If you`re looking for anything fancy, don`t look inside Memorial Stadium in Champaign Saturday.
Defending Big 10 champion Michigan State meets Big 10 co-leader Illinois in a game that could prove either that the Spartans (1-4-1, 1-1-1) may yet rise from the ashes or that the Illini (4-2, 3-0) should indeed be taken seriously.
”Michigan State is a real basic team, they`ve got a real basic scheme about going at things,” said Illinois nose tackle Mo Gardner. ”I just think it`s their execution, how they perform, how they hustle and their desire to win that makes them such a good team. I think we have to go out there and hit hard and try to be a better basic football team than they are. They`re not real fancy and neither are we.”
”You look at the film, you see the way (the Illini) play. They`re playing the way it`s supposed to be played,” Spartans coach George Perles said. ”There aren`t any extras. They`re playing the game hard and tough, still they`re playing it within the rules and they`re playing it with class.” Michigan State`s 36-3 win over Northwestern last week was the Spartans`
first victory since the 1988 Rose Bowl. But they had just emerged from a four- week stretch during which they had played Notre Dame, Florida State, Michigan and Iowa.
”Our problem`s not any secret,” Perles said. ”We had not put enough points on the board. We did not throw the ball well, we didn`t catch the ball well. Those things hurt us in close losses.”
The Illini, on the other hand, have yet to beat a team with a winning record. But they`ve played good defense, too, giving up 18 points in three Big 10 games.
”They like to play it close,” said Illini coach John Mackovic. ”They don`t try to get into many games where the score gets mounted very high. They play for field position, for breaks and turnovers.
”Being Big 10 champions and Rose Bowl champions, people came after them a little harder. They`ve had to really face the charge every Saturday.”
Both teams pride themselves on their defense against the run. If Illinois has an edge, it`s in quarterback Jeff George, a 58 percent passer, and his stable of receivers. He has found as many as nine different receivers a game. The Spartans` Bobby McAllister is only a 45 percent passer, but if he gets the ball in wide receiver Andre Rison`s hands, look out. Rison caught four passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern, setting a Michigan State record for career receiving yardage with 2,395. That snapped the record held by Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson.
