The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 35

F. Tijr "Tt --lrj-f mi minimi up ir miiiij ii'itPHfinniinwiiwiiii PES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER September 6, 198731) 'MiW I ft Kratch, Wester continue Hawks' line of successes ft tvt BOB HERB KRATCH WESTER played side-by-side on the right side Wester at tackle and Kratch at guard until this season. But with the departure of all-Big Ten performer Dave Croston to the Green Bay Packers, Kratch has moved to left tackle to replace him. Coach Hayden Fry calls Kiatch, an all-Big Ten selection last season, the finest blocker he's had at Iowa. That tag will be tested all year.

Left tackle is the most demanding position in the line because the Hawk-eye offense favors the right side. The tight end is usually lined up to the strong side, leaving Kratch one-on-one with a blitzing linebacker or defensive end. "We like to have someone very solid in that position," Ferentz said. "We felt Bob was the natural guy to move over there. A lot of what we look for in that position is athletic ability.

And it takes a little different tempera important than it used to be. Speed and strength are important, but you can just throw the bench press out the window if you don't have technique." At first glance, Wester's size appears to give him a big advantage over the people he lines up against. But size, Ferentz says, can be deceiving. "Everybody talks about his size, but it can be a big disadvantage at times," said the coach. "In certain respects it's tougher to execute technique.

But he's worked hard at it, and he's getting to the point now where things are coming very natural for him." Wester admits size was too big an issue for him in 1986. He weighed more than 300 pounds last year and said, "I really felt bad. So I learned from experience. I have to keep my weight around 290." Height, as much as weight, offers ment to be out there isolated as much as he is. Wester would have been the other guy to move over there, but he had been playing on the right side for two full years and we felt it wouldn't be right to make him change." Role Models Kratch is expected to continue a long line of Iowa players going from the offensive line to the NFL, but he admits he's not ready to join their company yet.

"There have been some great players here, and personally I don't think I'm in the ballpark yet," Kratch said. "I have so much improvement to make. But I'm lucky, and everyone else in the offensive line here is lucky, because all we have to do is throw on a reel of film and watch Mike Haight, the Hilgenbergs Jay and Joel or Dave Croston in action, and see their techniques. Technique is a lot more Wester additional challenges. "I'm 6-8, and I usually have to block a guy who is 6-3.

Football's a game of who gets underneath who, and it's harder for me to get underneath somebody." Wester has found that opponents don't respect size in the Big Ten, they respect ability. "They watch you play on film, and if you're good they respect you," Wester said. "If not, then they don't worry about you. It all depends on how you play, not how big you are. There are a lot of big guys who aren't, any good." Wester is striving to reach a level of consistency that he says was missing from last year 12-game schedule.

"This, is my most challenging season because I'm a senior," said Wester. "I've got to challenge myself to play the best that I can, and not slip to the level I played at last year." what he wants at ISU a smart football players. And they're both typical, hard-headed guys from the East Coast." Roommates That hard-headed characteristic will come in handy if Iowa is to bounce back from the 23-22 loss to Tennessee in the Kickoff Classic and make a seventh consecutive bowl appearance. Roommates on the road, the two l.f liniUG HI CIHIIWb DiimndiKHnr .11 in Familv! MarriaH wife lanire- three ricjv 11 Pljytnf career: Two years at Itawamba Junior Collene in Fulton. trans- ferrerl Wunmmo where he nlaverl nnar- terback and defensive back.

Graduated in 1960. Canadian Football League: British Columbia Lions (1961) and Calgary Stampeders (1962-63). i r.n... A A CIA Assistaimhips: Nebraska, 1969-72. defensive coach: Miami (Fla 1973-76.

rlefenctue rAi-irHinatnr -hina. Oil OtdlC, 13, UdiniiCIU (r.nfchf( nuarterback Jar.k "The Throw- in' Samoan" Thompson). Top Amory (Miss.) H.S., 1964-68; Wnchinotnn SrntP lQ7ft-Afi 1981 team to Holiday Bowl (8 3 1 re- tie against Pac-10 champ Arizona State and 34-14 win over Southern California (snapping a 16-game losing streak to the Trojans dating back to 1957) in 1986. Year Team Woe 1978 Washington State 4 1979 Washington Stite 5 1980 Washington Slate 4 1981 Washington State 8 1982 Washington State 3 1983 Washington State 7 1984 Washington State 6 1985 Washington State 4 1986 Washington State 3 Totals 9 years 44 tv Loit By RICK BROWN Register Stiff Writer IOWA CITY, IA. At 6 feet 4 inches and 270 pounds, guard Bob Kratch is rarely overshadowed.

