16A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 9, 2004 Big Ten powers hope to keep on rolling By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer Marshall (0-1) at No. 9 Ohio State (1-0) - Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ABC Once an elite program with the likes of Chad Pennington and Randy Moss, Marshall fell to a new low Saturday when Troy State handed it just its seventh home loss since Joan C. Edwards Stadi- um opened in 1991. Chosen by many as the favorites for the MAC East championship, g the Thundering Herd will be looking to set themselves g, right during a visit to Colum- bus this weekend. Marshall managed a lack- luster 177 yards of total offense last weekend, its worst performance since 1989. Facing a stingy Buckeye defense that gave up just two field goals against Cincinnati in their opener, the Herd will be lucky to score at all against the likes of junior preseason All-American linebacker A.J. Hawk and cornerback Dustin Fox. Ohio State's big question mark, soph- omore quarterback Justin Zwick, per- formed admirably against Cincinnati, throwing for 213 yards and a touchdown. Considering the fact that Marshall sur- rendered just under 200 yards passing to the lowly Troy State offense, expect Zwick to throw for a few more touch- downs this week. Prediction: Ohio State 38, Marshall 3. Arizona State (1-0) at Northwest- ern (0-1) - Saturday, 12 noon. ESPN2 iIU There have been rumors that former Michigan placekicker Philip Brabbs received a vote to the College Football Hall of Fame after reporters watched Northwestern's opener against Texas Christian. Wildcats' kicker Brett Huff- man missed an abysmal five field goals, a feat that overshadows the record-setting performance by junior quarterback Brett Basanez. Basanez threw for 513 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 35 yards, but the Wildcats lost in overtime. Senior running back Noah Herron also chipped in with 94 rushing yards, showing that the offensive potential the Wildcats displayed while gaining 357 total yards in last year's Motor City Bowl was no fluke. After losing the Motor City Bowl due to Marty Morninwehg-esque clock management, Northwestern was hoping to open the season on a good note. But Huffman's kicking ruined any chance at that. When Arizona State comes to town on Saturday, the Wildcats are hoping to finally put together a complete effort and come away with the victory. A Northwestern victory will be a bit of a long shot after the Sun Devils rolled in their opener. Senior quarterback Andrew Walter threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 41-9 vic- tory over Texas-El Paso. Seeing that Arizona State gave up almost 200 passing yards to the Miners, it is possible that Northwestern will score some points. The Sun Devils intercepted Texas-El Paso quarterback Jordan Palm- er four times, so Basanez will have to be careful in picking his receivers. Prediction: Arizona State 31, North- western 23. Ball State (0-1) at No. 25 Purdue (1-0) - Saturday, 12 noon. The Ball State Cardinals were surpris- ingly well-matched with Boston College in their opening game last Saturday, losing by just eight points. In contrast, the Purdue Boilermakers looked like they belonged a few classes above the Syracuse Orange, winning their opener by 51 points. A fairly unimportant intrastate match- up will surely give Kyle Orton and the high-powered Boilermaker offense a chance to put up some extraordinary numbers, and live up to the preseason hype about their unstoppable offense. Considering Ball State's anemic running game against Boston College - where it gained just 64 yards on the ground - expect the Purdue defense to come out strong, trying to disprove the preseason theory that it would challenge for worst in the Big Ten. The Boilermak- ers looked solid against Syracuse, holding the Orange to 197 total yards and coming up with the big plays any time the Orange began to threaten their shutout. Ball State sophomore quarterback Joey Lynch threw for 147 yards in the opener. Considering the help that Syra- cuse freshman quarterback Joe Fields inexperience gave Purdue, expect a more experienced Ball State offense to score at least once. Purdue's defense was solid, but capitalized on some rookie mistakes by Fields, and it's unlikely the Boiler- makers will be able to sustain their shut- out play for another week. Prediction: Purdue 59, Ball State 10. Indiana (1-0) at Oregon (0-0) - Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Oregon's Autzen Stadium is known as one of college football's most challenging venues for the visiting team. With Duck fans hoping the prophecies of Oregon contending for a Pac-10 title come true, it will surely be rocking on Saturday for the season opener against Indiana - much like it was during the Ducks' dismantling of Michigan last fall. The Hoosiers bullied Central Michi- gan in their opener, winning 41-10, despite giving up more yards than they gained. Indiana piled up 203 yards on the ground and, facing an Oregon defensive line with three new starters, it will likely