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6B - The Michigan Daily - KICKOFF 2002 - Thursday, September 5, 2002

The Michigan Daily - KIcKOFF 2002 -

The strong, silent type:
Hob son leads Michigan

2001 SEASON STATISTICS

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS

Projected de
Western

Team Stats MICH
First Downs 228
Rushes/Yards 480/1716
Passing Yards 2595
Offensive Plays 883
Total Offense 4311
Return Yards 1255
Comp/Att/Int 216/403/14
Punts/Avg 77/38.8
Fumbles/Lost 23/11
Penalties/Yards 65/484
Time of Poss/Game 30:04

OPP
192
428/1069
2752
847
3821.
1363
231/419/11
92/38.7
20/8
89/754
29:56

On both offense and defense,

Michigans depth is key

23 Perry
5 Underwood TB
SE
9 Butler 7
or 80 Edwards

:
;~

By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Editor

When fifth-year senior outside
linebacker Victor Hobson speaks to
the media, he remains low-key and
reserved, a stark contrast to his
powerful, aggressive play on the
field. Hobson's teammates
acknowledged their respect for his
lead-by-example nature by naming
Hobson one of the co-captains for
this season.
In receiving the honor, Hobson
remained low-key.
"I am excited that my teammates
look at me in that way," Hobson
said. "I told my parents and they
were definitely a lot more excited*
than I was."
He has played in every game of
his college career, starting in 26 of
his 36 appearances. He also has
impressive speed for a linebacker,
exemplified by his 178 career tack-
les and 30 tackles for loss (nine
sacks).
While his numbers speak for
themselves, does Hobson have what
it takes to be the leader of the
defense and the next great Michigan
linebackers? Though not known for
giving high praise, Michigan coach;
Lloyd Carr didn't hesitate with his1
opinion on Hobson.
"I think that Hobson is a worthy
preseason (All-America) candidate1
if he continues to improve, he'll
leave here as one of the really good

linebackers we've had," Carr said.
Carr isn't alone in his praise for
the senior. Nearly every national
preseason magazine has put Hobson
as an All-Big Ten and All-America
candidate. But Hobson also has
high expectations for himself and
tries to ignore the preseason hype.
"It's something that we see but
our goals are set high enough any-
way. Any ranking that they throw
out at us doesn't surprise me
though," Hobson said. "I just try to
live up to my own expectations."
As a leader, Hobson will be
needed to fill the vacancy left after
the departure of inside linebacker
Larry Foote.
"Larry Foote was a great leader
both on and off the field and he
was a good friend of mine who
taught me a lot," Hobson said. "So
now that I'm one of the oldest of
the linebackers, I need to assume
that role."
His foUl years at Michigan have
prepared Hobson to take over that
role. He has learned from the likes
of Sam Sword, Dhani Jones, Ian
Gold and Foote - all of whom
reached the NFL.
"Coming in and watching them
you learn a lot, more than you
think, especially when you are a
freshman," Hobson said. "But the
next year you can tell you learned a
lot from just being around them.
"I'm looking down at (the
younger players) and trying to help

M I C H I G A N

D ANY VL'-
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr believes senior linebacker and co-captain Victor
Hobson could be one of Michigan best ever.

PASSING
Player
Navarre
Gonzales
Walker, M.
Cross
Briton
Totals 2
RUSHING
Player
Askew
Perry
Bell
Cross
Underwood
Walker
Gonzales
Bellamy
Navarre
Totals
RECEIVING
Player
Walker
Seymour
Askew
Bell
Joppru
Bellamy
Perry
Butler-
Thompson
Edwards
Dubuc
Gonzales
Rosel
Totals
PUNTING
Player
Epstein
Finley
Navarre
Totals

Att
199
129
15
34
31
4
10
2
49
480
No.
86
27
26
21
17
14
8
4
4
3
3
2
216

them out like the older guys did for
me."
With the loss of Foote and Eric
Brackins, Hobson will have plenty
of chances to pass along his knowl-
edge as he will be joined by Zach
Kaufman and Carl Diggs at line-
backer, both new full-time starters.
Despite the loss of experience, Hob-
son doesn't believe that there will
be any decrease in performance
from his fellow linebackers.
"I'm not worried about any
dropoff without Larry," Hobson
said. "We always have high expecta-
tions about the position, so I know

C-A
207-385
7-13
1-2
1-1
0-1
216-403-14

these guys will come in here and do
the job well."
In the first game against Wash-
ington, Hobson showed he is worthy
of the preseason publicity by lead-
ing Michigan in tackles with nine
- eight of which were solo - and
helping the Wolverines stymie the
Huskies' rushing attack.
But Michigan was still vulnerable
to short-drop passes and will need
to learn to stop it in order to reach
its goal of the Big Ten title.
With Hobson's leadership on
defense, the Wolverines just might
do it.