But 6-8, 290-pound tackle Herb Wester humbles a lot of people with his size. When the two members of Iowa's offensive line were asked to pose for a picture recently, Kratch had one request. "Can I get a stool to stand on?" Kratch, a junior from Mahwah, N.J., and Wester, a senior and co-captain from Nashua, N.H., represent the only returning starting experience in the interior of the Hawkeye line. Kratch's first start was a memorable one. He replaced Kelly O'Brien at right guard when top-ranked Iowa defeated No.

2 Michigan in 1985, 12-10. He's started every game since. Wester is in his third season as a starter. "One thing they've got in common is that they both work extremely hard," said Kirk Ferentz, Iowa's offensive line coach. "They're both Panthers edge Mclieese State on field goal By DAN McCOOL Register Correspondent LAKE CHARLES, LA.

Kevin Mote kicked a 32-yard field goal with 2 minutes 8 seconds left to give Northern Iowa a 34-31 non-conference football victory over McNeese State in the season opener for both teams at Cowboy Stadium here Saturday night. Mote's heroics capped a UNI rally that saw the Panthers come back from a 31-17 deficit after the third quarter. The kick was set up by Bryce Paup's recovery of McNeese State quarterback Scott Dieterich's fumble at the Cowboy 23-yard line with 3:17 left in the game. It was the first season-opening victory for UNI since 1984 when the Panthers beat Winona State, 37-0. McNeese State had won 11 straight season openers prior to Saturday.

UNI quarterback Mike Smith set another school record when he surpassed the 6,298 career passing yards of Steve Sandon in the first quarter. Smith completed a 13-yard pass to Sherrod Howard for the record and finished the game with 6,529 yards. He completed 22 of 32 passes and had three intercepted while chalking up 241 of the 283 UNI passing yards. Wes Anderson had game-highs for UNI with his seven pass receptions for 97 yards. The Panthers gained only 13 yards rushing while the Cowboys gained 63 yards.

Dieterich had 173 yards passing. The Panthers stopped McNeese State running back Tony Citizen, holding him to 38 yards on 27 carries. Carl Boyd led the Panthers with 69 yards on 18 carries. The Panthers were led on defense by Jeff Bealles with 11 tackles and Dave McCorvey with 10. Things looked bleak in the second half when the Cowboys scored on the opening drive of the third quarter, a 7-yard pass from Dieterich to Jeff Delahomme; with 11 minutes left Then Smith's pass to Howard was in tercepted after the Panthers got to the McNeese 22-yard line.

A 2-yard touchdown run by Tony Citizen with 2:23 left in the third quarter put the Cowboys ahead, 31-17. On the second play of the fourth quarter, UNI's Mark Hein recovered a Citizen fumble at the Cowboy 33 but the Panthers didn't begin their scoring rally until an 18-yard Cowboy punt and a McNeese State holding penalty put UNI at the cowboy Ti with 10:35 left in the game. Smith capped a three-play drive with a 6 yard scoring pass to Howard with 9:09 left. After holding the Cowboys on the next series, the Panthers tied the game when Carl Boyd scampered 16 yards on a sweep for the touchdown. Individual Statistics Football has been good to ISU's Brown Walden finds Continued from Page One as they were.

I'm old enough now to know I want to make it on my own or fail on my own. It's more fun that way." Adds Athletic Director Max Urick, who selected Walden in close competition over Kent State head coach Glen Mason: "I don't think I could have done much better. He is a Division I football coach and on top of that he is good. Jim also says he wants to stay here for a long time." "Now men," yelled Walden to his squad after a two-hour practice in the heat and humidity of a late August day. Now was time for the worst part of the practice 15 minutes of calisthenics ending with a drill requiring all players to run in place and fall to the turf on their stomachs 30 times.

"I know it's hot and I know you are tired. But you've got to forget about it," Walden said, sounding like a southern preacher. "You've got to use the heat. You've to use it to make you strong. You've got to make your mind use it to your advantage.

I know it's hot, but you can't let it bother you. You gonna quit in the fourth quarter because it's hot? Because you are tired? Use this, use this to be your advantage. Get strong. Be strong." "What do we want to be?" he asked. "Physically tough, mentally tough, makes you the toughest team," his players chanted.

Three days earlier, Walden had gazed at his team as it walked onto the practice field in shorts and shirts. You ever see such a bunch of scraw-, ny football players before?" Walden deadpanned. "Scrawny and probably slow too. Why would anyone want to play this game anyway?" His deadpan notwithstanding, Walden has praise for the talents of many of his players. "If you could guarantee me a season with no injuries, we would be very competitive." Jimmy Carroll Walden was born April 10, 1938, the son of Cecil and Etoile Walden in Aberdeen, a small city in northeast Mississippi.

