COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Whoa, Let’s Give Powlus More Time

Listen to ABC’s Brent Musburger long enough and you’d think sophomore quarterback Ron Powlus was the greatest thing to hit Notre Dame since the “Hail Mary”--the prayer, not the pass.

Powlus was impressive in his debut, enough so that Musburger nearly required medical attention in the booth--”You’re looking live at me hyperventilating. . . . “ Powlus tied a school record with four touchdown passes and completed 18 of 24 passes for 291 yards. More important, he led the Irish to a 42-15 victory over Northwestern.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Irish senior linebacker Jeremy Nau said. “It was kind of outstanding.”

Nau, who rooms next to Powlus, was watching ESPN a few hours before Saturday’s game when he heard one of the analysts criticize Powlus’ inconsistency during passing drills. Later, after Powlus had passed for another touchdown, Nau found the quarterback on the sideline.

“Hey, Ron, why don’t you keep up your consistency,” he said.

Powlus, who had seen the same show, laughed. Sort of.

Coach Lou Holtz, father of modern poor-mouthing, didn’t argue the point. He also didn’t seem to be too concerned, which is something of a news flash for the career worrywart.

“It’s obvious when he traces his ancestry, it will go back to Krypton, not Europe,” Holtz told Joseph Tybor of the Chicago Tribune.

Powlus, who sat out last season because of broken collarbones and parts of preseason practice because of tendinitis in his throwing arm, wears the same jersey number worn by Joe Montana and later, Rick Mirer. But to compare him with Superman? Great Caesar’s ghost, no.

“I think he’s a great player,” Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett said after reviewing the game video. “I don’t know if we tested him. I think everybody ought to reserve judgment until he’s tested more.”

According to Barnett, three of Powlus’ four touchdown passes resulted from mistakes in Northwestern’s secondary.

“Right calls, but missed assignments,” he said.

The other score--a beautifully thrown pass by Powlus, a beautiful catch by Derrick Mayes--was suitable for framing.

NOTRE DAME, PART II

We’re not arguing with the Irish’s No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press poll, but remember this about the victory over Northwestern, which was picked to finish last in the Big Ten:

--With 2:20 to play in the first half, Northwestern trailed only 7-3.

--At that point, the Wildcats led in first downs, 15-4, and in time of possession, 20 minutes to eight.

--Wildcat running back Dennis Lundy already had rushed for more than 100 yards.

--Notre Dame’s Lee Becton, who had gained 100 or more yards in his last seven games, finished the night with 16 yards in 10 carries. The Irish had a respectable 161 yards rushing, but only after Powlus rescued them.

Now comes fifth-ranked Michigan, a team with double the talent and depth of well-meaning Northwestern. The Wolverines had their own problems against Boston College in their opener at Ann Arbor, but they won’t give up 35 points in the final 32 minutes, as Northwestern did.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

NBC is breathlessly billing the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry as the greatest college football rivalry of all time. It sounds nice on the promo, but it isn’t true.

For starters, the teams have played each other only 25 times, 78 fewer than the NCAA leader, Minnesota-Wisconsin; 71 fewer than Stanford-Cal, 69 fewer than Army-Navy and 65 fewer than Michigan-Ohio State.

And for intense rivalries, we’ll take USC-UCLA, Tennessee-Alabama, Florida State-Miami, Alabama-Auburn and, of course, USC-Notre Dame. In fact, Holtz requires every freshman player to complete a quiz on the history of the Trojan-Irish series. He doesn’t do that with Michigan.

“I think Coach Holtz . . . since I’ve been here, USC is our biggest rivalry,” said Nau, who still can recite facts and famous figures associated with the Trojan series. “The best rivalry, I think, is the USC game. I think Michigan is a close second.”

Don’t tell that to John Kryk, a Toronto newspaper editor whose book, “Natural Enemies--The Notre Dame-Michigan Football Feud,” is now available for purchase. Kryk spent more than three years researching the rivalry. We could have saved him the trouble: Holtz doesn’t even think it’s the No. 1 matchup.

And enough of the sacred rivalry stuff. At Notre Dame’s insistence, Ohio State replaces Michigan on the Irish schedule next season until 1997, when the Wolverines return to the rotation.

WELCOME BACK

After two reconstructive knee operations, seven arthroscopic knee procedures and 18 inches of scars, Syracuse star linebacker Dan Conley returned to the lineup last Saturday for a rare sixth year of eligibility.

Conley and Miami defensive end Rusty Medearis made their 1994 debuts last weekend and reported no ill effects after long layoffs.

Conley, 24, was especially effective, recording 10 solo tackles and five assists in a heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma. It was his first game since the 1993 Fiesta Bowl.

“Deep down inside I really didn’t think I could do it,” Conley said of the comeback.

