Iowa Will Get Serious About Basking In The Sun

The Iowa Hawkeyes have arrived in El Paso, Texas, but football coach Hayden Fry says it will be Sunday before he starts seriously trying to prepare his team to face Washington in the Sun Bowl.

After a fast start and some tough times in midseason, Iowa won its last two games to win an invitation to the bowl. Fry is rewarding his players by letting them have some fun before preparations begin in earnest.

“This team began the year well and then struggled for about three games midway through the schedule,” Fry said. “But they came back and finished the season well and I’m confident we’ll be ready for Washington.”

When the Iowa plane arrived Thursday, Fry led another large contingent of Texans into El Paso: 17 players and three coaches have roots in Texas.

Fry is originally from Odessa, 285 miles to the east.That time we had big expectations and didn’t live up to them. But, you know, we’re a lot more focused now,” Shaw said.

Weather puts damper on Nittany Lions

Three days in Florida preparing for the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day have left Penn State players and their coach disappointed for different reasons.

The players, leaving behind stormy weather, had hoped for sun and warmth in Clearwater, Fla., and their coach had hoped to get more accomplished.

“I think we brought the weather down with us,” Stephen Pitts said. “I was looking at the weather report before I left on Sunday and it was in the 80s down there. I get here on Tuesday and it’s in the 40s.”

The cool weather has prevented the players from enjoying the beach.

Coach Joe Paterno, while rooting for warmer weather, said he was more concerned with his team’s performance on the practice field.

“We’re way behind where we should be at this stage,” Paterno said. “I don’t think we’ve ever been as far behind at this stage of any bowl game I’ve been involved in. Hopefully, we can make it up and get into a position to be competitive against Auburn.”

Cats are champions of breakfast

Moses had quite a bandwagon with which to contend, but apparently that was nothing compared to the excitement surrounding Northwestern football. The Wildcats even rate a Wheaties box, perhaps this era’s ultimate symbol of athletic arrival.

And now Charlton Heston himself, of “The (Big) Ten Commandments” fame, will lead Northwestern into the promised land. He intends to turn the Red Sea purple, and then part the waters.

Meanwhile, the mayors of Evanston, Ill., and Los Angeles placed a bet on the Northwestern-USC Rose Bowl Jan. 1, wagering ribs against enchilada dinners.

Earlier this week, Wheaties announced it will sell a special edition package to commemorate the team’s conference championship.

The Wheaties box, due in Chicago-area stores by New Year’s Day, will feature Wildcats helmets and a written salute. Northwestern is only the second college team to be honored by Wheaties, following defending national champion Nebraska earlier this year.

But clearly, it is Heston who truly captures the spirit of the Wildcats. One of the school’s most famous graduates, Heston will reprise his most celebrated role at Universal Studios next Thursday.

If only he could part the USC defense.

Boise State-Fresno State game set

Boise State will travel to California for a Nov. 2 football game against Fresno State of the Western Athletic Conference.

That replaces a game Boise State had scheduled at Pacific, until Pacific dropped its football program.

Athletic director Gene Bleymaier said Fresno State will play at Boise in 2000. Boise State will play at Fresno State in 2002 and the final game in the four-game contract will be at Bronco Stadium on Sept. 13, 2003.

The two schools have played twice before, with Fresno State winning both.

Boise State has a 12-game schedule for 1996, which will be its first year as a member of the Big West Conference and playing at the Division I-A level instead of the Division I-AA Big Sky Conference.

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