rr 14 -- the Michigan Daily -- Thursday, September 7, 1995 Conference teams kick off'95 season By Danielle Rumors Daily Sports Writer The alumni are proudly wearing their school colors in the newest styles of pants and hats. Various bands are playing their school's fight song proudly and loudly. This could mean only one thing - college football season is here! And what better way to celebrate its arrival than with the Big Ten, which as a matter of fact is celebrating its 100th birth- day. Most of the Big Ten teams kick off their seasons this weekend, all facing non-confer- ence opponents. Here's a look at what we can expect Saturday: Texas Tech (0-0) at Penn State (0-0) OK, already! Enough talk about all of the talent the Nittany Lions lost to the NFL. Yes, Penn State lost three All-Americans in quarterback Kerry Collins, running back Ki-Jana Carter and tight end Kyle Brady to the first round of the NFL draft. But take a minute before you shed a tear, because the Rose Bowl champs are more than ready to replace those three, plus eight other graduates. The Nittany Lions hold the No. 4 ranking and the ability to rebuild their squad. Penn State will have the chance to showcase its talent Saturday against Texas Tech in Happy Valley. Yet the Red Raiders may not enjoy the show as much as everyone else. The Lions offense set 10 school records last season and will again be the key to Penn State's success. The offensive line will be one of the best in the nation, led by returning All-America rightguard JeffHartings and tackles Keith Conlin and Andre Johnson. The line will undoubtedly be as tough as a brick wall in protecting new quarterback Wally Richardson. Richardson developed under Collins, but lacks big-game experience. How- ever, the entire offense will compensate for what he lacks in game experience. In fact, Richardson's only problem might be deciding who will be his favorite target - the receivers or the running backs. All-American wide receiver Bobby Engram, who won the Bilentikoff Award as the nation's top receiver last year, is back along with wideout Freddie Scott. Last season, they had 99 catches and 2,095 yards between them., Mike Archie replaces Carter at running back. Last season, he carried the ball 52 times for 303 yards and caught 22 passes for 215 yards. Although Texas Tech returned 92 percent of its offense and linebacker Zach Thomas, the Red Raiders will not be able to handle the Lions offense, not to mention the homefield advan- tage. Texas Tech has a relatively inexperienced offensive line and must rebuild its secondary. Penn State 42, Texas Tech 17. Notre Dame (0-1) at Purdue (1-0): The Boilermakers went into Morgantown, W. Va. last week and upset the Mountaineers, 26-24. The Irish do not look as strong and confident as Purdue, coming offa 6-5-1 season and a loss to Big Ten doormat Northwestern last weekend. The loss made "Touchdown Jesus" one very unhappy god. Purdue will definitely give the Irish reason to pray. The Boilermakers' ground game is solid, led by fullback Mike Alstott. He rushed for 1,188 yards last season and 109 yards Saturday. Corey Rogers, who was the 1991 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is a perfect compliment to Alstott, but only if he can remain academically eligible. In order to prove that the Boilermakers' win was not a fluke, Purdue must improve its de- fense - and maintain it. They must improve from 105th out of 107 Division I schools in total defense if they want to contend. Last Saturday, the Boilermakers had four sacks and allowed 24 points, a touchdown less than last season. But don't count the Irish out just yet. They return quarterback Ron Powlus, who threw for 1,729 yards last season, and wide receiver Der- rick Mayes, who scored 11 TDs. The problem is that Mayes is the only real threat at wideout. The Irish lost seven starters on defense, but coordinator Bob Davie transformed the defense into an attack-style. The Irish are down and out, but they will bounce back and win this one. If they don't, the traditional salute to coach Lou Holtz after every third quarter will be replaced with a chant for mutiny. Notre Dame 24, Purdue 17 Nebraska (1-0) at Michigan State (0-0): New Spartan head coach Nick Saban show- cases a team that went 5-6 under former coach George Perles and has not had a winning record in five years. Michigan State quarterback Tony Banks is big and strong and will have no prob- lem leading the offense, since he had the best passing-efficiency rating (143.1) of any return- ing conference quarterback. Tailback Duane Goulbourne and fullback Scott Greene return behind Banks. The defense will be much improved this season with line- backers Reggie Garnett and Ike Reese, but the Spartans will not be able to contend with size and strength of No. 2 Nebraska. The national champions may have the best quarterback situation in the nation with Tommy Frazier and Brook Berringer. Or, maybe no other team has abetter I-back situation. Lawrence Phillips rushed for 1,722 last season and is a Heisman candidate. But then again, so is Frazier. The Husk- ers lost