The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 46

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Friday, September 13, 1996 COLLEGE FOOTBALL It's a new season, and Temple's receivers are catching on Troy Kersey, Van Johnson and the other Owls he throws to aren't letting Henry Burris down anymore. host to Temple (1-1) tomorrow, it will face a new and improved version of the Owls squad it got past last season, when it scored a 37-31 victory at Veterans Stadium. Unlike last season, when Temple had to rally from a 27-10 fourth- quarter deficit to make things close against Bowling Green, the Owls have wasted little time putting points on the board this year. In two games, Burris, Temple's all-time leading passer, has brought back memories of his sophomore year, when he passed for 2,716 yards and broke eight school records. His receivers deserve much of the credit.

Now people aren't joking about Kersey and Johnson having oil on their hands. Glue would be more like it. Kersey blew away Eastern Michigan with 173 yards receiving in Temple's season-opening victory, and Johnson added a career-high 144 yards on 11 receptions against Washington State. Once considered the weak link in Temple's offense, the receivers now are generating positive attention. "We're maturing as a team and as an offense, and I think we're a big reason why," said Kersey, who caught three passes for 120 yards against Bowling Green last season.

"We're capable of making these plays. We're not having a great year yet; we're just working on being good. But it gets better. And it will continue to get better for us." Last year, it was much worse. Burris, at times imitating a sprint- son's receivers have been the main reason.

Kersey and Johnson have been superb. Kenyatta Carter tight end Wendell Davis have both been solid. Others have chipped in. The bad news is that the Owls have surrendered just as many points as they've scored. That something Dickerson isn't hagpy about, but his quarterback says jbat there shouldn't be much to worry about, that he has the solutioa.

"I'm guaranteeing a great outpiif by Temple tomorrow," Burris said, "and that's because we'll make" it happen. Myself. Our receivers. And" our offense. We've got great receivers that will get the job done.

They've been with me from the beginning, and they're with me now," er instead of a quarterback because of holes in the Owls' offensive line, hobbled on bad knees but still got the ball to his receivers. Poor responses ensued. The only time the offense seemed to jell was when Temple trailed by 20 or more in the final quarter and an opponent's second unit was in the game. "It's a little different than last year," Kersey said. "We're putting up points now when it counts, not like in the past, when we're down 20 or 30 to nothing.

Basically, we're playing like we can play." And enabling coach Ron Dicker-son to concentrate his energies on other areas. In their first two games, the Owls have scored 62 points, and Dicker- ers only to watch helplessly as the ball hit the ground after bouncing off the receiver's chest as if he had no arms. But his annoyance is gone, Burris said, thanks to his receivers, particularly Troy Kersey and Van Johnson. "You can cancel that stuff. We went through a lot of hard times last year, and we struggled on and off, but this year has been a different story, as I expected," the senior quarterback said after last week's 38-34 loss to Washington State at Franklin Field.

When Bowling Green (0-1) plays a ay oii'pnrn i. amun INQUIRER STAFF WRITER There was a time during the mis-cry that was Temple's last season Jvhen quarterback Henry Burris jwas a frustrated young man. He was clearly the Owls' shining star. His perpetual smile never Slimmed, and his words of encouragement and optimism never ceased. But he was annoyed.

Numerous times, he would evade a charging lineman ready to decapi-iate him, scramble, then plant his Jeet and wing a pass downfield, into ihe waiting arms of one his receiv fll A Al i Oil College Football By Mike Jensen Wake Forest hopes farrow proves (just the right fit br the Quakers Perm's defensive tackle has blossomed. losing habit 4vv Iff! v. iiiiv 1 .7 The Philadelphia Inquirer PETER TOBIA Penn's Mitch Marrow moved from linebacker to tackle as he grew. "I've never been shy about the physical part," he said. Penn Schedule Home games in bold.

Sept. 21 at Dartmouth 1 :30 Sept. 28 Colgate 6 Oct. 5 at Bucknell 1 Oct. 12 Columbia 1:30 Oct.

19 Lehigh 1:30 Oct. 26 at Brown 1 Nov. 2 Yale 1:30 Nov. 9 at Princeton 1 2:30 Nov. 16 Harvard 1:30 Nov.

23 at Cornell 1:30 wick School, a small private school in Greenwich, Conn. No one knew then that Marrow would grow four inches and 65 pounds and become one of the best defensive linemen in the Ivy League. But Rachel Marrow thought her brother had talent and potential and would be the right fit for the Quakers. And she wasn't afraid to tell Bagnoli. "His sister was really adamant about us taking a shot at him," Bagnoli said.

"She was here all the time. She kind of convinced us. We probably would have done it anyway, but she certainly was lobbying strong." "I think he thought it was cute," Rachel Marrow, a former college tennis player and now a third-year Penn law student, said of the coach's reaction. "I wasn't trying to be pushy, just persistent. I told him to give Mitch a look, not pass him up.

