Thy, AAinh;r(,m i rNnihl 40 Thijo inv S, ntpmhspr 0 90 0 0 -W Thursday, September 6, 2001-] 14Cf~ - I ne iVIrnIgdll uanyI - xl'..rr zvvi- rurui. y, OPLIIUU , Lie a k r x e tdto lead defense _ :~k}.a"r"'i .; ,o.t. , '~ 'v Gameday ESPN College Football analyst Kzr w-ih Daily Spor -Edtor on7at M./ia s- c7ncs teB n ra By Jeff Phillips Daily Sports Editor While most of the Michigan defense struggled last year with inexperience and injuries, the heart of the defense - the line- backers -- remained intact. The linebacking corps of Eric Brackins, 2000 All-Big Ten selection Larry Foote and Victor Hobson led the defense in almost every statistical cate- gory, including tackles for loss and sacks. Now with another year of experience, the trio of Brackins, Foote and Hobson will be leading a Wolverines' defense that has high expectations. "We've got a lot of guys back and we are definitely going to be the strength of the team," Foote said. The reason that Michigan's defense is believed to be the strength of the team is not a secret - it's because of the sensational play of the linebackers last season and the hype surrounding them this year. In their preview issues, both Lindy's and Athlon magazines rank the Michigan line- backers as the No. 1 unit in the nation. Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr praised his talented trio during his media day press conference. "Larry Foote Jr. is back for his last year, and he has developed into an outstanding football player. He and Victor Hobson both finished the year very well," Carr said. "I think both will provide good leadership." Although the high expectations are some- times too obvious to ignore, the players remained focused in their goals for the sea- son. "It is exciting, but we try not to focus on (the hype) too much," Brackins, a senior co- captain, said. "What takes place on the field is what matters."- In order to prove their worth, the lineback- ers have to help the defense improve upon the 19.1 points and 389.9 yards per game allowed last season -- especially with the question marks on the other side of the ball. "That experience, with the ups and downs, is what you are going to get in football sea- son, but you just have to keep coming out and playing consistently hard," Brackins said. "That's what I've learned here at Michigan - no matter how bad things go, as long as you keep coming out and playing your hardest, that's what is important and things will change." The Wolverines especially struggled with the spread offense. Michigan dropped games to Northwestern and Purdue after bl-owing 18-point leads in each game. "Last year we had a lot of trouble with the wide-open offense and that hurt us a little bit. We concentrated on that in the offseason so we are ready to go after it," Foote said. "There are a lot more teams going to the wide-open offense - you've got to be ready for it." -Beyond potential All-Big Ten selections Brackins, Foote and Hobson, Michigan has depth at linebacker. Sophomores Carl Diggs, Larry Stevens, Alain Kashama and Shantee Orr each started at some point last season. The unit will also be bolstered by the return of seniors Anthony Jordan and Evan Coleman.. "We've got quality depth (at linebacker), and that's one of the reasons why I'm excit- ed about the potential of this defense," Carr said. That depth has already been tested in the first game of the season, when both Brackins and Foote went down with injuries. Diggs and Kaufman stepped in and played well in replacement. Each has a tackle-for-loss and Diggs got the first of Michigan's three inter- ceptions. As per his policy, Carr was mum on the injuries to Foote and Brackins. "I don't know what will transpire. It is day-to-day for now," Carr said. "Zach Kaufman stepped in there and did a really nice job for us and Carl Diggs was there again. "We have gotten young linebackers some experience, but we are a banged-up football team." Orr also played well, recording blocked extra point on the first Miami (Ohio) touch- down. MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily John Navarre has a new job title - he's Michigan's starting quarterback. Naare assumes Q d e fe FILE PHOTO Junior linebacker Victor Hobson is expected to be one of the anchors of the Michigan defense this fall. By Arun Gopal Daily Sports Writer Michigan football is known for a few things -- strong defense, a power run- ning game, and middling special teams. Superstar quarterbacks are conspicu- ously absent from this list, and for good reason. Although Michigan has sent a number of signal-callers to the NFL - including Jim Harbaugh, Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins and Brian Griese - the school is still not considered a haven for the for- ward pass. That changed a bit last year, with the emergence of Drew Henson as a bona fide star. Henson directed one of the most prolific offenses in school history, as the Wolverines rolled up over 400 yards per game and broke the 30-point barrier on multiple occasions. Granted, Henson benefited from the presence of All-America wide receiver David Terrell, stud tailback Anthony Thomas and three offensive linemen who were NFL draft picks. But Henson still demonstrated consid- erable ability and appeared to be a Heisman Trophy frontrunner for this season. With Henson's somewhat surprising decision to leave school in favor of the New York Yankees' organization, Michigan was sent back to square one at football's most important position - who would take over at quarterback? Enter soohomore John Navarre. When Henson missed the first three games last year with an injury, Navarre filled in capably, leading Michigan to a pair of home wins and tossing seven touchdown passes in the process. Once Henson returned, Navarre promptly resumed his prior role as a clipboard caddy, but this year he is the undisputed starting quarterback. See NAVARRE, Page 15C The Michigan Daily: Di you think John Navarre's ready? Do you anticipate a controversy? Kirk Herbstreit: At this point, I don't see a controversy yet. It's his job - I think he needs to go out and play well and if there's any contro- versy brewing, he can put an end to it by going out and putting up some numbers. I know that any time you look at Michigan's offense over the years, they're most dangerous when they have a quarterback that's multi- dimensional and John Navarre reminds me so much of a Todd Collins or an Elvis Grbac type and they've had successful years.... with that type of quarterback as well, so we'll just have to wait and see how things play out. But the fact that he has game experience gives him a huge advan- tage over any of the other quarterbacks. TMD: The defense, is it as good as people are saying? It seems like just a year has passed since it was one of the weakest Michigan defenses in his- tory. KH: To me, the Michigan defense hasn't been a Michigan defense since the '97 season. That's three years now that they have not been the kind of defense that you expect from them. I think it all has to do with the cor- nerback. Since they lost Andre Weathers and Charles Woodson, they've had undersized corners - guys like James Whitley and Todd Howard. I remember being at a game in East Lansing and Plaxico Burress went up against Whitley and just went up and over him. TI tried to put David Terrell on him a he couldn't stop him. I hear people saying they're go: to be better. I know the front seve going to be better but I think they going to need to see the corners p at a higher level. If you look at their pass defense they weren't last last year in p defense, then they were proba 10th. The passing-efficiency defe could not have been ranked v highly. You could also blame some of t on the pass rush. I don't know h many sacks they came up with bi don't think it was among the lead in the conference. It's a two-way street. It's not 1 you can have great corners and average pass rush and have gr pass defense. You have to get pr sure on a quarterback to give the cornerbacks a chance to make pla Maybe this year we'll see so more pressure on the quarterbacks make the lives of those corners a easier. And, you get Cato June healt and even though he's not a corner, can help out with leadership. I think the linebackers are so] with Brackins andsHobson. The three areyas good as anyone int conference. TMD: True or false: Michigat offensive line, young or old, w~ always be strong? KIT: I think anyone who follo the Big.Ten would say that Michig - every' year - has a disciplir, offensive line, an athletic offensi line. These guys are good looks] offensive linemen. 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