaign this week, the one from two weeks ago that lost to Indiana 63-32, or the one that over- came a 17-0 Ohio State lead to score AP PHOTO 20 unanswered points culminating in a son 20-17 upset victory? Quarterback Brooks Bollinger looked sharp against athat is the Buckeyes, completing 12 of his 22 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown, has lost and running back Anthony Davis ly Octo- added 103 yards and a touchdown, den and adding to his season total of 806 yards, rterback the top mark in the conference. handling The Illini come into this game after tweek. rolling by Indiana 35-14, with 21 oyed the points coming in the fourth quarter. d didn't The offensive dynamic duo of quarter- ed four back Kurt Kittner and running back n totally Rocky Harvey, each with two touch- ames he dowis against the Hoosiers, should be a big factor against Wisconsin. out last Kittner will have more of a problem hand in scoring than Harvey, since Wisconsin lly out- has the 13th best pass defense, giving f one of up a stingy 163.9 yards per game. If Mullen, Illinois can get good blocking up front, ast two the Illini will count on Harvey to give them the victory. nce this Illinois 24, Wisconsin 17 on the Nance to INDIANA (1-2, 1-4) AT IOWA (1-2, 3- a notch. 2), 12:10 P.M., ABC: Iowa returns home after two road losses at Purdue and Michigan State, and is ready for its first home conference game. Last week the Hawkeyes couldn't seem to overcome the Spartans' offense, although they traded touchdowns and remained in stride with Michigan State after the first quarter. Coming into that game, Iowa quarterback Kyle McCann had the highest pass efficiency in the Big Ten. Although he still holds the mark coming into the game against the Hoosiers, it has shrunk significantly after his four intercetions last week. Indiana still boasts one of the league's most exciting players to watch, quarterback Antwaan Randle El. Thanks in large part to his maneu- verability and running skill, Indiana has the 12th most proficient rushing attack in the nation. Since Randle El's receivers have only caught five touchdowns this sea- son, look for him, along with running back Levron Williams, to carry the workload in this game. But the Iowa defensive line, led by linemen Aaron Kampman and Derrick Pickens, only allows 94.2 yards per game, and that will cause nightmares for Indiana coach Cam Cameron's running game. Iowa 31, Indiana 14 MICHIGAN STATE (1-1, 3-1) AT MIN- NESOTA (0-3, 1-4), 12:10 P.M.: It's hard to believe that Minnesota is sec- ond in the Big Ten in offensive yards per game (404.0), because the fact that it is second to last in offensive scoring (22.0 points per game) is giving coach Glen Mason fits. The Gophers' primary running back, Tellis Redmon, is averaging over five yards per carry, but has only man- aged to score twice on the ground so far. He did gain 143 yards against Northwestern last week, but had tio touchdowns to show for it. In the grind-it-out world of the Big Ten, Min- nesota needs its offense to step up if it hopes to have a win in the conference this season. Michigan State would seem to have no trouble with the Gophers, except its defense has suffered substantial injuries in the last two weeks. Both starting corners went down two weeks ago against Northwestern, and starting linebacker Seth Mitchell got hurt in practice last week. This prompted coach Bobby Williams to switch run- ning back Tyrell Dortch to cornerback this week. Fortunately for Michigan State, the injuries won't hurt so much against Minnesota. The Gophers look to the ground for their offense and the Spar- tans are healthy up front. Minnesota will need to work on its passing in order to keep this game close. Michigan State 34, Minnesota 20 PE NN STATE (0-3, 0-4) AT No. 22 NORTHWESTERN (2-1, 4-1), 3:30 P.M., ABC: No one ever said breaking Bear Bryant's record for career wins would be easy. Penn State coach Joe Paterno is still looking for the elusive win No. 323 that would tie him with the former Alabama coach. But his team hasn't been helping at all. The Nittany Lions enter this game after scoring just 24 points in their last three games, including a shutout two weeks ago against Michigan, the first under Paterno's tenure. The most embarrassing statistic for this year's team is that it has only accumulated 163 yards rushing on the ground. Northwestern's Damien Anderson, a preseason Heisman candidate, has more than three times as many yards himself Although he has yet to have a 100-yard game in the Big Ten this sea- son, look for him to have at least 25 carries this weekend. Quarterback Zak Kustok has benefited from the extra pressure to stop the run, and coach Randy Walker has been using Ander- son more as a receiver than a back in the past few weeks. Penn State has answers for neither Anderson nor Kustok, and they will both have great performances. Ander- son will finally reach the century mark as the Wildcats cruise. Northwestern 41, Penn State 10 SAN DIEGO STATE (1-2 MOUNTAIN WEST, 2-4 OVERALL) AT OHIO STATE (2- 1, 3-2), 12:10 P.M.: This game was originally scheduled for Sept. 15, but was moved to this weekend after the events of Sept. 11. The Buckeyes look to regroup in this nonconference game after last week's devastating loss. Much of the blame landed on the shoulders of quar- terback Steve Bellisari after last week's poor performance. Coach Jim Tressel had pressure on him to bench Bellisari in favor of Scott McMullen, Ohio State's backup with little playing expe- rience. 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