Yds
902
495
1 6
12E
108
29
21
11
-118t
2021
Yds
1143
279
236
236
118
252
49
99
37
38
28
71
9
2595
No.
71
4
77

Yds
2435
88
51
21
0
2595
Avg
4.5
3.8
9 11.3
3.7
1 3.5
9 7.3
1 2.1
5.5
B -2.4
3.6
Avg
13.3
10.3
 9.1
i 11.2
t 6.9
18.0
6.1
I 24.8
9.3
12.7
9.3
35.5
S 9.0
12.0
Yds
2790
173
22
2985
s Avg
39 21.3
'. 20.0
8 9.0
9 9.0
3 18.0
9 19.0
6 16.0
'7 19.6
s Avg
3 9.0
3 11.2
8 4.0
3 43.0
2 12.0
9 9.0
0 0.0
8 18.0
9 10.4

TD
19
0
0
0
20
Lg
30
303
28
11
20
18
19
19
14
30
Lg
47
34
41
47
19
53
16
77
13
16
17
51
9
77
Avg
39.3
43.3
22.0
38.8
Lg
57
28
9
9
16
19
16
57
Lg.
42
32
8
43
12
9
0
18
43

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KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No.
Howard 22
Jackson 6
Moundros 2
Orr 1
Drake 1
Curry, J. 1
Perry 1
Totals 34
PUNT RETURNS
Player. No.
Walker 23
Curry. J. 19
Bellamy 2
Jackson 1
Jordan 1
Kaufman 1
Curry. M. 1
Butler 1
Totals 49 1
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Player
Foote
Hobson
Drake
June
Brackins
Jackson
Diggs
Howard
Orr
LeSueur
Heuer
Rumishek
Williams
Stevens
Bowman
Shaw
Lazarus
Curry, M.
Frysinger
Manning
Spytek
Curry, J.

Yd
469
121
18
ii
16
Yds
206
213
11
12
0
509
61
57
49
36
35
31
35
28
26
2'
17
15
13
14

int
13
0
1
0
14
TD
10
2
3
2
1
0
0
O
0
18
TD
11
0
2
1
1
2
0
0
0
20
Lg
59
54
22
59
TD
TO
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
TD
0
TO
.0"
1
0
0
0
Tot
82
80
67
58
55
47
42
41
35
35
31
22
18
18
18
18
16
13
12
11
11
11

38 Reed
20 Marks RI

77 Pa
74 Scl
RLCB
27 Carr
31 Johnsoi

: ornon

LE
97 Browni
35 Melche
WS
40 Feldpausch
1 Hodges

15 Jennings
80 Chestnut
WR
70 McCants 67 Kramer
65 Wangerin 61Ottney

19D
19D
63 ' Y 6E
ant 7J

Photos by DANNY MOLOSHOK AND DAVID KATZ/Daily
Quarterback John Navarre hope that a year of experience for his offensive line will keep him off the turf this season. With
targets like Braylon Edwards, Navarre will be comfortable without former Michigan standout Marquise Walker.

RT

RG

C



By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Editor

"Come for the food & stay for the game.

0
9
O
7
9
6
5
1
5
3
4
3
7
3
4
2
3
7
9

Asst
23
20
10
9
19
12
11
6
7
9
7
5
3
5
4
4
4
0
5
2
2
4

Michigan comes into this season
without a lot of superstars, but with
plenty of good and solid players at
nearly every position. With a grueling
schedule, that depth may be tested dur-
ing the season.
QUARTERBACKS: The biggest question
for Michigan was who would start at
quarterback. In the spring, juniors
Spencer Brinton and John Navarre were
neck-and-neck, with heralded freshman
Matt Gutierrez in waiting. A week
before the Washington game, coach
Lloyd Carr decided to go with experi-
ence and chose Navarre, who had start-
ed 16 games for the Wolverines.
In his first game of 2002, Navarre
was impressive, playing with a confi-
dence that was absent at the end of last
season. He threw for 268 yards and a
touchdown connection to Braylon
Edwards. Navarre also connected with
six different receivers, a variety he
lacked last season with the security
blanket that former Michigan standout
Marquise Walker provided him.
"Last year, John did well, but there
were a lot of things that came into play
that made him picked for blame, but it's
good to see him finally doing what
everybody knew he could do," wide
receiver Calvin Bell said.
Navarre has quelled his doubters'
gripes after Saturday's game - if only
temporarily.
TAILBACKS AND FULLBACKS: The loss of
Kelly Baraka in the offseason hurt, but
running back remains one of Michigan
deepest positions. Led by a now-healthy
Chris Perry as the starter, the group has
size and speed with sophomores David
Underwood and Tim Bracken, who
returns after sitting out the season with
a broken leg., . .