He was pretty receptive. I'd bring him tapes or articles once or twice a month during the season. We developed a little relationship. "At the end, he wanted me to work for him in recruiting." Hey, if she can come up with another Mitch Marrow, why not? Marrow, of Harrison, N.Y., earned second-team all-Ivy honors last season when he finished second on the Quakers in sacks with six and recorded 48 tackles. It was quite a it was his first as a starter, and first on the defensive line.

"I was definitely happy that I was able to help the team and make some impact as a player, but I wasn't satisfied," said Marrow, a senior who has one year of football eligibility remaining. "I always come out thinking that I should have done better. Sometimes I have trouble congratulating myself. "But this year, I feel faster and stronger, more athletic. I feel like I know the defense a lot more, knowing the reads and stuff, and that will make a tremendous difference." Marrow is a relatively late bloomer in football.

He concentrated on baseball in high school, where he pitched for George Foster, one of the mainstays of Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" championship teams of the 1970s. But Marrow's baseball career ended prematurely when he injured his pitching elbow during his junior season. With his focus shifted to football, Marrow didn't get to learn too much about the game before enrolling at Penn. After missing his freshman i. mi Games of the Week; Michigan at Colorado 3:30 p.m., Channel 6.

No matter what they do in their very promising professional careers, Kordell Stewart and Michael Westbrook probably will never equal the thrill provided by their 64-yard Hail Mary connection to give the Buffs a' 1 miracle win in '94. That was the game of the year. This is the game of the week. Colorado has won 15 straight! in September. Michigan is 3- 0-1 in nonconference road games since 1991.

E. Carolina at W. Virginia Noon, SportsChannel. The winner of this one -deserves to move into the Top 25 in the Associated Press poll. Right now, East Carolina is 28th and West yC Virginia 29th.

Northwestern at Duke Av' After losing at Wake Forest, the Wildcats already have a must-win game. And Duke traditionally plays well the week after getting bounced 'J around by Florida State. Va. Tech at Boston College 12:30 p.m.; ESPN. Was that really the score of last week's game from the Rubber Bowl? Virginia Tech 21, Akron 18.

The Hokies g6t the benefit of the doubt and remain in the Top 20 because of reputation. Mike Jensen ti "Right before the last series, my stomach got to me," said hasn't missed an offensive play in the first two games andhal started 29 of Wake's last 30 gamej. "I get a little sick, basically, fn every game. Nerves and heat and-humidity and our no-huddle M-Z fense, that can get to you. The coaches wanted to sit me down' but there was no way.

Nauseous or not, I'm going to stay in there." Hail Mary? Kordell Stewart begs to differ. Never mind that he had never called the particular play before in his life. Stewart said his 64-yard, last-second scoring pass to Michael Westbrook, giving Colorado a 27-26 victory at Michigan in 1994, was not lucky. "I don't believe in luck," Stewart" told Alan Robinson of the Associat-, ed Press this week. "People say it's a miracle and all that, but, really.

ydu' have a 50-50 chance of Either your guy catches it or 'the otfier guy. It comes down and somebody catches it. If it's your guy, you" say, 'Hail Everyone is asking Stewart about the play because the Buffaloes and Wolverines face off tomorrow in Boulder. Off the field. It's going to be tough for Tennessee students to scalp their tickets to next week's Florida game.

UT's new system requires stu-' dents, in addition to showing their tickets, to put their IDs through' a scanner. No word on cost of black-market IDs in Knoxville this week," In a new book, The Tailgatef's' Handbook, author Joe Drozda ranked the top 30 tailgating His Top 10: Georgia, Louisville, Ohio State, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, LSU and Clemson. Drozda, who is from Indiana, also lists such authentic tailgate recipes as the chili served by Jan Putz in the Notre Dame parking lot and the Italian casserole served by Phyllis Grossman in the Louisville parking lot. The Top Ten; Nebraska, 1-0. 2, Florida, 2-0.

3, Ten-, nessee, 2-fl. 4, Colorado, 2-0. Florida State, 1-0. 6, Penn State, 2-0, 7, Texas, 2-0. 8, North Carolina, 2-0.

9, Kansas State, 2-0. 10, Alabama, 2-0. to After beating Northwestern last Saturday, it must be tempting for Wake Forest football players to think of themselves as the Northwestern of '96. as much as anybody, was rooting for Northwestern last year," said Wake Forest offensive tackle Tony Yarnall, a senior from Brook-haven, Delaware County. "I can see us in a similar role.