a large amount of their offensive line, but the defensive line is still as scary as last season. If the Oklahoma State slaughter was any indication of how good Nebraska is, the season will prove to be a long one for its opponents. Nebraska 38, Michigan State 17 Illinois (0-1) at Oregon (1-0): The talk around Champaign these days i about linebacker Simeon Rice's chance to be th first defensive player to win the Heisman Tro phy. The talk should change to whether the Illin can regroup from its devastating loss to Michi gan last weekend. Rice had two sacks against the Wolverine and 16 total last season. He will need to continu his intensity if Illinois is to bounce back. Rice i complemented by Kevin Hardy who, along with Rice, is a preseason All-American. The Illini have two good QBs in Johnn Johnson and Scott Weaver. Johnson had th second-best pass-efficiency in school's histo (137.6), but didn't do much against Michigan Oregon lost to Penn State in the Rose Bowl la year, but will not have the same experience th season. The Ducks retain most of their offense including an exceptional tailback in Ricky Whittl Defensively, Oregon will have a problem replac ing safeties Chad Cota and Jeff Sherman. The Ducks are a solid team but Illinois is better one - and it will regroup. Oregon wil not have much to "quack" about Saturday. Illinois 20, Oregon 17 Northern Iowa (0-1) at Iowa (0-0): Iowa had to suffer through a mediocre 5-5 season last year without a healthy quarterback The Hawkeyes are back this season with healthy signal caller and confidence. Matt Sherman is in at quarterback. Iowa ha two extraordinary tailbacks in Sedrick Sham the second sophomore in school history to rus for more than 1,000 yards, and Tavian Banks The Hawkeyes are weak at fullback and on th defensive line. Iowa is trying out a new defens this season to compensate for the weakness. Despite these problems, Division I-AANorth ern Iowa will not pose a problem for Iowa. Th Panthers return 10 starters on offense, but los most of their defense. Iowa 35, Northern Iowa 17 Western Michigan (1-0)'at Indiana (0-0): The Hoosiers return running back Alex Smit who rushed for 1,475 yards last season, the thin highest by a freshman in NCAA history. Quar terback Chris Dittoe came off the bench las season to pass for 279 yards. His 6-foot-6 fram makes him an offensive threat. The secondary i much improved this season with the move o Eric Smedley from cornerback to free safety an' the further development of the cornerbacks. Western Michigan boasts tailback Jir Vackaro and QB Jay McDonagh who led th Mid-American Conference in total offense las season. Yet the Broncos lost many of their offensiv targets and the defense is unproven. Indiana 24, Western Michigan 10 Cal Ripken now owns the longest consecutive games played streak in baseball. He surpassed Lou Gehrig's mark of 2,130 games last night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. RIPKEN Continued from page 1 hand at Camden Yards to see Ripken's big game. Clintonandrhis party visited Ripken before the game in the Orioles' locker room. "Congratulations,"Clinton told Ripken. The short- stop gave Clinton and Gore black Louisville Slugger bats and souvenir baseballs. On Clinton's bat, Ripken wrote: "To President Clinton. Thanks for being here on this special day. Cal Ripken." The president feigned horror, saying, "I don't want you to get a hand cramp" because of all the autographing. Since Ripken started his streak on May 30, 1982, there have been 3,712 major leaguers on the disabled list. And baseball's27 other teams have gone through an average of roughly 19 shortstops each in the 13 years that Ripken has started for the Orioles. "I've been very achy the last few weeks," the 35- year-old Ripken admitted Tuesday night, after tying Gehrig's mark in Baltimore's 8-0 win over Califor- nia. "Maybe it's the nerves. It's been a difficult time." Ripken has never broken a bone, has never been knocked out of a game by a pitch even though he has been hit 44 times during his streak, and has never been wiped out badly while turning a double play at shortstop. "He takes great pride in the fact that he never bruises," Anderson said.. As a boy growing up in Aberdeen, about a half- hour away from Camden Yards, Ripken slept in his uniform the night before his first Little League game. Years later, as a minor leaguer, he played in the longest game in professional baseball history: a 33- inning game in 1981 between his Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox. Ripken played all 33 innings. Later that summer, he made his major league debut as a pinch-runner and scored the winning run, waved home by his dad, Cal Sr., the Orioles' third base coach and eventually Cal Jr.'s manager. The next year, he started his streak as a third baseman, moving to shortstop 27 games later. On Wednesday night, umpire chief Larry Barnett reworked the schedule so he could stand behind the plate for the record-breaker. "I don't think we'll eject him," Barnett said. "Short of shooting me in the head, he's probably going to stay in the game." i p m