College Football / Randy Harvey : Big Ten Flexes Its Muscles as No. 1 Iowa Plays No. 2 Michigan Saturday

For only the 19th time since the Associated Press’ first college football poll in 1936, No. 1 will meet No. 2 Saturday. Both teams, No. 1 Iowa and No. 2 Michigan, are from the Big Ten, and that has led to no small amount of chest-beating among conference members. Maybe they should forget football and begin offering CPR courses.

They say the Big Ten isn’t just a basketball conference any more, using a 24-6 record this season against outside opposition as evidence that the conference again is superior in football. It’s true that no other conference can match that record in 1985.

It’s also true that the Big Ten has improved. From 1965 to 1973, the conference had losing records against outside opposition for nine straight seasons. Until this season, the Big Ten’s best record in two decades against non-conference teams was 15-11 in 1981. That was the year Iowa had its first winning season in 20 and went to the Rose Bowl.

The primary factor in the Big Ten’s comeback has been the influence of two coaches, Hayden Fry at Iowa and Mike White at Illinois. They taught the other conference coaches that their teams, by developing sophisticated passing attacks, could compete with the physically dominant teams at Michigan and Ohio State. So as not to be left behind in the dinosaur age, even Michigan and Ohio State have diversified their offenses.

With passers such as Iowa’s Chuck Long, Purdue’s Jim Everett, Indiana’s Steve Bradley, Illinois’ Jack Trudeau and Ohio State’s Jim Karsatos, Big Ten teams have gained more yards passing this season than teams in any conference other than the Western Athletic.

But Big Ten members should not get carried away with their success against teams from other conferences until they consider one other factor, the relative ease of their schedules. Three of their victories this season were against Division I-AA schools. Three others were against winless teams. Nine were against teams with one victory.

Of the 24 Big Ten victories, only five were scored against teams with winning records. None was against teams that are in this week’s Top 20.

The best conference at this point in the season appears to be the Southeastern, which has six Top 20 teams. Consider No. 20 Tennessee’s first three conference games. The Volunteers won at home against Auburn, which was No. 1 at the time, lost in Gainesville to No. 5 Florida, and will play No. 15 Alabama Saturday at Birmingham, Ala.

Although Tennessee defensive coordinator Ken Donahue said he attaches no special importance to the game against Alabama, it’s difficult to believe that this will be just another Saturday for him. He coached for 21 years at Alabama, 19 under Bear Bryant and the last two under Ray Perkins.

After last season, Perkins asked Donahue to relinquish his coaching duties and become an assistant athletic director. Donahue resigned, instead.

The wishbone’s most recent convert is Washington State. Despite a backfield of Rueben Mayes, the Pacific 10’s leading rusher in 1984; Kerry Porter, the conference’s leading rusher in 1983, and quarterback Mark Rypien, the Cougars are off to a disappointing 2-4 start.

Realizing that his offense isn’t going to overpower defenses, Coach Jim Walden has decided to confuse them. Admitting he was “playing chess,” he used the wishbone in two of the Cougars’ five scoring drives last Saturday against Oregon State. How many wishbone plays will Washington State use Saturday at Pullman against UCLA? Walden said the Bruins will have to guess.

The dominant running offense of the early ‘70s, the wishbone has returned to favor this season. Using the wishbone, Army is 5-0 and Colorado is 4-1. Oklahoma (3-0), Arkansas (5-0) and Air Force (6-0) use the flexbone, a variation of the wishbone.

Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers told USA Today that he never received under-the-table payments from boosters while he played for Nebraska. He said it was his loss.

“I never considered boosters the problem,” he said. “I always considered them the solution to the problem.”

He said players should have no qualms about accepting money.

“They work as slaves,” he said. “They’re paid pennies for bringing in millions of dollars. I don’t think it’s constitutional.”

His advice to college players?

“I’d tell you not to go to school for the education alone,” he said. “They spend a lot more time pushing you toward football and not toward an education. I’d tell you a high percentage of players is not going to go into professional football and to make any kind of arrangement you can.”