His father owned a service station and farmed 40 acres. His grandfather grew cotton, corn and raised hogs on a 200-acre farm. Jimmy Walden had "what you would call an average childhood," his father said. "He was always hustling and working hard because we all had to," said Cecil Walden. "He worked for me a lot.

But you really can't say he worked all that hard out on the farm. He usually went out there to avoid work." But Cecil Walden said one thing was clear almost from the time his son was born. He loved sports and he was good at them. "He had a ball in his hands almost from the time he was able to hold one." After high school, Walden attended Itawamba Junior College in nearby Fulton, for two years despite some family misgivings. It was at Itawamba in 1958, Devaney, then at Wyoming, found Walden and brought him north.

"He was a fine quarterback. He could run and throw. He also was camp in great physical shape," said Bruce. "He's moving better now, but. Workman has increased his margin over any other tailback." The fullback is George Cooper, who ran for 467 yards last season after piling up 581 the year before.

"Cooper looks lean and mean at 246 pounds this fall," said Bruce. But minutes later, Bruce pounded the table. "The biggest big-play guy on this team is on defense, and his name is Chris Spielman," the coach said loudly-Just about forgotten is Cris Carter, the wide receiver who lost his eligibility because he signed with, and accepted money from, a professional agent. "Even though Carter is a friend of mine," Spielman said, "he'll miss a chance to win the Big Ten title, the Rose Bowl and possibly the national championship. He hurt himself and a lot of other people." Next: Purdue.

'is 4 i "A Ft, IV I i 'fi Sfc At 3T tfJT 8 3, Sj, A 4li 1f S4V i i Ig i Tied Pet, Notes 6 1 .364 6 0 .455 7 0 .364 3 1 .708 Holiday Bowl 7 1 .273 4 0 .636 5 0 .545 7 0 .364 7 1 .273 tied Ariz. heat USC 52 4 .450 out," Caldwell said, "that I'm going to get a Well, I hardly believed it." But Brown caught three touchdown passes in the third game of the season and the college recruiters started to take notice. Brown said Tennessee, Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas and Kansas State all showed interest, but, ultimately, he didn't have the grades to make it in Division I. He eventually accepted a scholarship from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. Speed is Brown's main asset.

Forty receptions for 830 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final season at Dodge City won him a scholarship at Iowa State last year, and his 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash has caused new head coach Jim Walden to label Brown one of the Cyclones' top big-play threats. That makes Brown feel good, but he hopes Walden does more than talk about him. "Last year," Brown said, "I sat the bench entirely too long. I don't want to go through what I did last year. If I can, I want to play the entire game." That desire is what makes Brown a good football player, Caldwell said.

"He has great talent I believe," she said, "but he just loves to play football. He just eats and sleeps it." Caldwell still worries sometimes about Brown, who is only 5 feet 10 inches and 175 pounds, getting hurt, but her negative attitude about football has softened. "I think it's fine he does well," Caldwell said. "We are behind him all the way." "I feel confident about my ability," he said. "I don't see any problem adjusting to being a full-time player.

"It's been a long wait, but I came to Ohio State to be a quarterback, and now I've got the chance." Tupa will continue to punt this season. He averaged 47.1 yards as a freshman, 41.8 as a sophomore and 42.7 as a junior. This is the place where Hayes made famous the "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offense. For a long time, passing was just something they did at places like Purdue and Brigham Young. But Ohio State gained more yardage with passing than with running the past two years.

However, Bruce would like to see that change this season. The tailback is Vince Workman, who collected 1,030 yards in 210 carries last season as a sophomore. His backup is Jaymes Bryant, who ran for 656 yards as a freshman. "Bryant didn't return to our fall 4 -j i MM I 1 A Uk B5 a fc Si ft. 8 1 Vf I i I smart and knew how to make things happen," remembers Devaney.

Highlights Highlights of Walden's college career include running for more yards than the North Carolina State backfield in 1959 when the Cowboys defeated the Wolfpack, 26-0, at Raleigh, N.C. But it was a last-minute Wyoming victory in 1960 at New Mexico Devaney remembers most vividly. With a few minutes left in the game, New Mexico running back Don Perkins of Waterloo, and later the Dallas Cowboys ran a kickoff back 95 yards to give the Lobos a lead. "Jim says to me, 'Don't worry, Coach, I got an idea that ought to Devaney said. "You have to remember that, in those days, players played both offense and defense." On the first play from scrimmage, Walden rolled out toward one of the sidelines with his ball on his hip.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the field, Cowboy receiver Dick Hamilton ran past a winded Perkins, who was playing defensive back. Walden threw a 45-yard "transcontinental pass" for a touchdown. "He knew Perkins was still tired from the touchdown, so he threw at him. He really was a clutch football player," Devaney said. Throughout his coaching career, Walden has developed a philosophy akin to the way he played.

