4 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 10, 1995 Dreisbach is the man for now Moeller says the redshirt freshman would start if first game was tomorrow By Darren Everson Daily Sports Editor Jason Carr opened Saturday's scrimmage by fumbling the snap from center. Recovering his own fumble only led to more misery, as line- backer Rob Swett intercepted the senior quarterback's first pass on the next play. That's not the performance Carr was looking for -not with the start- ing quarterback position up for grabs. "Yeah, he dropped the first snap," lineman Joe Marinaro said, "but at the end of the first half and the start of the second half he looked really good." Despite fumbling the snap from center once more, Carr managed to complete 5 of 7 passes for 50 yards. After hitting running back Chris Floyd on a screen and connecting on some short passes to the tight ends, Carr rolled out and hit Jeff Hall for 16 yards, his best-looking throw of the day. Even still, Scott Dreisbach emerged from the spring practice- ending scrimmage ahead of Carr and the other four signal-callers. Coach Gary Moeller said that the redshirt freshman would be his starter "if the season began tomorrow." Driesbach hit 6 of 10 passes for 57 yards on the day. He didn't do anything extraordinary, though, and Moeller isn't about to hand him the starting job. "I don't think the (quarterback is- sue) will everbe closed," Moeller said. "It won't be until we get (into) fall ball." Although Moeller wouldn't com- ment on who Driesbach's closest com- petitor is, Brian Griese played well enough to deserve that recognition. He completed 6 of 11 passes on the afternoon, good for 109 yards. Griese appeared to be at his best throwing deep. He connected with wide receiver Amani Toomer on long throws on two different occasions, one of them being a 50-yarder down the sideline. That set up a nine-yard touchdown pass to wideout Anthony Williams, his second TD throw of the day. "Amani's doing a good job for us, and I've been getting better with the timing with him," Griese said. "(The quarterback situation) is going to be kind of tense, but it's going to keep our competitive juices going." Michigan's starting quarterback in the fall will most likely come from the Carr-Dreisbach-Griese group. How- ever, three other Wolverines ran the offense during Saturday's scrimmage. Scott Loeffler, a sophomore from Barberton, Ohio, hit 4 of 5 passes for 21 yards. His best throw, a fade-pat- tern toss to wide receiver Tyrone Butterfield in the end zone, was called back, as Butterfield was flagged for interfering with Andre Weathers. Freshman Ed Kiser threw three short passes for 33 yards as he di- rected a methodical drive that ended in a missed 44-yard field goal. Colby Keefer also threw just three passes but ended up with an interception and only 17 total yards. "In (the quarterbacks') defense, there's too many of them," Moeller said. "As a quarterback, the most you'd want to compete against is one other guy. Not because you wouldn't like the other competition; there's not enough snaps." While having so many quarterbacks cuts into each player's time on the field, there was plenty of hitting to go around. "You're never going to find out what they're going to be like if you don't hit them," Moeller said. "They've got to be out there and get hit just like everybody else. "Sure there's a possibility of an injury, and the good news is, from that standpoint, we didn't get any- body banged up." So, Michigan has six quarterbacks - all of them healthy and each hav- ing his moments in Saturday's scrim- mage. With spring practice now a memory, the Wolverines' offensive leader has hardly been determined. "When you have a few (quarter- backs) in the huddle at different times, you've got different cadences, differ- ent leadership styles, it's hard to really settle on one," said tight end Jay Riemersma. "(Looking for a quarter- back) is a new thing, but historically Michigan has always had a quarter- back step up." 0 Quarterback Comparison These are the quarterback statistics from Saturday's scrimmage. Comp.-Att Brian Griese Scott Dreisbach Jason Carr Scot Loeffler Ed Kiser Colby Keefer 6-11 6-10 5-7 4-5 3-3 1t3 Yards 109 57 50 21 33 17, Ints. 0 0 1 TDs 2 0 0 0 0 0 Redshirt-freshman Scott Dreisbach completed 6-of-10 passes for 57 yards in Michigan's spring game Saturday. Six Wolverine quarterbacks combined to throw for 282 yards in the contest. New year springs refreshed attitude for upcoming season mani Toomer could easily have gone to the National Football League after last season. The Michigan wide-receiver caught 54 balls for 1096 yards in 1994, and was named first team All-Big Ten. Instead, Toomer made the decision to stay at Michigan, and, like Tyrone Wheatley before him, he's hoping that it pays off. "We really want to go back to the Rose Bowl. It's been tough the past two years with some tough breaks so we want to put it all together," he said after Saturday's spring game. "I think this is the year that we're all going to come together." No one need remind Michigan fans exactly how "tough" the past two seasons have been. The Wolverines have lost eight games in those two years - three more than in the rest of coach Gary Moeller's