European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday August 19,1990 the stars and stripes Page 19college football a Baton passes at Michigan by Joe Mooshil a p sports writer no More to. With to Schembechler a a retirement at Michigan another Era has ended in the big ten. The late Woody Hayes was the last to coach a big ten National Champion when he did it with the buckeyes in a 968. Schembechler despite being the winning est coach at Michigan with a 194-48-5 record never accomplished that feat. The Baton now goes from to to to with Gary Moeller succeeding Schembechler Midwest Roundup who left to work for the Detroit tigers. Although the wolverines Are favored to win a third straight big ten title they Are a Longshot for the National championship a a. If a Challenge comes from the Midwest. It will be from notre Dame. Coach Lou Holtzm a Irish came within a loss to Miami Fla of repeating for the National title. A. Rich Mirer replaces Tony Rice at quarterback. That Means notre Dame will pass More if Mirer can connect with Raghib rocket Ismail the Irish offence j could be explosive. need it with a schedule that opens with Michigan closes against Southern California and also features Michigan state Miami a defending champions Pitt Tennessee and Penn state. The loser of the Michigan at notre Dame opener can forget about National championships but Michigan a first objective is the big ten title. A i Hope we play As Well As people expect a said Moeller who is getting a second Chance As head coach. He had a three year stint at Illinois at the end of the 1970s, but replacing Schembechler packs More pressure. A a it a hard everyone will keep saying what to would have done but i have to Gary Moeller left and to Schembechler Chat during 1989 game have Gary Moeller ideas Quot Moeller said. A ibo and i both played for Woody Hayes but i will throw the Ball More because of the the strongest challenges to Michigan a attempt to become the first team to win three outright big ten titles will come from Illinois Ohio state and Michigan state. Illinois lost quarterback Jeff George to the nil but still has one of the toughest defences in the country. If George had remained Illinois would have been favored in the big ten and a Strong contender for the National title. Moe Gardner Mel Agee Darrick Brownlow Marlon Primous and Henry Jones Are Back on defense for the Zillini. A with our 3-year nucleus 1990 could and should be our Best run a Illinois coach John Mackovic said. A if Jeff George had been Here wed be clean Cut favourites. I like being a favorite. Underdogs and dark horses done twin most of the time. Favourites usually Jason Verduzco gets first shot at the quarterback Job because a the knows the Mackovic warns a keep an Eye on Ohio state and Ohio state coach John Cooper in his third year agrees. A the first year we won four last year we won eight a Cooper said. Quot if we can make the same improvement Well be in great a Cooper can afford to be confident. He has veterans returning at skilled positions including quarterback Greg Frey and flanker Jeff Graham. End Alonzo Spellman anchors the defense. More important the buckeyes Are Home against Michigan and Illinois this year. Because football games Are won on defense Michigan slate can never be discounted George pc rfcs stresses defense. Quot we lost six of our defensive linemen Quot said pc rfcs a a we done to know where they la come from but Wco ii have them pc rfcs could have an outstanding team on offence with Dan Enos resuming at quarterback and Courtney Hawkins at flanker. The dark horses in the big ten will be Indiana Iowa and Minnesota Indiana a Bill Mallory is High on quarterback Chris Dyer and is not concerned about replacing tailback Anthony Thompson because Quot you Don with to gone Hayden Fry of Iowa is the Dean of big ten coaches. A a we la be underrated Fine a a said Fry i like the psychological advantage. We will have one of our better defensive teams we be had at John Gutekunst figures hell have a physical team at Minnesota but the defense must improve. The big loss on offence was tailback Darrell Thompson. Fred Akers will have More experience at Purdue but he a agog Oyer quarterback Eric Hunter. A the came on in the Middle of the season and excited everybody a Akers said. Quot he a unpredictable and that s what makes him Barry Alvarez has a big rebuilding Job at Wisconsin and Francis Peay Hopes to win at least one game at Northwestern this year. Aside from notre Dame Northern Illinois will be the strongest of Midwest independents mainly because of Stacey Robinson. Robinson set an Mcaa 1 a record for quarterbacks by Rushing for 1,44.3 Yards. Toledo appears to be the favorite in the mid american conference if coach Nick Saban can Shore up the defences. Quarterback Kevin Mcger has an oui standing receiving corps. Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan wt4 Challenge for the right to go to the Raisin bowl. Defending Champion Ball state lost most of its offence including quarterback David Riley the league s most valuable make it a a big three league Colorado a Durian Hagan. Buffaloes passing running threat by Owen Canfield a sports writer for the longest time the big eight conference was jokingly called the big two because of the dominance of Nebraska and Oklahoma. Now its being called the big three and its no joke. Colorado which had been making a move in recent years won the big eight title last season with a 7-0 record. The buffaloes were unbeaten after the regular season but lost their Chance for a National title when notre Dame beat theml-6 in the Orange bowl. Now Colorado has 13 starters Back from that ii-1 team including the leagues top offensive and defensive players quarterback Darian Hagan and linebacker Alfred Williams. A a they be obviously established a very solid foundation a Oklahoma coach Gary Gibbs said. Quot when you go Back to the �?T85, �?T86, �?T87 years and see How competitive they were in our games and the kind of Talent they be acquired since then. Quot you look at Colorado steam last year and their team for this upcoming year and you see truly some of the outstanding players in the you can Start with Hagan. As a Sophomore last season he became Only the sixth player to run and Thiol a for More than 1,000 Yards in a season. A a they be been Good Quot Oklahoma state coach Bat Jones said. Quot you throw in one exceptional skill player Iugan a and 1 think that a a great example of w hat one real Good one can do for Williams teams with Kanavas my ghee to give Colo ratio two of the Best outside i in hackers in the country. Both were All conference choices last year. Last years Success Hasni to changed coach Bill Mccartney a cautious Way of looking at things. Mccartney is concerned about the schedule a the buffaloes have non conference games against Tennessee Illinois and Texas and must play Nebraska in Lin Slains round Coin a and is worried about a potential Lack of depth. A a we have 89 players on scholarship now Quot he said. Oklahoma a Gibbs found out about depth problems and injuries last season. When the sooner went to Nebraska for their season finale they weren t even Able to reach the Mcaa limit of 60 travel squad players. The sooner 7-4 in Gibbs first year played without first string quarterback Steve Collins for several games. Tailback Mike Gaddis regarded by the coaches As a franchise player hurl his knee and in t going to be available this year. Oklahoma which is in the second year of a three year probation started last season with Only 74 scholarship players. This year the number figures to lie Between 80 and 85. Nebraska always has great no Max is and this season coach Tom Osborne will use them to rebuild. The Corn huskers 10-2 last season have just two starters Hack on offence and must replace their entire Hack Field. But experience wont be a problem on defense where seven starters return. A defense is very in winning championships and having great football teams Quot Sborne said. Iowa state at 6-5, was the Only other team in the big l ight that had a winning record last season. I he v Cones again figure to tangle with Oklahoma stale Missouri and Kansas Lor an upper division finish. A he regions top Independent Tulsa is Corning Olf its first bowl game in 13 years a an Independence bowl loss to Oregon. The Golden Hurricane returns quarterback . Rubley who threw 22 touchdown passes last season and 1,000-Yard rusher Brett Adams but the team Wal have to replace second team All America receiver Dan Bilson who was ses ciely injured m an automobile Accident last Decca Ider. Bilson caught 7 1 pusses Lor 1,425 y aids and 16 touchdowns last year
