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Big Ten weaklings fighting back
Posted: Wednesday October 20, 1999 06:27 PM
One fact to show how far once ninth-ranked Ohio State has fallen is the Buckeyes are three-point underdogs at Minnesota on Saturday. This is despite the fact that No. 22-ranked Ohio State has won the past 15 meetings with the Gophers and 27 of the last 28. But these No. 24 Gophers are 5-1 and 2-1 in the Big Ten. "We've beaten some of these teams pretty badly the last few years and now they're feeling they have a legitimate chance, so I'm sure they'll be fired up," Buckeyes coach John Cooper said of the Gophers. With games remaining at Michigan State and Michigan, this game could be crucial to the Buckeyes' (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) bowl hopes. Since Ohio State played a 12th game, it must reach seven victories. The Gophers are second nationally in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 9.2 points per game. They are also tops in the league in total defense (allowing 256.0 yards per game) and pass defense (135.3 passing yards per game). Bad news for Ohio State sophomore quarterback Steve Bellisari, who is already taking his lumps in his first season as starter. He was 7-of-21 against Penn State last Saturday, marking the fourth consecutive game he has connected on less than 50 percent of his passes. Bellisari has completed 35 of 93 passes with two touchdowns and four interceptions during the four-game stretch. "Steve is a young quarterback and teams are giving him a lot of different looks," Cooper said. "Sometimes he's not making the right reads and sometimes the receivers aren't getting open or aren't running the right routes." The Buckeyes' 143 total offensive yards in last Saturday's 23-10 loss at Penn State was their lowest since gaining just 138 in a 1971 loss to Michigan. But Minnesota coach Glen Mason still believes the Buckeyes have the edge in talent. "What individuals are you going to pick from our team over their players? Not that many," he said.
Arrington learningPenn State coach Joe Paterno created a bit of a stir when he said before the season that junior LaVar Arrington was only the third-best linebacker on his team. Paterno knows Arrington is a superb athlete, but wanted him to improve his technique. He was also trying to temper the hype and get some attention for senior linebackers Brandon Short and Mac Morrison. Arrington was featured in Sports Illustrated's college football preview issue and was mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate. "I think Joe was right," Arrington said. "I did and still do need to learn some things. A lot of times I let myself get chop-blocked. There are always things you can get better at and Joe is real good at seeing those things. Sometimes, it (criticism) seems kind of unfair. More times than not, he's correct in what he says. The beginning of the year things got blown out of proportion. There was never been anything sour between Joe and I. It was just growing pains." Following an up-and down start, Arrington has played well the past two games. He had seven tackles and 2 1/2 sacks in No. 2 Penn State's victory over Ohio State. "I feel like I've had a productive year so far after dealing with the pressure early in the season," said Arrington, who came under fire for his hits on punters against Pittsburgh and Miami. Saturday at No. 16 Purdue, Arrington will try to put the heat on quarterback Drew Brees. Penn State sacked Brees six times last season. He was only sacked 10 other times in the 12 other games. "He's not just a one-man show," Arrington said. "They have a great offense line and receivers."
You talk too muchPurdue cornerback Michael Hawthorne limited 6-foot-6 Michigan State receiver Plaxico Burress to three catches for 50 yards in the Boilermakers' 52-28 victory last Saturday. "Every time he does something great, he always hits his chest like people don't have heart and this and that or 'I'm the greatest thing that ever happened to college football.' It's a challenge to the defense, especially the DBs." The 6-3 Hawthorne, himself a trash talker, said Burress isn't the best receiver in the league. "He's just big and a lot of talk," Hawthorne said. Spartans coach Nick Saban said he had a talk from Burress after hearing some of the comments his receiver made about Michigan's secondary. "I don't read the paper, but my wife Terry has the biggest rabbit ears in the world," Saban said. "She reads everything and has an opinion about everything. She tells me most of the time. "It takes a lot of maturity sometimes to not say what you feel. It's not just Plex."
Sage adviceMichigan players had an extra week to dwell on its loss to Michigan State because of a bye last Saturday. Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr is trying to energize his No. 9-rated team, which plays host to Illinois on Saturday. "One of my heroes, Winston Churchill said, 'When you're going through hell, keep going,'" Carr said this week. "Losing is hell. When you lose, that isn't any fun. But you'd better respond, you'd better not feel sorry for yourself, you'd better not be pointing fingers, you'd better not make excuses. You'd better be doing what you need to be doing to get through it, or you'll lose again."
Worth notingPurdue senior Chris Daniels, whose Big Ten-record 21 catches gave him 78 for the year, needs 24 catches to break former Illinois receiver David Williams' Big Ten record of 101, set in 1984. ... Northwestern did end its 11-game Big Ten losing streak by holding off Iowa on Saturday. But the Wildcats lost wide receiver and punt returner Sam Simmons for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone. Simmons was second in the Big Ten in punt return average (15.4 yards). The hard-luck Wildcats lost defensive lineman Jeff Dyra with a broken bone in his foot in the previous outing against Indiana. ... Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne needs to average 174.3 yards in the next three games to break ex-Texas' running back Ricky Williams' NCAA rushing record. Badgers coach Barry Alvarez resisted the temptation to let Dayne run up the yards in a 59-0 rout of visiting Indiana last Saturday. Dayne had all 167 yards in the first half. ... Indiana is 0-10 in conference road games under coach Cam Cameron. The last Hoosiers' road win came in former coach Bill Mallory's final game (a 33-16 victory at Purdue in 1996). In those 10 road losses, IU has been run over by a composite score of 390-126. Mark Ambrogi covers the Big Ten for The Indianapolis Star. Check back each Wednesday for his latest CNN/SI Insider.
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By Mark Ambrogi, Special to CNN/SI