It is based on the premise of exploiting the weakness in the opponent by contesting the entire field, not just the yardage between the hash marks. "We will contest the entire width and length of the field with our opponents and do it in whatever way we must," he said. Fan Support The offense combines an option; run' offense with a multiple-pass offense. When it works, the offense ought to be a combination of the Okla homa running attack and an Iowa passing attack, Walden said. "I put the most pressure on the quarterback to know what to do and when to do it," said Walden, who also coaches the quarterbacks.

"I demand a lot, but it does work." His experience at Washington State, including his two most successful seasons, have shown Walden the advantages of coaching at Iowa State. In 1983, Walden's team finished 7-4 and 5-3 in the conference. They weren't asked to a bowl game and Walden believes strongly it was because of the lack of notoriety and support from the fans. Even in his last season when the Cougars finished with a 3-7-1 record, Washington State averaged 20 points per game, defeated Southern California for the first time ever at Pullman and was tied in the last 2 minutes by Arizona State, 21-21. Despite the relative success, Walden said Iowa State offered what he lacked the most with the Cougars tangible fan support, known otherwise as ticket sales.

"One day I was in Max Urick's office and he was complaining about season tickets dropping below 30,000," Walden said. "After we went Ohio State Outlook Coach Earle Bruce 121-56. 1986 record 10-3 overall, 7-1 in Big Ten. Starteri returning 6 on offense, 8 on defense. Buckeyes to watch TB Vince Work man, FB George Cooper, LB Eric Ku-merow, LB Chris Spielman, CB William White.

Strength! Last year's two top tail backs and fullbacks are back. Tailback Vince Workman ran for 985 yards in 1986, and backup Jaymes Bryant totaled 653. Fullback George Cooper ran for 41 1 Linebacker Chris Spielman, one of nation's best, leads defense. Weaknettei Pass rush, plus Bruce says his playets must get tougher mentally. By that, it is to be assumed Bruce doesn't mean in the classroom.

Keys to success Early games against West Virginia and Oregon should keep Ohio State rolling after 28-12 Cotton Bowl romp past Texas A M. Tom Tupa, one of conference's best punters, is now the quarterback. He must produce and the running backs and Spielman must stay healthy. to the Holiday Bowl, we couldn't get more than 6,000 people to buy season tickets the next year in Pullman. Tn, used to playing a home game before' 22,000 people.

I don't know what I'll do in front of 40,000 fans at home Football Affair And, says Walden, a 7-4 record at Iowa State of the Big Eight won't be ignored by the bowl scouts. For Walden, his years at Washington State helped him to continue his love affair with college football "I just love the color and hoorah and iv-erything about it. I can't take these guys who want it to become like pro football and take that enjoyment away from the players. It doesn't make sense to me." Such conviction combined with a quick wit quickly endeared Walden to Cyclone fans. But his glibness also can be a major liability.

Despite comparative success at Washington State, job offers from number of major college programs last season weren't forihcominp. Some believe it was because of Walden's tendency to say what lie thinks. Walden was interviewed at Maryland and was approached by Houston, but heard nothing from California before taking the Iowa State job. "It definitely is part of Jim's make up," said one Pac-10 athletic director who asked not to be identified. "And it is what has turned some people oil toward him.

He says what is on mind and while he is always sincere in his feelings and what he is saying, he never did learn the art of being politic." A classic example from his days st Washington State is when he blasted USC athletic officials for cheating. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned NCAA control of college football telecasts. As a result of the ruling, any school banned from television appearances by the NCAA was given a choice of going on television for a year, then resuming its NCAA sanction. Walden Critical When USC, which was on NCA.o probation, opted to go on television.

Walden criticized USC officials and network television executives for allowing it. "I wish people who got caught cheating would pay for their crimes and that CBS would recognise the ones who are getting it done without cheating," Walden said. Walden concedes being somewhat embarrassed by the incident because it resulted in the conference issuing a public reprimand, the only spot en an otherwise clean record. "I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but when I see injustice going ori, I just can't," Walden said. "If I think my players, my team or my school are going getting the shaft somehow, you are going to hear nie yell and yell loud." Adds his wife, Janice: "There are times when I've wanted to kick Jim for some of the things he has said.

