A& i Aft Ailk AOL AOL 1 .1 2 M 12 - The Michigan Daily - Kickoff '99 - Thursday, September 9, 1999 9 Thursday, September 9, 1999 - They're among the best in the country. They average more than 290 pounds apeice. When they're at their best, they're Michigan's ... .NVISIBLE By Rick Freeman Daily Sports Editor ..................................................... ....................................................................................... B i;t T T )T I -1 'Tis the questionthat Lloyd Carr has dealt with since the Citrus Bowl victory last Jalluary. Do you jo with the steady se}ior or the sophomore with unl }i}ited poteiltial? The aBswer will Boa lon Dway toward tellitOrMichigan's fortunes. By T.J. Berka N Daily Sports Editor The roar increased with every player he bumped into, every yard he ate up. He barreled, head down into a pile of men, shrugged them aside, and elduded a second pair of hands. When he was finally brought down, the Michigan Stadium crowd was on its feet, cheering a 35- yard run by Michigan tailback Anthony Thomas. Few, if any, were looking back upfield, where a mountain of a man lifted himself off the grass. He tested his foot. Ow! He took a step, trying to put as few of his 296 pounds on his foot as possible. Still hurt. The crowd's roar was dying down, students began throwing marshmal- lows again. They could just feel a touchdown coming. Steve Hutchinson felt pain. He limped to catch up with his teammates, pooling off into a huddle. No one, it seemed saw him. No one ever sees him. Steve Hutchinson is an offensive lineman, a big kid who can hit and stay invisible. He wants to stay invisi- ble. An offensive linemen in the spot- light is usually a bad thing. TV com- mentators cluck their tongues and draw their telestrator lines when line- seems. But pay careful attention to the anonymous men in the middle this year. No talk of Michigan's suspect secondary, or chitchat about who's taking snaps (... can you name Michigan's center?) can change one unassailable truth: Michigan's offen- sive line can be the root of all their success,e or the center of their failure. Unlike some areas of the game, this one simply can't be ignored. "I think they really can set the tone for the entire season," said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr before practice began in August. The same can be said of any team's offensive line. It's an automatic issue.. Football at its very essence is lines. Each play starts on one imaginary line, with a more tangible line as its aim. A football team is at its heart one very tangible line. Five invisible men - who together would tax the haul- ing capacity of a small pickup truck - hit, pound and grind on each play that they might remain unseen. Together, Michigan's offensive line is 1,472 pounds of beef. And utterly invisible. This is the strength of the offensive line - mistakes get noticed, success Last year, Michigan's ground game averaged 118.8 yards per contest. On a team where the forward pass some- times seems an endangered species, this was no good. This year, with a shortage of expe- rienced running backs, Michigan's offensive line will have to open holes a little wider, protect Drew Henson and Tom Brady a little longer. As the season wears on, little atten- tion gets paid to offensive linemen unless one in particular has sheer attention-grabbing bulk. Unless there's an Aaron Gibson or an Orlando Pace on the line, these guys tend to stay below the radar of most fans. Which is usually good - the line is an issue usually left alone unless the quarterback spends too much time on his back. Because their job - as a unit - is so complicated and so crucial, experi- enced offensive lines tend to fare bet- ter. Offensive lines are mechanical, choreographed pieces of machinery - some parts are intercahngeable, some aren't. The good ones are made up of players who have played togeth- er with each other for a long time. "It's a bunch of guys who are a lot alike. We've got a few southerners on the line, a couple of rednecks," said Frazier, a native o f AJ Ia DANA IUNNANE/Daily If Anthony Thomas or Tom Brady make a good play, everyone sees it. If Michigan's offensive line - one of the best in the country - executes to per- fection, it stays invisible. But they can be seen at work below. Competition is a normal thing on a football team. Every position has two or three guys who go through the punishment and rigor of preseason practice, hoping to finally emerge as 'the man.' These competitions are immensely important in how a team will per- form in the season. Each position has equal importance in the development and effectiveness of the team. But not all position battles are treated the same. While the starting center, left cornerback, and outside linebacker are all key, none of those positions have the appeal of a com- petition at quarterback. And Michigan certainly has a quarterback competition. On one hand is Tom Brady. A fifth-year senior from San Mateo, Calif., Brady comes across as a laid- back 'Hang 10' dude. For the most part, Brady is mellow. But when times have been tough in his Michigan career, Brady has shown the toughness needed to be a big-time college quarterback. Brady "took charge out there," fullback Aaron Shea said. "He is the senior and is always in control last year. He wasn't going to be stopped." The battle-tested fifth-year senior, Brady finally got