Against Washington, Perry ran with a
vigor not seen since his freshman year.
Perry picked up 120 yards and three
touchdowns, including a 57-yard scam-
per for the game's opening touchdown.
"All last season we had problems
running the ball, everyone keeps harp-
ing on running the ball better, the line-
men came out there and blocked well, I
cut back and there was a hole there,"
Perry said of his long run.
Senior B.J. Askew returns to a full-
time position at fullback after spending
most of his time at tailback last season.
Askew is dangerous in all facets of the
position, whether he is rushing, block-
ing or catching out of the backfield. It
is this last aspect of his game that he
will make his impact as the fullback
screen is a known Michigan staple. He
is backed-up by super-sized redshirt
freshman Sean Sanderson, who is list-
ed at 289 pounds.
WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS: The
departure of Marquise Walker leaves a
hole at the No. 1 position, with senior
Ron Bellamy, junior Tyrece Butler and
freshman Braylon Edwards all vying for
the job. But the trio may replace Walker
by committee with Bellamy and full-
back B.J. Askew as the short-range
threats and Butler and Edwards being
the deep ball receiver. Calvin Bell will
also see significant playing time.
Against Washington, Navarre showed
his confidence in the group.
"With our new passing offense, John
Navarre is very comfortable with get-
ting the ball to everybody," Butler said.
"He has a lot of confidence in the
receiving corps this year and is passing
the ball to everybody."
A talented trio of freshmen may also
see the field this season. Jason Avant,
Steve Breaston and Carl Tabb all have
game-breaking potential.
Senior captain Bennie Joppru will

start at tight end for the Wolverines.
Joppru has just 33 career receptions and
was not a strong element of the Michi-
gan offense against Washington,
although he is a capable receiver. For-
mer quarterback Andy Mignery will
enter the game in two tight end sets.
OFFENSIVE UNE: With a year of expe-
rience, the offensive line showed
improvement over last season against
Washington. The line created gaping
holes for Perry to run though and
allowed just two sacks on John
Navarre. Although it was the first
game of the season, the line looked
polished, finishing without any holding
or false start penalties.
Former defensive lineman Dave Pear-
son looked solid at center, with only one
miscue in his first game action with
Navarre. David Baas, Courtney Morgan
and Tony Pape seemed to have solidi-
fied their position at left guard, left
tackle and right tackle, respectively.
Redshirt freshman Matt Lentz and fifth-
year senior Dave Pertruziello will rotate
at right guard. _
"As a unit we felt pretty comfortable
playing next to each other and we gelled
well with each other," Pearson said. I
think that it will come more as we play
more games, but for the first game we
were pretty happy."
SECONDARY: After a standout fresh-
man season, Marlin Jackson heads up
this talented group of defensive backs.
Jackson was impressive in his first test
of the season, already drawing prema-
ture, but valid comparisons to Charles
Woodson by keeping Washington's
Reggie Williams in check throughout
the game without much help from the
safeties. Jackson also set a Michigan
record with six passes broken up
against the Huskies.
Markus Curry starts opposite of
See ANALYSIS, Page 12B

CB
3 Jackson
21 LeSueur

OLB
6 Hobson
91 Casseus<

LT
ng 99 West ate
r 92Faleo
55 M '
58 Mesa.,
25 Robi
42 Fore

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76 Petruziello
or 67 Letz
RG


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SS
24 Drake
or 26 Curry

5

The University of Michigan is of
plan to students and their depl
Group endorsed by the M
The plan may be obtained by eni
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Plan highli
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53 Orr 97Jrus
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PASS DEFENSE LEADERS
Player Int Yds
Jackson 3 0
June 2 38
Williams 2 28
Howard 2 0
Diggs 1 11

Brk-up
7
3
13
2

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SACK LEADERS
Player No
Rumishek 7
Foote6
Orr 6

. Yds.
7 41
6 42
6 '42