Redemption for Burke, the Big Ten player of the week

On the same day, Purdue's Drew Brees tied an NCAA record with 55 completions in one game, leading Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez to call Brees' "poise and reads" among the best he's seen. Brees threw for 494 yards in the game.

But it was Michigan State's Bill Burke - the same guy Michigan roughed up a couple weeks ago, the same guy who was in grave danger of losing his starting spot to a true freshman - who earned the honors after guiding the Spartans to a 38-31, double-overtime victory over the Hoosiers.

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Burke completed 24 of 37 attempts against Indiana, for 324 yards and two touchdowns, and salvaged a potentially disastrous two-point conversion attempt by scrambling into the end zone. Those two points meant the difference, ultimately, between an overtime win and the Spartans' fourth loss of the season.

And after bearing the brunt of the criticism for Michigan State's slow start, the strong performance was especially gratifying for Burke.

"Well, it's a huge win for our team, no question," Burke said. "If we can say that we've accomplished something at the end of the season, I'm gonna have to be an integral part of that."

Burke's performance came during a game in which his counterpart, Indiana sensation Randle El, dominated for much of the afternoon but missed action in the fourth quarter after getting hurt.

Even Michigan State coach Nick Saban said that few quarterbacks "can accelerate and change directions as well as Randle El can." In fact, had Randle El not left the game, Burke may never have gotten the chance to rally his team to the victory - much less earn player of the week honors for himself.

"I was watching him during pregame warm-ups," Saban said of Randle El, "and I said, 'For as much as this guy carries the ball, he must be a tough little nut, because it seems like he might get hurt.'

"Fortunately for us, he banged his head on the turf and missed a few plays in a critical part of the game - which probably helped us a little bit."

It probably helped them a lot. The Spartans trailed 24-16 when Randle El left, but rallied to win in his absence.

Back on the field: For Iowa quarterback Randy Reiners, the past year has been one disaster after another. He's been injured and benched - and those were clearly the easy parts.

Reiners' sister, Natalie, died after the beginning of the season, leaving the young quarterback with much more than football on his mind.

Iowa coach Hayden Fry said Natalie "was the person (Randy) was closer to than anyone in his life," and that Reiners is still struggling with the loss.

A couple weeks ago, Fry said that Reiners, who didn't play against Michigan, was still a long way from getting back into playing condition. At the time, Fry said that "you can be talking to Randy, and all of a sudden his eyes will glaze over, like he doesn't even hear you."

But this past Saturday, with Kyle McCann injured, Reiners made his first start since the season opener - and his first return to extensive action since the death of his 25-year-old sister. The return was a success: A 26-24 win over Northwestern. He threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns.

"He just did an inspirational job," Fry said. "He made some plays that a normal quarterback couldn't have made, because he's such a competitor."

- Jim Rose can be reached at jwrose@umich.edu

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AP PHOTO Michigan State quarterback Bill Burke is beginning to find his groove. He's led the Spartans to three victories in four games, including a 38-31 double-overtime win over Indiana this past weekend.

10-14-98