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Thursday, September 19, 2002

By Ray Fittpaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

If Maurice Clarett ran for 230 yards and two touchdowns against No. 10 Washington State with an injured knee, what is he going to do against a defense like Northwestern's in a couple of weeks?

Clarett is questionable for Saturday's game at Cincinnati after minor knee surgery Tuesday to repair a slight tear of his meniscus.

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said the availability of his star freshman running back will not be known until after practice today, when Clarett was expected to test the knee.

Clarett's knee was injured in the first quarter of Ohio State's 25-7 victory, but he played the rest of the game.

"I wouldn't call him out because of the way modern medicine is these days and the way he works at things," Tressel said.

Clarett has 471 yards and six touchdowns and could break Robert Smith's freshman rushing record of 1,126 yards if he can stay healthy. A true freshman who enrolled in school in January, Clarett is receiving some Heisman Trophy consideration and drawing comparisons to another Buckeyes great, Archie Griffin, who burst into the national spotlight as a freshman in 1972.

"Maurice is a guy who is passionate about excelling," Tressel said. "He's very passionate about his team being successful. He works hard in the weight room, he works hard on the practice field and he works hard on game day. It reflects that adage that hard work makes a difference because it's worked that way for Maurice."

An outsider's view

Indiana Coach Gerry DiNardo has been a head coach in the Southeastern Conference and an assistant coach in the Big 12, and he believes Big Ten football programs are at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to recruiting.

SEC and Big 12 schools are allowed to "oversign" on national letter-of-intent day, while the Big Ten limits its schools to signing the same number of players as seniors who have used up their eligibility. DiNardo, who was the head coach at LSU and an assistant at Colorado, said attrition and academic casualties leave Big Ten schools short on numbers. With the scholarship limit at 85, DiNardo said, the oversign rule can help teams maintain depth.

"We signed 22 this year and only 20 made it," DiNardo said. "In the SEC, we would have signed 25 to get to 20. So it helps you keep your numbers at 85."

Cultural significance

Bobby Williams and Tyrone Willingham will coach against one another for the first time this week when Notre Dame travels to Michigan State. Williams and Willingham are among four black head coaches in Division I-A.

"The fact that we've got two black coaches coaching in it is tremendous," Williams said. "It shows how far we've come in college football, to have two coaches in the national spotlight."

Opportunity missed

Last week was billed as an opportunity for the conference to make a statement, with three of its top teams playing ranked teams. Ohio State had a convincing home victory against Washington State and Penn State beat up on Nebraska, while Michigan lost a close game at Notre Dame.

Under usual circumstances, that would have been a positive for the conference. But when Michigan State lost at home by 24 to California and Iowa blew a 17-point lead in 36-31 home loss to Iowa State, the Ohio State and Penn State victories got lost in the shuffle.

So what did this past weekend say about the conference?

The Big Ten isn't back among the top conferences in the country, but maybe Ohio State and Penn State are back among the top programs.

This 'n' that

Wisconsin is 4-0 for the third time under Barry Alvarez. The Badgers went to the Rose Bowl in 1993 and '98 after starting those seasons with four victories. ... Minnesota can run its record to 4-0 for only the third time since 1960 with a victory against Buffalo. The last time the Gophers started 4-0 was 1999, when they finished 8-4, the school's best record since 1968. The Gophers have defeated Southwest Texas State, Louisiana Lafayette and Toledo. ... Michigan State has beaten Notre Dame in five consecutive games. ... John Beutjer had a successful debut as a starter for Illinois, completing 17 of 21 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns in a 59-7 victory against Arkansas State.