Wednesday September 22, 2004 sports. michigandaily. com sports@michigandaily.com PRiTSigan Bailq 9 . . . . .. .. . ............................ . . . . . . . . . ... . ........................ . . . . . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. . . . . . . . .......... ......... . Blue eager to forget losses to Hawkeyes By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Editor Michigan football players rarely publicly reminisce on past losses, and that didn't change significantly this week despite the fact that the Wolverines have dropped two Hope Nuly, 'Navarre treatment' in the past consecutive losses to Iowa. The Wol- verines haven't talked about the special drills they have been doing in prepara- tion for revenge - something Notre Dame did en route to beating Michigan earlier this season. But the Wolverines still remember. $soo1 " "It's hard not to," senior defensive end Pat Massey said. "Because those (memories) really stick out." Both of the past two years, Michigan entered the Iowa week with a top-10 ranking. And both years, Michigan left Iowa week with its second loss of the season. "We're obviously aware of it," senior cornerback Marlin Jackson said. "But we have to get ready for this team." The first of those two losses was a 34-9 drubbing by the Hawkeyes, the worst home loss for the Wolverines since 1967. Michigan was down just 10-9 in the third quarter before consecutive Iowa touchdowns put the game out of reach, causing many in attendance to head for the exits well before the final gun. "I remember the stadium emptying out," Bass said. "I remember the empty feeling inside me and the rest of my teammates." During the game, the Wolverines amassed just 22 yards on the ground and 171 yards overall. The Hawkeyes went onto the Orange Bowl; the Wolverines went to the Outback. "It hurts a little bit," senior guard Matt Lentz said. "They came in and pretty much embarrassed us." Although both teams came into the 2002 matchup undefeated in Big Ten play, Iowa entered last season's not nearly as highly touted because it had lost its offensive skill nucleus of quarterback Brad Banks and running back Fred Russell. But the Wolverines were nearly taken out of the confer- ence race once again after their fourth-quarter comeback attempt came up short and then lost 30-27. So the Wolverines remember. "Basically (I remember) a bitter taste being in our mouth, not getting it done," Bass said. "Especially two years in a row, and they're going to try and make it three." BUMPED oUr: When Michigan released its new depth chart on Monday, there was a surprising omission from FILE PHUTO Running back Chris Perry gets tackled by a pair of Hawkeyes. Michigan has lost to Iowa the past two years. the probable starting lineup. After starting 16 straight games, senior cornerback Markus Curry was listed behind sophomore Leon Hall to start opposite Jackson in the defensive backfield. Curry has been thrown at signifi- cantly in the young season, leaving Jackson with few balls coming his way. But the positions of other players on the depth chart diminish its validity. Freshman running back Mike Hart, who ran for 121 yards on Saturday against San Diego State, was ranked as the No. 5 running back. "The thing about those depth charts is that they are issued on Monday," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "They're as much as we know at that time. They can change based on practice, based on injuries, based on a lot of things." WHERE'S GUTz?: No one seems to be satisfied with the lack of information available about the status of Matt Gutierrez. But Car isn't giving out any more, and he's tired of talking about it. "Look, I have no idea what the prognosis is," Carr said. "All I can do is go on a day-by-day basis. Last Saturday, he threw the ball, but he did not throw the ball particu- larly well compared to where he was before he began to be bothered by the soreness." A CORPS OF ONE?: While it's well documented that the Michigan receiving corps is one of the best in college football, quarterback Chad Henne has done little thus far to use all of his resources to his disposal. Currently, Bray- Ion Edwards ranks fourth in the nation in receptions per game, but none of his cohorts have 100 yards of receiving for the entire season. "That's something that we're working on everyday," Carr said. NOTES: Michigan's game next week at Indiana has been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The game will be the Big Ten regional game on ABC for that week ... Carr said that senior running back David Underwood would likely be able to play on Saturday. SHARAD MATTU Mattd Bruti m not the kind of guy who boos I(usually, I seethe quietly or whine to riends). But if I were, over my first three years here in Ann Arbor, the vast majority of my heckling would have been directed towards John Navarre. From the first game in the 2001 season until Michigan beat Ohio State last year (I have to give him some credit), I never stopped complaining. I used pretty much every criticism you could possibly have for a quarterback other than "he's got a strong arm." He's slow. He's inaccurate. He locks into receivers. For a 6-foot-6 guy, way too many passes get deflected. And, of course, he can't win close games. Last year, a housemate and I argued for hours over who was a better quarterback - Navarre or Ohio State's Craig Krenzel. Let's just say I used the term "clutchness" a lot. And I wasn't alone. Navarre took so much heat the last three years, he appar- ently had to change his cell phone number more than once and couldn't check his e-mail. Just a week ago, backup quarterback Spencer Brinton recalled what Navarre went through and shook his head in dis- gust. "I didn't really know what it was like for quarterbacks when I came here," he said. "If I had known, I probably wouldn't have come." He quickly said he was joking, but it was easy to see it was at least a half-truth. Yet, through it all, Navarre steadily improved. It also didn't hurt that he never really had to look over his shoulder (though I'm probably one of many to wonder what would have happened if Jermaine Gonzales had been able to lead the Wolverines back at home against Ohio State in 2001). And somehow, Navarre now holds just about every Michigan