At other times, particularly when he has angered some people, I usually find he said what was needed to be As for Walden, who also once called members of the Washington Legislature "a bunch of idiots," his mouth is just a part of him. "I know I should learn to keep quiet or say things differently. But I just can't stop myself sometimes. I work at it every day, but I can still step into it occasionally," he said. High Emotions Part of it, he says, comes from his emotional temperament.

He can yell with the best of the nation's coaches; he laughs almost as easily. "I still cry watching Lassie shows," he said. At the same time, the desire to create a winner at Iowa State is the main objective on his mind. "It will take time, but it will come," Walden said. "I believe in myself and my staff and I know we'll get the job done.

It is important for me to always finish successfully every task I take on." And the future for Iowa State is good one, he says. There is the commitment and staff to make it worki "From what I can see already! there would be 10,000 Cyclone fansj willing to go to any bowl game and you can bet money 1 11 get them to one," Walden said. "It might take a' while, but we'll get them there." By PAUL LIJEWSKI Resister Staff Writer AMES, IA. Eddie Brown, Iowa State's senior wide receiver, used to come home from Highland Park High School, in Topeka, late and full of excuses. He told his grandmother, Ruth Caldwell, that he was hanging out with friends, or that he stayed after school to put in extra work on his studies anything he could think of.

But she wasn't buying any of it. Ruth Caldwell knew what her grandson was up to. He was playing football, and he would have to stop. Eddie Brown, only a sophomore at Highland Park, thought his football career was over. "My grandmother didn't want me to play football," Brown said of the woman who raised him, his brother and four sisters.

"She thought I was going to get hurt and she thought playing football would hurt my grades in school." For the rest of Brown's sophomore year and his entire junior year, Caldwell would not budge on the subject of football. And finally, "I had to give in," she said. "He just kept asking me." Brown's persistence paid off in a big way. He knew that a successful football season could earn him a college education that otherwise might not be available. "He told me when he first started EDDIE BROWN tuSHINQ lorttiern Iowa No.

Yd. McNeaieSMte No. Yds. Joyd 18 69 Citizen 27 38 eebles 9 9 Dietrich 8 20 Smith 9-65 Hunt 1 2 Bryant 1 3 Leblanc 1 8 'SSING Northern lows Comp. Art.

Int. Yd. Millard 3 8 0 42 imith 22 32 3 241 WcNeese State Comp. Art. Int.

Yds. Jieterich 11 34 1 123 Buckeyes push Spielman to win Heisman KCEIVING Northern Iowa No. Yds. McNeete State No. Ydt.

Xnderson -toward 3oyd 3aker 'rice 'eebles 97 Delhomme 2 2 36 Alexander 32 McGee 30 Hunt 55 Mcleal 15 Citizen 8 3 2 11 1 TACKLE LEADERS Northern Iowa (lieman lein vlcCorvey 'aup 3ealles A. McNeete State 3 Andrus 2 Davenport 10 Ft. Moss 5 Sanders 4 Cline Statistics No. Iowa McNeese St. First downs Rushes-vards Passing yards Return yards Passes Punts Fumbles-losl Penaltias-yards 20 36-13 283 17 25-40 3 4-38 1-1 10-116 SCORING 14 3 0 10 7 14 16 38-63 173 13 11-34-1 8 34 4 11-134 34 Northern lewe McNeese FG Wiley 50 Hill 17 Interception return (Mole Kick) McZeal 25 from Dieterich (Wiley Kick) Price from Smith (Mote kick) FG Mole 47 Citizen I run (Wiley kick) Belhomme 7 pass from Dieterich (Wiley kick) Citizen 2 run iwuey Kick) Howard 6 pess from Smith (Mole Kick) Boyd 16 run (Mote kick) FG Mote 33 ahtfBfMtaMUfcefi Continued from Page One Bruce said.

"The day Ohio State isn't considered a threat for the Big Ten championship is the day I'll probably be looking for a job." It's interesting that the Buckeyes are picked to win even though they have a senior quarterback, Tom Tu-pa, who has spent most of his career as a punter. "It's a shame we had to use him as a punter when he was a freshman," Bruce said, meaning he wishes Tupa would've been able to save a year of eligibility. Bruce speaks glowingly of Tupa, a 6-5, 216-pounder who backed up Jim Karsatos last season. "I think he'll be outstanding," Bruce said. "He'll be as good as any quarterback we've had at Ohio State since I've been here." Tupa, who completed 30 of 49 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns last season, says he doesn't, feel rusty as a quarterback.

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