College Notes Ohio State’s Keith Byars, who missed the first five games while recovering from a broken foot, is expected to play Saturday against Purdue. He led the nation in rushing last season. . . . Arizona State’s new coach, John Cooper, said that the Sun Devils would be 4-1 or 5-0, instead of 3-2, if they had more leadership. “The attitude of some of our older players in practice is, ‘We didn’t do it this way before,’ ” Cooper said. “I tell them, ‘Well, you didn’t have much success that way, did you? I don’t care what happened here in the past. Do it our way.’ We can’t trade the players. There’s nothing wrong with them. We just have to work hard.”

LSU Coach Bill Arnsparger said college teams should be required to file injury reports each week. Fearing scandals, NFL teams make injuries public in order to prevent gamblers from attempting to get inside information from players. Arnsparger said that college football is no more immune to betting scandals than the NFL. . . . Iowa has received so many credential requests for Saturday’s game against Michigan that some reporters will have to watch the game from the press box roof. . . . Freshman running back Eugene Napoleon has quit the team at Pitt. One of the nation’s most highly recruited high school backs, he is on the Panthers’ fourth team this season. He was not expecting a promotion next season, when Craig (Ironhead) Heyward returns from a suspension. Heyward was suspended before the season began for assaulting another student with a crutch. “If Tony Dorsett was coming back here, he’d have trouble starting,” Napoleon said. He said he may transfer to Syracuse.

Pitt’s quarterback, John Congemi, said he expects to start Saturday against Rutgers despite an injured ankle, but Coach Foge Fazio said Congemi is doubtful. . . . After suffering concussions in two games, Florida State quarterback Danny McManus is still suffering from dizzy spells. Tests by neurologists have been inconclusive. Meantime, Eric Thomas has been promoted to the first team. . . . The Western Athletic Conference’s leader in scoring and receiving, Brigham Young wide receiver Mark Bellini, is expected to be out for at least five weeks with a shoulder separation. Wide receiver Glen Kozlowski, quarterback Robbie Bosco’s favorite receiver going into the season, may return Saturday after missing two games with a knee injury.

Auburn has suffered its last five losses on artificial surfaces. Running back Bo Jackson said the Tigers are tentative on plastic grass because they are concerned about injuries. “Nobody really likes playing on the stuff,” cornerback Kevin Porter said. “The burns and injuries are much more severe.” . . . Notre Dame co-captain Mike Larkin had this criticism of Coach Gerry Faust in the Cincinnati Enquirer: “I think we’ve been tricked. I think we’ve been outskilled. The other teams score so many points on us, I think, first, because our offense is not on the field as long as their offense, and also because their plays are less obvious than our plays. They do things that surprise us.” . . . ABC’s Beano Cook says, “It’s now obvious the two most important jobs in America are held by foreigners: room service and field-goal kickers.”

No. 1 vs. No. 2

When No. 1-ranked Iowa plays No. 2 Michigan Saturday, it will be the 19th time the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in The Associated Press’ Top 20 have met since the poll was started in 1936. The No. 1 team has won 13 of the games, with two ending in ties. The following is a list of thosee previous meetings, with the season and bowl game indicated if it was after the regular season.

1943 (1) Notre Dame 14, (2) Iowa Pre-Flight 13 1943 (1) Notre Dame 35, (2) Michigan 12 1944 (1) Army 23, (2) Navy 7 1945 (1) Army 48, (2) Notre Dame 0 1945 (1) Army 32, (2) Navy 13 1946 (1) Army 0, (2) Notre Dame 0 1962 (1) USC 42, (2) Wisconsin 37, Rose Bowl 1963 (2) Texas 28, (1) Oklahoma 7 1963 (1) Texas 28, (2) Navy 6, Cotton Bowl 1966 (1) Notre Dame 10, (2) Michigan St. 10 1968 (1) Purdue 37, (2) Notre Dame 22 1968 (1) Ohio St. 27, (2) USC 16, Rose Bowl 1969 (1) Texas 15, (2) Arkansas 14 1971 (1) Nebraska 35, (2) Oklahoma 31 1971 (1) Nebraska 38, (2) Alabama 6, Orange Bowl 1978 (2) Alabama 14, (1) Penn St. 7, Sugar Bowl 1981 (1) USC 28, (2) Oklahoma 24 1982 (2) Penn St. 27, (1) Georgia 23, Sugar Bowl