JUDGEMENT DAY

Rose Bowl hopes hang in balance

Eight weeks of overachievement, developing a cutthroat defense and churning out one victory after another, come down to one game that will prove whether this Michigan team is all it's cracked up to be.

Sure, the Wolverines have stared down a dominant offense like Iowa's, they have had their emotional capacities tested against Michigan State, Colorado and Notre Dame, and they have battled a tough crowd on the road in East Lansing.

But now, No. 4 Michigan (5-0 Big Ten, 8-0 overall) has all three of those evil winds blowing its way in the form of No. 2 Penn State (4-0, 7-0). Saturday's 3:30 p.m. blockbuster tilt at Happy Valley's Beaver Stadium will be the first time since 1975 that two undefeated Big Ten teams have squared off in the month of November.

KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily Six loyal Wolverines begin their journey to State College to see the Michigan-Penn State game. They are, from left, LSA senior Neil Sharma, Education senior Mike Bee, LSA senior Josh Schelman, Architecture senior Richard Masse, Engineering junior Joe Nardone and LSA senior Jeff Cranson.

Ironically, Michigan was part of that game as well. Top-ranked Ohio State knocked off the fourth-ranked Wolverines in Ann Arbor, 21-14, in the final game of the season for both teams.

"This is a big game for Michigan football," said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. "What is nice is we don't have to worry about looking past anyone. This is the best football team we have played this year."

Of Michigan's eight victims this season, only one - No. 12 Iowa - currently resides in the Associated Press top 25 poll. The same can be said for the Nittany Lions, who handed No. 7 Ohio State its only loss, 31-27, four weeks ago.

So this game, besides carrying the label of conference supremacy, also makes a strong case for the winner's reputation as a viable national championship candidate.

But first and foremost for both teams, a victory means a much easier path to the Rose Bowl. Both teams control their own destiny, meaning that winning all their remaining games translates to a ticket to Pasadena, Calif.

"We went over all the different scenarios for us to get to the Rose Bowl, so we know if we can beat Penn State it obviously puts us in the driver's seat," said Michigan fifth-year senior linebacker Rob Swett, who has never played in a Rose Bowl. "The big thing for us all year has been to take care of ourselves, and if we do that we feel like we have a good chance."

As Michigan saw from Michigan State's ill-advised trash talking prior to the showdown in East Lansing two weeks ago, any verbal accompaniment to the pre-game hype can only hurt their chances of victory.

Hence, both the Wolverines and Lions kept their mouths clean this week, choosing to praise their opponent.

"We have to play a full four quarters against this team," said Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson. "They are a good team with a great coach like Joe Paterno."

And in some cases, the main characters have emphasized their shortcomings in an attempt to increase the other team's confidence.

"We're making too many mistakes to think we're a good football team right now," Paterno said. "We've got to eliminate some of that stuff if we're going to have any kind of chance against Michigan."

The game is made even more appealing with the Big Ten's most energetic offense in Penn State going up against the conference's, and the nation's, stingiest defense in Michigan.

"Penn State is a team with tremendous weapons in (tailback) Curtis Enis and (wide receiver) Joe Jurevicius," Carr said. "Both are All-Americans."

But as Iowa's Tavian Banks and Michigan State's Sedrick Irvin, two superb offensive weapons, can attest, All-Americans need to take their games to an even higher level against Michigan.

"I don't know if we've played against a better defensive team in a long time," Paterno said. "Their secondary reacts so well with Woodson back there, you've got one of the great players of all time, probably, in the secondary."

11-07-97