try the running game before looking to historically-shaky senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio. Oregon has high hopes for its offense, which has six of its seven top pass-catch- ers returning. Junior Kellen Clemens has finally won the starting quarterback job for the Ducks and, after getting substantial playing time behind Jason Fife, should be able to get the job done for Oregon. Look for Indiana to unravel when the Autzen earthquake strikes before the Ducks even take the field. Indiana needs a win to give them confidence as it tries to reach a bowl game for the first time since 1993, but perhaps it will have better luck next week at Kentucky in game three. Prediction: Oregon 24, Indiana 13. Penn State (1-0) at Boston Col- lege (1-0) - Saturday, 8 p.m. As legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno's career winds down (or so we think), the Nittany Lions are looking for one last run for glory, or at least a bowl game. After going 3-9 last year, Paterno was able to rally the troops for a 48-10 season-opening blowout against Akron. Penn State quarterback Zack Mills was 9-for-ll with two touchdowns despite throwing for a paltry 108 yards. The high- light of the opener was the running game - the Nittany Lions had two 100-yard rushers and a total of 352 rushing yards. Whether Boston College can manage to stop Penn State's running game like it was able to do against Ball State is a key to whether it will be able to come away with a win in the home opener. The Eagles managed 340 total yards against Ball State, but won by just eight points. The Nittany Lions provide more of an offensive threat and a new confi- dence after an opening-game blowout, and it will be difficult for Boston College to compete with them. Prediction: Penn State 17, Boston Col- lege 7. 0 AP PHOTO Astros pitcher Roger Clemens and his team hope to keep up their winning streak. wild card hopes aliv.e HOUSTON (AP) - With two World Series rings and plenty of post- season experience over his 21-year career, Roger Clemens knows a lot about winning. But the Houston Astros' furious push for the playoffs has left even The Rocket at a loss for a comparison. Clemens got his 326th win to tie Eddie Plank for 11th on the career list, and the Astros hit four first-inning home runs to beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-2 yesterday and tie a team record with their 12th straight win. "I've been on clubs throughout my career who've won quite a few in a row," Clemens said, "but 1 don't know if it's ever been like this." Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio and Mike Lamb homered in the first off Jose Acevedo (5-11), sending Houston on its longest winning streak since taking 12 in a row from Sept. 3- 14, 1999. Houston has won 20 of 23 since Aug. 15 for the best record in the major leagues over that stretch. "We're on a nice roll right now," Bagwell said. "It's kind of been amaz- ing to me, all the home runs we're hit- ting. I've never seen it quite like this." The Astros, who began the day a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race, tied Tampa Bay (June 9-22) for the longest win streak in the major leagues this season. Cincin- nati continued its late-season swoon, losing for the 10th time in 12 games Clemens (16-4) won his fourth straight start, allowing four hits in seven innings. He gave up his only run in the first on Sean Casey's sacrifice fly, and Cincinnati managed only three singles over Clemens' next six innings. The Rocket finished with six strikeouts and two walks. "Give credit to the hitters. They've come alive and made it ... easier for the pitchers," Clemens said. Chad Qualls, Mike Gallo and Russ Springer pitched in the eighth, with D'Angelo Jimenez hitting an RBI single off Springer, and Brad Lidge got three outs for his 21st save in 24 chances. With runners at the corners and two outs, Lidge struck out Juan Castro to end the game. Biggio hit a leadoff homer, and Bagwell and Berkman hit consecutive drives with one out in the first. Jeff Kent walked, and Lamb connected for a 5-1 lead. Acevedo lasted just one inning, and six relievers combined to keep Hous- ton scoreless the rest of the way: John Riedling, Phil Norton, Ryan Wagner, Mike Matthews, Todd Van Poppel and Danny Graves. "We took a breather," quipped Hous- ton manager Phil Garner. AP PHOTO Ohio State's quarterback Justin Zwick looks for an open receiver during the first quarter against Cincinnati last Saturday. r = College tools for success. 4 I Comcast:0Just High-Speed Interneta$4 .98 oastC per month Comcast Cable for 9 months Share this great rate with your roommates! Visit us at the iag September 7-9 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Think of this as your college survival kit. Comcast High-Speed Internet doesn't tie up your phone line like dial-up, because it's cable-powered, so it's always on. That makes it more reliable, keeping you connected to the people, places and things you love. Plus, get your homework done faster and smarter. 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