*eedsters How many yards will Justin Fargas return home with. Is the A-Train lead- ing the way? How is freshman Chris Perry shaping up? Check on-line for Michigan's rushing leaders. iti higandaily .com /sports R--rr-S TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2000 11: Mum on B r enson, Carr praises his star backup By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports Editor Peanut butter and jelly, sour cream and onion, cOntroversy and quarterback - they all come hand in hand. And while coach Lloyd Carr insists he knows which QB will be the eventual starter this season, he remained vague on the subject at his Monday luncheon. "He's making progress." Carr said. "When Drew Henson is ready, he's the starting quarter- back." A reporter then asked. "Will he be ready?" "Well, I don't know. I honestly don't know," Carr said. "I haven't seen him today." Carr did give a short Henson health update. "He can walk. Last Wednesday, he couldn't throw because you push off the right foot. If you get back in the pocket and you've got to move and you've got to scramble, you've really got to Oxert pressure on that injury Believe me, I don't think he knows and I certainly donut know." Henson said on Saturday that he started jog- ging, and hopes to test the foot this week. If Henson doesn't start, redshirt freshman John Navarre will again guide the offense. Navarre, who had superior protection and all dv to throw against Bowling Green, wasn't as fortunate against Rice. The signal caller was hit several times, but showed poise in the pocket, and even some mobility. On one play, as one of Michigan's blockers missed their assignment. Navarre sidestepped Rice linebacker Jeff Vanover and quickly con- nected on a five-yard pass to tight end Bennie Joppru. "His poise has been incredible." senior offen- sive lineman Jeff Backus said. "I don't think anyone would have thought he would have played as well as he has." Despite his impressive seven touchdowns and zero interceptions, Navarre had a little trouble in his accuracy on Saturday. Thankfully for the Wolverines. Marquise 7Walker and David Terrell caught some clutch passes.and Navarre's numbers show it (he's completed 25-of-34 passes). "After watching the tape I think the thing I am very impressed with was that our receivers did a tremendous job catching the football," Carr Fife, others to leave Indiana after firing BRAD QUINN/'Daly Michigan coach Lloyd Carr praised the play of backup quarterback John Navarre (16), but said he was.still unclear on the status of injured starter Drew Henson. Point guard won't rule out Michigan, father says From Staff and Wire Reports The post-Bob Knight era at Indiana began yesterday in a style one might expect from the Hall of Fame coach himself: an ultimatum. Players demanded that assistant coaches Mike Davis and John Treloar be retained and that one of them be hired as interim coach. Otherwise, center Kirk Haston said, there would be "serious repercussions." "I'd say we'd have several guys leave. I couldn't put a specific number, but several would leave," Haston said. "If they want to keep this team togeth- er, they'll give us some support, and that means they'll keep coach Treloar and coach Davis here." Athletic director Clarence Doninger said he has asked Davis and Treloar to stay, although not necessarily as the interim coach. Doninger also said he already has received calls from "a number of people" - whom he would not identify - interested in the head coaching job. One player, junior guard Dane Fife, said he has decided to transfer - at Knight's urging. - "because there's no reason for me to be here with what's going on and how we've been treated." Fife might find an opening at Michigan, since the Wolverines' star guard was dismissed one week ago.: Fife considered playing for Michigan three years ago when he was a senior and his father Dan and his brother Dugan both played and captained the Wolverines. "I don't know if Dane is planning on transferring or not, but if he is, Michigan is certainly not out of the picture," Dan Fife said. Another, freshman swingman A.J. Move, said he likely would leave, too, and lashed out at university president Myles Brand, who fired Knight a day earlier. "I just feel like the whole adminis- tration, this whole school is screwed said. Michigan will need those types of catches at UCLA, where Navarre won't have a friendly home crowd behind him. "He's going to face noise," Carr said. "le's going to face an eruption of noise when he gets sacked or when he makes a bad throw. He's going to be up against a much more intense football team from a standpoint of the speed that is created when the ball is snapped." SITREOTYPEs: What does the Pac-10 think of the Big Ten? "Big, slow, run the ball a lot,' junior Hayden Epstein said. And as for the Pac-10, the feeling around the Midwest is that it's a conference struggling to succeed after last season. But this year the Pacific tides have changed backed by impressive wins in the first two weeks by UCLA (over Alabama). Southern Cal (over Colorado and Penn State), and Washington (over national championship contender Miami). "I'll tell you the Pac-10 has played as well as anv conference in the country. I've been tremen- dously impressed. I don't think anyone is going to be dominant. You're going to have some down years. Just recently you can remember when people were saying that the Big Ten could not '.' compete nationally and couldn't win a national championship. I think the Pac-10 maybe they just had a bad vear."- TitE TRAvi..: Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is keeping his players under wraps on the trip to UCLA. There won't be any Beverly Hills par- ties, or lazy days at the beach.Michigan leaves on Friday, just a day before the game. Carr will also keep his players on Eastern Standard 'ime to avoid jet la,. "We're going to trV and stay on Eastern Time as much as possible. We're going to be tired. We're going to go to bed on Eastern time and we're oiiig to try to slav to our routine as best we can. Carr said that the temperature printouts he's received show that it has been very hot in Pasadena.- "I don't knoxV if the heat is different but I believe Alabama wore down a little bit in their dame two weeks aco." Carr said. INJi tRN IPDTIL: Tight end Shawn Thompson, who injured his knee acainst Bowline Green had surcerv today. Carr said the surcerv was suc- cessful Thompson, though, will not play the rest of the season. Senior defensive lineman Jake lrysin:er, seen in a cast on Saturday, is consid- ered "day-to-day" by Carr. Dane Fife says he will leave Indiana, but has not announced where he'll go. up, basically,' Moye said "We were lied to, we were deceived and now it's over, all because people wanted coach out. They got their way. I hope they're happy. ... I hope they're just dancing somewhere happy. Twelve players lives are never going to be the same because of them." Other players said they would wait to see what Doninger decides about a new coach. "If things work out the way we want it, we'll stay," sophomore forward George Leach said. "We are ready to go if they don't meet our demands. Indiana will not have a team.". Haston said he would like to talk again with Knight, who met with the players Sunday night. "This is still his team, and I'll do anything he says he wants me to do," laston said. Knight's son, Pat, an assistant coach, said his father likely will coach somewhere else, and he would go witi him. "I'm out of here. I wouldn't stav ii this place after the way they treated my' father," Pat Knight said. "There's no way" " a,3 .;- 4.w. r@a Fwd...'!. A:e. x sE K=.g rocMAW