collegeBLITZ.com | Paul Smith

September 21, 2002

The Midwest Report

Wacky Week Four of the College Season

By PAUL SMITH
paulnova70@yahoo.com

Forty years ago, almost to the day, Vince Lombardi was cornered by longtime Green Bay Press-Gazette media icon Arthur Daley after a lifeless Packers practice had ticked off the legendary coach.

"There isn't much more than a five percent difference in personnel between the best teams in this league and the worst," Lombardi said, a quote often revisited over the years. "And if you aren't prepared, week-by-week, you're gonna get your ears pinned back."

Which brings us to Wacky Week Four of the college season, where the ever-shrinking scholarship numbers -- 85 max for all I-A programs -- has brought at least a semblance of parity onto the field.

In Ohio State's and Michigan's cases, a scary semblance. In Penn State's, a warning-shot semblance.

But in all three instances, not quite enough to torpedo their lofty positions in the national polls.

No. 6 Ohio State took a massive 18-point favorite's role into Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, where the nothing-to-lose, Conference U.S.A. Bearcats conceded home field advantage to 40,000 Scarlet and Gray-clad Buckeyes in a largest ever Cincinnati football crowd of 66,319.

...And was only able to stagger out 4-0 when Chris Gamble, converted from wide receiver to defensive back in game, knocked down a couple of last-ditch Gino Guadigli passes and linebacker Matt Wilhelm tipped a pass intended for LaDaris Vann and Will Allen intercepted.

Guadigli had driven the Bearcats (1-2) from their 20 to the Buckeyes' 15 and in that final heart-pounding minute, took advantage of an Ohio State right side defensive overplay on Vann and Jon Olenger that freed up wideout George Murray in the left corner of the end zone. For one second, Murray had a major upset in his hands, but as he landed, the ball popped out and, with the Wilhelm/Allen play, the Bucks had survived a major tremor.

"I knew it was coming my way and I had it the whole way," Murray sadly told The Associated Press' veteran Ohio college writer Rusty Miller. "When I hit the ground I curled up and I thought I had it. Then I patted my chest, and I didn't feel it. That's when my whole world came tumbling down."

The Buckeyes were only too happy to sprint off the turf of a beautiful stadium named for an all-time Ohio legend and head back to Columbus to prepare for Saturday's Big Ten opener vs. Indiana.

"There's no solace in playing them close," U.C. coach Rick Minter said to Miller. "We had a chance to win and we didn't take it."

For this given 60 minutes, the talent -- particularly the skill-positions -- looked to be a virtual push, largely due to Cincy's sense of purpose. Unquestionably the Buckeyes missed potential All-American tailback Maurice Clarett big time, but couldn't seem to shake the mental blahs that dogged them much of the game.

Quarterback Craig Krenzel's writhing, desperation six-yard scramble with 3:44 left put Ohio State ahead for good. "We know we made too many mistakes (three turnovers, and a 96 yard kickoff return callback)," he told Miller. "We almost beat ourselves."

Wilhelm managed to deflect Guadagli's final shot with a desperation lunge that redirected the pass to a kneeling Allen.

"We got a win," Wilhelm said after a standout game helping that kept the Bearcats' West Coast offense from causing a scoreboard explosion. "We feel like we dodged a bullet."

Guadigli, a Newport (Ky.) Catholic High School guy, had largely eluded the radar screen of the name-brand I-As. He was inconsolable afterward.

"It sucks. It sucks so bad," he admitted to Miller. "You take nothing from a loss -- not a damn thing. It hurts -- hurts so bad. We had the No. 6 team in the country on the ropes and we couldn't knock them out."

Penn State's situation was a tad different. As coach Joe Paterno and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley counted heads for the team bus to the Toftrees retreat the team always uses on home football Fridays, they were two short -- junior cornerback Richard Gardner and senior punter David Royer.

Both were benched for the start of last Saturday's 49-17 rout of adventuresome Louisiana Tech (2-2), a game that stood 21-17 before the No. 12 Nittany Lions (3-0) ran off four straight third quarter touchdowns to blow it open.

"At Penn State, three minutes (late) is like 13," Bradley told Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror. He and Paterno agreed on the stern discipline. But then redshirt freshman Alan Zemaitis was beaten deep by Chris Norwood on a 59-yard bomb from Luke McCown.

Shortly thereafter, in came Gardner.

"They (defensive coaches) snuck him in on me," Paterno told Rudel. It had been the original game plan to suspend both for the first half. Place kicker Robbie Gould handled the first half punting chores.

Penn State's defense has been a role model for bend-but-don't-breakers everywhere. In passing for 406 yards and two touchdowns, McCown became the first opposing quarterback to throw for over 400 yards against the Lions in 9 years, the first to do it at Beaver Stadium since 1984 when Boston College's Doug Flutie racked up a record 520.

The day basically belonged to senior tailback Larry Johnson, who rushed for 147 of the Nitts' 298 ground yards and second-half touchdowns of 4 and 3 yards. He also caught a 19-yard first quarter touchdown pass from Zak Mills.

"Somehow we let it get away from us in, like, a two-minute stretch of the third quarter," said Tech coach Jack Bicknell III, son of former Boston College coach Jack Bicknell Jr and a former B.C. center at the post-game press briefing. "I'm going to say it again; Penn State is one of the top teams in the country. I wish we could have hung onto the football and not turned it over so much."

Three intereceptions of McCown -- one a 34-yard runback for a touchdown by Paul Cronin -- led to the Bulldogs' eventual fall from contention.

"Larry Johnson had a heck of a game, broke a lot of tackles," Paterno said to the A.P.'s Dan Lewerenz. "That means a lot."

On his three-yard TD that closed out the third quarter, Johnson broke two tackle attempts at the line of scrimmage and drove into the end zone.

"I just want that intensity and that drive on every play," he told Lewerenz. "I don't want people to think I can be brought down by just one guy."

At 6-foot, 2-inches, 222 pounds, classic Jim Brown proportions, even in this day and age of muscled-up linebackers, he needn't worry about that.

The Lions defense will be the ultimate determinant of just how happy the gorgeous valley surrounding campus will be. But Johnson and Mills figure to be part of a very, very forceful offense that will give every Big Ten coach a lot to prepare for, starting with Saturday's league home opener with Iowa.

In Michigan's 10-7 victory over feisty roadie Utah, the 109,734 Big House inmates could only exhale when safety Julius Curry cut in front of intended receiver Josh Lymon with a minute left to interecept a Lance Rice pass.

The Utes (2-2) had thrown the scare into No. 14 Michigan when Rice hit Travis LaTendresse for a 29-yard touchdown on Utah's previous possession with 5:58 left.

"We've tried to eliminate the big plays," said Curry, whose team has been involved in three razor-thin outcomes, a 31-29 season-opening victory over Pac-10 power Washington and last week's 25-23 loss at Notre Dame.

"We allowed one today, but we did a pretty good job stopping the run and stopping the big plays," Curry added.

The Wolverines open their Big Ten season at Illinois (1-3).

AND SPEAKING OF ILLINOIS!!! -- Yoiks! San Jose State comes rolling in and the Illini defense topples like tenpins. Favored by 23 points against the low-level I-A Spartans, Illinois found itself on a three-hour treadmill and Nick Gilliam's 37-yard field goal at the final gun meerly put the signature on this shocker...The Illini lost this thing by giving up a staggering 517 yards of offense to a 2-2 team picked somewhere in the middle of the Big West and the 50,990 Memorial Stadium fans let their team know about it repeatedly..."We're not playing the disciplined kind of football you have to have," Illini coach Ron Turner said to Chicago Sun-Times Illinois beat writer Herb Gould. "That (discipline) has been a trademark of this team, but it doesn't matter what has been. It's what you do now." Jon Beutjer did seem to cement his longterm position as starting Illini QB with a dazzling 28-for-38 passing day for 426 yards and four touchdowns. But three Illini turnovers were killers.

DESERT SWARMED -- With no cacti, 100-degree temperatures and precious few friendly faces in the stands, John Mackovic's Arizona Wildcats became one of Wisconsin's easier victims, 31-10...Quarterback Jason Johnson, hounded by the Badgers' consistent pass rush, managed to complete only 14 of 32 passes with two interceptions...The 2-1 Wildcats' only bright spot was Clarence Farmer, who rushed for 131 yards and a second half 70-yard touchdown. But by then, the Badgers had built a 24-0 lead behind Brooks Bollinger's leadership. The senior QB ran for one touchdown, passed for another and handed off to Anthony Davis (110 yards, 2 TDs) much of the rest of the first half. "We spread our formation out to try and run the ball," said coach Barry Alvarez, whose 5-0 team is now No. 16 in the coaches' poll and 21st in the A.P. "But when you do that, to be able to get respect from the defense, you still have to be able to throw it and catch it." That they did as Bollinger went 15-for-22 passing for 165 yards and no picks. The Badgers get a week off to prepare for Penn State. And forget Nebraska, THAT will be the Lions' biggest test of the early season.

UH-OHHHHHHHHHH...Wake Forest 24, Purdue 21, coach Joe Tiller? Five turnovers can ... well, let Joe speak here. "I'm just sick about those turnovers in the red zone. If there's one thing that gets under my craw more than anything else, it's turning the ball over when you're going in to score. That took points off the board." ...To add to the agita, the Boilermakers (2-2, 21-2 at home against unranked opponents in the six-seasonTiller era), drove fairly deep into Wake territory in the fourth quarter and Yugoslavian refugee Berin Lacevic missed field goals of 46, 40 and 44 yards. "I just blame myself," he said. "I lost this game for us." Purdue opens its Big Ten season at home Saturday against 4-0 Minnesota, which pounded Mid-American Conference doormat Buffalo, 41-17.

Meanwhile...Indiana scored what many would call an upset. Rallying from a 26-16 deficit, coach Gerry DiNardo's Hoosiers (2-2) rode Gibran Hamdan's arm and legs to a 39-29 victory over the Chippewas (3-1)...I.U. opens league play in Columbus Saturday...In Iowa's 48-7 rout of Utah State (1-3), the Hawkeyes upped their record to 3-1 with a 518-yard output, which is sure to provide Paterno's defense with a stiff test come Saturday.

Paul Smith is the midwest correspondent for collegeBLITZ.com