his shot at the quarterback position last season. Brady performed admirably, com- pleting 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,636 yards in leading the Wolverines to a 10-3 record and Citrus Bowl victory. "Brady is a battler," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "He knows how to play, he knows what he's doing out there and he commands the respect of his teammates." In most situations, that would be enough for Carr to give Brady the job, no questions asked. But Carr has an ace up his sleeve, a sophomore phenom named Drew Henson. Henson is what one would call an all-American boy. He set high school records in football and in baseball in Brighton, a town 15 minutes north of s - Kingwood, Texas said. "Heck, I'd even call Ben Mast a Southerner, and he's from Ohio." When your success means you get ignored, it's easy to come together fast. That bond is vital to an offensive line. Each player has to know where his teammates will be, and what he'll be doing. It's a back-of-the-mind kind of knowledge. While their conscious deals with flattening the onrushing defender, their subconscious knows what their teammates are doing, and whether turning a defender left or right will help more. The offensive lineman finds glory in the places people don't look. Success is tough to find on paper, but if you're at a game you can see it. Just watch the guy pick- ing himself up after the big run. men miss blocks and let the quarter- is unseen. And a good offensive line, back get sacked. When running like the one Michigan has this sea- games falter, the offensive line is to son, is the strength of any good blame. team. A run like Thomas' is purely his. At They have some catching least, that's up to do. how it THE RESERVES: Jonathan Goodwin (6-4, 290), Maurice Williams (6-5, 297), Adam Adkins (6-3, 295), Todd Mossa (6-3 296), Joe Denay (6-7, 291) campus. He also was a starter on the Brighton basketball team, an honors student and a third-round draft pick of the New York Yankees. "Henson is one of 'the most intriguing talents I have ever seen," Carr said. So with that, the battle lines were drawn. The game-toughened veteran versus the youngster with unlimited potential. The West Coast versus the Midwest. And Carr loves every minute of it. "I wish I had this problem every year," Carr said. "They are both great people. Their teammates respect them, their coaches respect them, and they are both handsome as well." While Carr - and various girls on campus - may be in heaven when thinking about the Michigan quarter- backs - there is some concern on how the two-headed quarterback dilemma should be dealt with. Should the Wolverines choose one and go with him? Or should they play them both? And how will Brady and Henson react to whatever deci- sion is made? While Carr leaves everyone in the dark about the first two questions, Henson and Brady seem to be sup- portive of whatever decision he finally makes. "I do want to play, don't get me wrong," Henson said. "But Tom is a very good quarterback and we are in good hands either way. Besides, when you are a backup you are just one play from starting." Despite the competition that is going on, Brady and Henson are friends off the field. Both quarterbacks grew up in the San Francisco area, making the 49ers the team of choice for both. Both players grew up idolizing Joe Montana and tried to pattern their games after him as kids. "We talk about the 49ers a lot," Brady said. "I think they have a shot to be pretty good this season. I grew up in the Bay Area and loved watch- ing Joe Montana." "Joe Montana was my favorite player," Henson said. "I idolized him as a kid and wanted to be just like him." Baseball is also a popular topic of conversation among the signal- callers. While Henson pocketed a $2 mil- lion signingabonus when he signed with the Yankees last summer, he ., Tom Brady will be hard to unseat. Brady Big Ten co-championship, and a 45-31 C isn't the only baseball player on the Michigan football team. Brady was an 18th-round draft pick of the Montreal Expos out of high school. While he has given up his baseball career, he doesn't neces- sarily give the title of the team's best baseball player to Henson. "He's good, but I'm not bad myself," Brady said with a wry smile. "Actually, he would be better if he played for anyone but the Yankees - like the Giants for instance." Even though they may root for dif- ferent baseball teams, that doesn't prevent Henson and Brady from talk- ing about other things. But while the signal-callers talk- ing about everything from sports to class to other worldly issues, there is one subject which neither quarter- back would touch with a 10-foot pole. "We never talk about the competi- tion," Henson said. "Tom and I go over strategy and things like that, but we just don't discuss the quarterback race." Their teammates discuss Henson and Brady quite a bit. No, they don't debate which one is better. They just spout off to all who will listen about how good both of them are. "I feel comfortable with both of them in the huddle," guard Steve Hutchinson said. "They both come into the huddle in complete control of the situation. When they talk, we listen." In the opening game victory over DANA UNNANE/Daily ... Drew Henson has all the makings of a Michigan star. Henson is 6-foot-5, has a rocket arm, and also plays minor league baseball for the New York Yankees.