Without much experience, there's not much pressure." Almost as quickly as Yarnall spoke those words this week, he pulled back. He knows he isn't living in some fairy tale. The last three seasons in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Demon Deacons won two games. "I really haven't been used to the success," said Yarnall, a fifth-year senior whose team beat Appalachian State to open the season. "The seniors are really putting a lot of stock on changing the program around.

It's taken a toll on us, two different coaches. Losing does become a habit, and it's tough to break. We are somewhat in the habit." At least Northwestern had been building toward its breakthrough, albeit out of the public eye. Last season, Wake Forest's only win came against Navy. The way Wake knocked off the defending Big Ten champions was startling, though.

Last season, the Deacons didn't gain 100 yards rushing in a single game. Against Northwestern a school that routinely shut down Big Ten rushing attacks last season and led the nation in scoring defense Wake Forest ran for 196 yards. "We knew teams were focusing on our passing," Yarnall said. "We installed a lot of draw plays, which opened up some running lanes. We had some different zone schemes.

We had to get the attitude that we were going to move the ball." Wake Forest's quarterback is another local guy. Sophomore Brian Kuklick, a Hatboro-Horsham High graduate, was 12 for 25 for 172 yards against Northwestern. But he was 8 for 10 for 118 yards in Wake Forest's last two scoring drives. On their game-winning drive, in the last four minutes, -Kuklick converted three third-down passes and one on fourth down. The winning TD was a 30-yard pass on third down with 51 seconds left.

There was some question whether Yarnall, who graduated from Sun Valley High, would be out there at the end. foundation vitt in last season's all-Ivy backfield. Hu is 19 yards shy of his school's all-time rushing record of 2,130 yards. The Harvard defense, led by junior free safety Jeff Compas, allowed nearly 26 points per game last season and needs to cut out its generous habits. Yale.

Carm Cozza, the dean of Ivy League coaches, has announced his retirement at the end of the season and that could throw a spark into an undermanned Yale team. Only seven starters return from last year's first 22. Of those returning, punter John Lafferty made second-team all-Ivy and defensive end Rob-- ert Seizor earned honorable-mention recognition. Columbia. The Lions also got clobbered, losing 17 starters from last season, including tailback Mike Atkins, who decided not to return to school.

Columbia has two all-Ivy players in 245-pound linebacker Rory Wilfork and 270-pouni defensive end Marcellus Wiley, a tandem who will double for backfield duty in the team's goal-line offense. kick By Joe Juliano INQUIRER STAFF WRITER coach Al Bagnoli was intrigued when a student showed up athis office door one day a few yg ars ago armed with tapes and articles and a recruiting pitch about her brother. the time, Mitch Marrow was a 6-fSoM, 215-pound senior fullback and defensive end for the Bruns- Penn Quakers Coach: Al Bagnoli (33-6 in bur seasons at Penn, 1 19-25 I in 14 seasons overall). 1995: 7-3 overall, 5-2 Ivy "League. Key losses: WR Miles Macik, QB Mark DeRosa, DE Tom McGarrity, CB Kevin Allen, Nick Morris, OT Bill WR Felix Rouse, LB Joey Allen, TE Matt Tonelli, Rich Knox, Dana Lyons.

Players to watch: RB Amin Abye, DT Mitch Marrow, RB tdasen Scott, WR Mark Fabish, "OT Tom Foley, NG Chris Dsentowski, Jeremiah Greathouse, Matt Julien, 1CB Larrin Robertson, QB Steve Teodecki. Key games: Sept. 21 at Dartmouth, Nov. 9 at rinceton, Nov. 23 at Cornell.

Outlook: The loss of peRosa, a two-year starter at quarterback, to the Atlanta Braves won't hurt too much. I Jeodecki won't make as many big plays, but he won't Ihrow as many interceptions, either. The Quakers are deep -at running back but have questions at wide receiver yith Macik gone. They must ijepend on their defensive line lo counter inexperience at linebacker and in the secondary. Their kicking 'game is solid.

The Quakers Should challenge for an Ivy I title, but since they play all I their tough league games Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton, Cornell) away from home, their ability to win on the road 3vill determine whether they 'win it all. Joe Juliano figers are By Joe Juliano INQUIRER STAFF WRITER They don't call it "rebuilding" at Princeton. ie Tigers won the 1995 Ivy League championship, their first outright football crown in 31 years, but lost six players who made first-or Jecond-team all-Ivy last year, in-cEiiding league player of the year Dave Patterson. ijut coach Steve Tosches doesn't mjention the word. He doesn't want his players thinking about lowered expectations.

i always revert to the founda- tiOH and the consistency of the pro-grjm," Tosches said. "We've re- frained from talking about rebuilding in the past. We're going to Do that again." Still, the Tigers are very young. In chart released earlier this wefck, about half of the players on list were freshmen or sophomores. A total of 11 starters frolh last season graduated.

JTtie cupboard isn't najre, however. Thir Tigers have a pair of fine skill players in tailback Marc Washington (937 yards rushing last season) That it did. When he ran his 40-yard dash at preseason camp, Marrow posted a best time of 4.56 seconds, a marvelous clocking for someone his size. The off-season also had its share of perks. Along with some other Ivy players, Marrow was flown to Los Angeles for a photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine.

He posed without a shirt, in old-time shoulder pads and in casual wear, with models serving as cheerleaders. Right now, Marrow hangs out with his buddies from the defensive line 260-pound tackle Tom Foley of North Bergen, N.J., and 270-pound nose tackle Chris Osentowski of Lincoln, Neb. Asked to describe the three, Bagnoli simply said, "They're different." "I guess they probably think I'm a little bit of a pretty boy, coming from Westchester County," Marrow said. "But the three of us are the best of friends. We're as different as night and day.

If you had to describe us, Tom would be wearing the muscle shirt with the cutoff sleeves, Chns would be wearing the Corn-huskers T-shirt, and I'd be wearing the golf shirt." Starting next week at Dartmouth, the three will be wearing the red and blue of Penn as the strength of the Quakers' defense. Marrow will need to be an anchor for. a unit that has taken some hits through graduation and injury. Still, Bagnoli has high expectations for the unit, and Marrow in particular. "In time, he should be one of the most dominating defensive linemen Penn has had in a while," he said.

"He's got the total package. He's got excellent athleticism, strength, size, speed and explosiveness." Not a bad find by Rachel Marrow. McCullough, an all-Ivy choice in 1995, is the most experienced quarterback in the league and Sean Morey, the Ivy rookie of the year, is his favorite target. The Bruins' big question? Can they stop people. Linebacker Joe Karcutskie will Cornerback Greg Parker needs three interceptions to tie Brown's career record of 14 held by none other than Joe Paterno.

Cornell. If Brown has the best quarterback, Cornell has the best running back Cheltenham High graduate Chad Levitt, who has a shot at breaking the once-unreachable all-time Ivy rushing record of 4,715 yards held by Ed Marinaro. But the Big Red are searching for a quarterback, their fourth consecutive year with a new man at the helm. Defensively, linebacker John Hanson and beefy tackles Seth Payne and Mahingus Silver are the stars. Harvard.

The Crimson have a stud running back of their own in Eion Hu, who teamed with Cornell's Le building, not rebuilding, on young season because of a back injury, he started out at linebacker, then moved to tackle. "It's just so much more physical on the line," he said. "I've never been shy about the physical part. But last year, I was a little hard to coach because I didn't always listen exactly to what the coaches had to say. I did a little of my own stuff.

But I learned a lot as the season went on and found that the coaches really know what they're talking about." lie has learned a lot about technique, and has improved his physical conditioning thanks to a summer spent with Nick Morris, the Quakers' former safety and an all-Ivy player last year, while both were working in New York. "He had me up at quarter to 5 every morning to run, and then back in the gym at 5 o'clock that evening to lift weights," said Marrow, who worked as an intern at Smith Barney. "I hated him at first, but it seems like it really paid off." the only athlete in New Jersey high school history to win four individual group track titles in different events. Reed will play cornerback but may also see a snap or two at wide receiver. Though the Tigers are young, they're not lacking in talent.

"We have question marks for sure, but we also have a tradition here," Tosches said. "We set high goals and we're not afraid to work hard. Hopefully, we'll be in another pennant race." Dartmouth. With 16 of 22 starters returning, Dartmouth has rated the nod as preseason Ivy favorite in many circles. The Big Green feature a punishing ground game with Greg Smith (826 yards last season) running behind all-Ivy tackle Brian Larscn.

The defense ranked eighth nationally against the rush last season and brings back its top six tack-lers, led by linebackers Mark Abel and Zack Walz. Brown. Brown has the Ivy's most high-powered offense, having led in points scored last season. Jason and wide receiver Kevin Duffy (41 catches, nine touchdowns). Their secondary is outstanding, with cornerback Damani Leach (eight interceptions last season) joining veterans Tom Ludwig (seven interceptions in 1994) and Jimmy Archie.

The quarterback position, however, is a question mark. Tosches still wants to employ the two-quarterback system, where quarterbacks play every other series. He doesn't have a quarterback who has completed a pass in varsity competition, but he has one who has caught 14, and that's senior Brett Budzinski, who played his junior season at wi-deout after two years at quarterback. Inexperience is a problem in other areas for Princeton. Just one starter tackle Dave Maier, from Lenape High returns on the offensive line.

End Dale Bartley and linebacker Tim Greene are the only starters back from last year's front seven on defense. A young player who could provide some excitement is sophomore Royce Reed, from Bridgeton High,.