passing record. My mind turned to Navarre after last Saturday's game against San Diego State when I saw Michigan's latest quarterback, Chad Henne, outside the Big House sign- ing autograph after autograph. When I see Henne right now, I see a quarterback who has all the tools. Some- day soon, I think he'll be a quarterback that fans in Michigan Stadium can trust when Michigan has the ball and is down late in the game. But right now, Henne looks a lot like Navarre. Henne's getting sacked, making the occasional wild throw and forget- ting that most plays have more than one receiver. But I learned from the Navarre years. This time around, I'm keeping my mouth shut. I'm pretty much expecting a shaky, up-and-down passing offense this year and hoping the defense can win enough close games like last weekend against the Aztecs. And if Henne develops slowly the way Navarre did, hopefully everyone learned a lesson and won't repeat the "Navarre treat- ment," because it definitely didn't make things any easier for him. Now, there are definitely differences between Henne and Navarre. As a true freshman, Henne is adjusting to college football and learning Michigan's offense, while Navarre had spent an entire year in Ann Arbor when he filled in for an injured Drew Henson in 2000. Also, Navarre wasn't quite the high- profile recruit Henne was. It seems like a long time ago, but Henne obviously played well enough during training camp to war- rant a look in the first game of the season against Miami (Ohio). And just because fans aren't putting a ridiculous amount of heat on Henne doesn't mean he won't be feeling pres- sure. While Navarre's starting job was never in jeopardy, Michigan's quarterback - whether it's Henne, Matt Gutierrez or Clayton Richard - will be facing com- petition in practice this year and in years to come. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr believes Michigan fans may have learned from the Navarre years. "I think the people who are passionate about Michigan football understand the difficulty of the challenge Chad has," Carr said. "They want him to succeed, and they understand that he can't control everything that happens out there. "There's a lot of people that seem to empathize with Chad's position, and there's no question that John just did not have that." Let's hope Carr's right and everyone won't treat future Michigan quarterbacks the way they did with Navarre. By the way, I know watching Arizona Cardinals exhibition games wasn't high on your list of priorities, but Navarre had a quarterback rating of 114.0 and threw the team's only passing touchdown of the preseason. And luckily for him, fans won't be harassing him anymore. Though that's because the Cardinals don't have fans. Two people Sharad will never stop criticizing are New York Mets shortstop (second baseman) Kaz Matsui and New Jeyl/Broln /New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner. And he still can't decide on a column name. Send sugges- tions to him at smattu@umich.edu. M FIELD HOCKEY Plenty of challenges for stickers in Big Ten By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer In a sport traditionally dominated by East Coast private schools, the emergence of .he Big Ten as one of the premier field hockey conferences in the nation is a bit of an anomaly. Against all odds, excellent coach- ing and recruiting created the Big Ten conference's seven deep and tal- ented teams, bringing the league to the national forefront. Each program has developed a polished product this season, producing a previously unseen level of parity at the top, and setting the stage for an epic race for the Big Ten title. As always, No. 7 Michigan will be a contender. And after playing a grueling nonconference schedule, the Wolverines will be primed for war. Only two weeks ago Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz was alarmed when her team allowed three unan- swered goals in a loss to Old Domin- ion after tiring late in the game. But after a solid fortnight of practices and a complete performance against Northeastern on Sunday, Pankratz is ready to see the payoff during con- ference play. "I think we're getting better," Pan- kratz said. "I think the Northeast- ern game was a big breakthrough - we played hard for the entire 70 minutes. I hope (the Old Dominion game) was a stepping stone to us get- ting better." On paper, the preseason favorite for the Big Ten championship is No. 4 Michigan State, which started the year atop the National Coaches' Poll. The Spartans return seven of their 11 starters, including former Big Ten scoring champion Annebet Beer- man. Michigan State's new regulars are far from unproven commodities - sophomore Jennifer Beeuwkes was inches away from sending last year's NCAA regional final matchup against Michigan into overtime, and senior Veerle Goudswaard scored Michigan State's lone goal in that 2- 1 loss. In that regional final game, the Spartans were well-matched with the Wolverines, and Michigan State coach Michele Madison claimed that both of Michigan's goals should have been disallowed. Senior Adrienne Hortillosa scored from the edge of the circle, and senior Jessica Blake was close to violating high-stick rules with her tip-in goal. Like every other sport, the field hockey rivalry between the Wolverines and Spar- tans is intense, and the Wolverines' controversial goals in that game might have added fuel to the Spar- tan's fire. "I think Michigan State is out to get Michigan in any sport," Pankratz said. "That's just the beauty of the rivalry." Before worrying about the Spar- tans, the Wolverines will open con- ference play on Friday at Indiana. The Hoosiers' field hockey program See STICKERS, Page 10 FILE HTOu John Navarre faced constant criticism during his tenure at quarterback. U I. XXX FILM STAR r. Washtenaw Community College RESEARCH ANALYST STATISTICS AND SURVEY Washtenaw Community College THIS THURS-SAT The Research Analyst will participate in all phases of quan- titative and survey research including the design and implementation of research projects and institutional stud- ies. (This is a full-time temporary position currently funded through June 30, 2005. No continuing employment rights are inferred). 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