So old is Conley, compared to other Syracuse undergraduate students, that someone actually called him, “Mr. Conley,” while he was doing his laundry not long ago. Conley, 21 credits shy of an environmental design degree, couldn’t blame the guy.

“I’ve been here longer than most any coach here,” he said.

Conley and Medearis met last year in Miami. They spoke for about an hour, but neither player said much about his struggle to play again. Neither had to.

“I’m kind of facing reality,” Conley said. “Every day that I practice, every day I play football, I’m going to enjoy it. I hear guys bitching about this drill and that drill. Hey, I love playing football. I’m sure Rusty feels the same way.”

Medearis, 23, hadn’t played in two years, no thanks to a dislocated knee that doctors said looked as if it had occurred in a car accident.

When he made his first appearance on the practice field this fall, Medearis turned to a teammate and said, “Pinch me, I think I’m dreaming.”

Now he’s back, not necessarily better than ever, but does it matter anymore?

THE REST

Tennessee, which lost fifth-year senior starter Jerry Colquitt after only seven offensive plays last Saturday against UCLA, has a strange problem: too many quarterbacks. In a move that bordered on panic, Volunteer Coach Phillip Fulmer not only used junior Todd Helton, but also took turns with true freshmen Branndon Stewart and Peyton Manning.

Stewart, who threw five passes against the Bruins, and Manning, who played only three downs and didn’t throw a pass, now can’t be redshirted this season. Barring a medical situation, the two heralded recruits, considered among the best in the country, will waste a season’s worth of eligibility on the bench--that is, unless Helton falters.

“In all likelihood, one or both of them would have been redshirted,” Fulmer said Wednesday. . . .

Iowa State Coach Jim Walden, whose job security is already in question, can’t afford many more results like last Saturday’s 28-14 loss to Northern Iowa, a Division I-AA team. It was the second time in three seasons that Northern Iowa upset the Cyclones.

“It was really an offensive screw-up day,” Walden said.

As for this Saturday’s game against Iowa, Walden sounded like a coach counting the days until a pink slip. “I think (Iowa will) be a 35-point favorite and they should be,” he said. At last check, Iowa was favored by 12. . . .

According to sources within the bowl coalition, the chances of the Fiesta Bowl getting first pick of a possible national championship game in 1996 aren’t good. Even though the Fiesta paid the most money to belong in the restructured Tier One group, coalition officials aren’t crazy about sharing a national championship stage with the NFL’s Super Bowl, which comes to Tempe the same month. The more likely choice: the Orange Bowl, which had the second-highest bid. . . .

A quiz: Name the only school to have produced five 1,000-yard rushers this decade. . . . Toughest place for a visiting team? Oklahoma Coach Gary Gibbs nominates Syracuse’s Carrier Dome, where the Sooners nearly blew a 24-0 halftime lead before winning, 30-29. “It was the loudest place I’ve ever been,” he said. “It was deafening.” . . .

After Miami ran for 415 yards against Division I-AA Georgia Southern last Saturday--the most yards rushing by the Hurricanes since 1980--Coach Dennis Erickson made a confession. He said he botched last year’s running game by rotating players. This season, using a one-back system, Erickson is sticking with James Stewart. Stewart, not to be confused with fellow Doak Walker Award nominee James Stewart of Tennessee, rushed for 145 yards in 17 carries against Georgia Southern. . . .

Quiz answer: Surprise! It’s California. The schools with four 1,000-yarders: Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State and North Carolina. . . . If nothing else, the arrival of Larry Smith as Missouri’s new coach helped home attendance. The 55,263 who showed up at the 68,152-seat Faurot Field made up the largest Missouri crowd since 1989. And not since 1984, when Notre Dame visited Columbia, has there been a larger crowd for a nonconference game at Missouri. . . .

Someone needs to explain to game officials the difference between spontaneous elation and celebrating with intent to taunt. Cincinnati receiver James Scott caught a pass against Indiana last week, stood up, raised his arms and was immediately flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct--”making gestures to the crowd,” was the official explanation.

Days later, Cincinnati Coach Rick Minter was still steaming about the call. “What our young man did was catch the ball . . . the second reception of his college career . . . the best thing we’d done up to that point. He stands up quickly, looks to the crowd--our little 200, 300 people who came up from Cincinnati--and raised his hands. It wasn’t in the face of any IU player. It wasn’t taunting and it wasn’t delay of game.” In other words, lighten up, refs.

The Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski.

No. Team Record 1. Auburn 1-0 2. Nebraska 1-0 3. Florida State 1-0 4. Notre Dame 1-0 5. Michigan 1-0 6. Arizona 1-0 7. Florida 1-0 8. Miami 1-0 9. USC 1-0 10. UCLA 1-0

Waiting list: Penn State (1-0), Colorado (1-0), Alabama (1-0), Oklahoma (1- 0), Virginia Tech (1-0).