years at the Michigan helm combined. All that is in the past now, though, put there by yesterday's spring football game - the first glimpse of next season's squad. The Wolverines no longer have to wonder what went wrong and can again concentrate on what might be. "You can't dwell on the past and there's not much there to dwell on," senior tight-end Jay Riemersma said. Michigan already has a head start on doing things differently than last year. Instead of the same old split-the- team-into-two-and-play-a-game, the Wolverines played offense against defense and used a screwy scoring system that was overseen by the game's "Commissioner" - Moeller. The change was made because of injuries during practice, but it allowed for such unusual events as the defense picking up a point for a third-down stop outside the 30- yard line. It was a new start to a new season. RYAN WHITE White on Target season were to start tomorrow, his quarterback would be redshirt- freshman Scott Dreisbach. The season doesn't start tomorrow, though; it begins Aug. 26 against Virginia, and a lot could happen between now and then. The other worry for Moeller is in the secondary where he lost Ty Law to the NFL. The Wolverines are looking to use a more aggressive defensive scheme this season which will put more pressure on their defensive backs that were susceptible to big plays last season. Problems aside, Michigan has switched focuses. Forgotten are losses to Colorado, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State. They've been replaced by Toomer's visions of Roses. It's easy to be cynical about all the. talk of new attitudes and the team finally coming together. Two years ago Michigan came into the season talking National Championship - then lost to Notre Dame. Last season the Wolverines returned their Rose Bowl goal, only to drop three Big Ten games. But it's a new spring, a new season, a new team and it's nice to hear a positive outlook for the year ahead. And while Toomer's Rose Bowl talk sounds like famous last words - you couldn't expect any less or want any more from any of the Wolverines as they look toward another season. "It's always nice to start from scratch after a season like last," senior offensive guard Joe Marinaro said. "This spring everyone seems a little more enthusiastic." Ask anyone around the team and they'll tell you the exact same thing. Two weeks ago Moeller said that the team's attitude this spring is the best that it has been in two or three years. None of that talk, however, should hide the fact that there are still some major question marks surrounding this football team. The biggest is still who will replace last season's quarterback Todd Collins. According to Moeller, if the EVAN PETRIE/Daily Sophomore Chris Floyd rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries Saturday. The Wolverines' No. 1 tailback, Tshimanga Blakabutuka, sat out the game with a knee injury. He'll be ready for the Virginia game, Aug. 26. FOOTBALL Continued from page 1 Williams on a nine-yard scoring play less than five minutes into the third. That score came just two downs after Griese hooked up with All-American candidate Amani Toomer on a play that covered 50 yards to the Blue 15- yard line. Carr got off to a rocky beginning after getting the nod from Moeller to start. The fifth-year senior looked like the Jason Carr of a year ago, when he was 2-of-8 for 10 yards with one inter- ception. He fumbled the first snap from cen- ter and had his first pass picked off by linebacker Rob Swett. The Wolverines went three-and-out on his second se- ries and Carr began the third set of downs by fumbling his second of only six snaps. To his credit, he rebounded nicely to finish 5-of-7 for 50 yards with the one interception. Overall, Michigan fin- ished a combined 25-of-39 for 282 yards and two touchdowns and three interceptions. "I thought that Dreisbach and Griese played pretty well," tight end Jay Riemersma said. "When we were in there, Dreisbach took us down on one drive and showed pretty good leader- ship." Unfortunately for Michigan, the defensive unit brought back memo- ries of the squad a year ago that surrendered a school-record 268 points. The Blue allowed 385 yards of total offense Saturday. "I was a little disappointed in our defense,"Moellersaid. "We took some of our starters out, but I would have liked to see it be a lower scoring game than it was." With Tshimanga Biakabutuka and Ed Davis out because of inju- ries, sophomores Chris Floyd and Chris Howard got the bulk of the carries out of the backfield. Both backs rushed 17 times, with Floyd gaining 80 yards and Howard net- ting 44 yards. Floyd also caught five passes for 25 yards. "Our running-back situation could be healthy," Moeller said. "We just don't want to bang guys up. I'd love to put two tailbacks in the backfield at some time." . The 1995 Wolverine football schedule Aug. 26 Sept. 2 Sept. 9 Sept. 16 Sept. 30 Oct. 7 PIGSKIN CLASSIC vs. Virginia at Illinois MEMPHIS at Boston College MIAMI OF OHIO NORTHWESTERN White 45,Blue 44 Offensive statistics (White) I RUSHING: Chris Floyd, 17-80; Chris Howard, 17-44; George Howell, 6-13; Tom Mondry, 5-13; Brian Griese, 2+7); Scot Loefler, 2-(18); Jason Carr, 7-(-22). 01 . > _ >:«: Nom: