0
8A - Wednesday, October 3, 2007
FOOTBALL
Manningham
suspended for
Eastern game
By SCOTT BELL ningham's most productive game
Daily Sports Editor of the season, a 10-catch, 123-yard
performance in Michigan's win
Star wideout Mario Manning- over Northwestern.
ham is not expected to play in Earlier in the season, the junior
Saturday's drew the ire of Michigan coach
game against Lloyd Carr for not being as pro-
Eastern Michi- ductive as he could be.
gan, according Manningham gave up on cer-
to the Detroit tain routes and ran others at half
Free Press. speed late in Michigan's loss to
Manning- Oregon.
ham report- "I don't think he's played as
edly violated well as he can," Carr said follow-
an undisclosed MANNINGHAM ing Michigan's 0-2 start.
team rule and He has a team-leading 29 catch-
will serve a es for 402 yards and two touch-
one-game suspension. downs five games into Michigan's
The news comes just after Man- season.
AROUND THE BIG TEN
Conference powers
collide this weekend
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
'IT'S4YT TAM'
q
Michigan quarterback Chad Henne disregarded doctors' orders to use crutches. But heavy weight training and rehabilitation enabled him to come ba
PCL tear after missing just two weeks and lead the Wolverines toa second-half comeback and 28-16 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.
By MARK GIANNOTTO
Daily Sports Writer
A conference with two top-10
teams should have some semblance
of order atop its standings.
But if the first two weeks of Big
Ten play have shown us anything,
it's that the race for the conference
title and a spot in a BCS bowl game
is wide open.
Last week, No. 5 Wisconsin
barely escaped with a win at home
against underdog Michigan State.
And thanks to the play of quar-
terback Juice Williams, Illinois
announced itself as a potential
contender in the race with a 27-20
win over Penn State that dropped
the Nittany Lions to 0-2 in the Big
Ten.
The one team that has shied
away from all the upset madness is
No. 4 Ohio State. Nobody expected
the Buckeyes to rebound so quick-
ly from the loss of players like
Troy Smith and Ted Ginn, Jr., but
six weeks into the season, they are
back at the top of the conference.
This weekend should highlight
just how good the best of the best
is in the Big Ten, with both the
Badgers and the Buckeyes heading
into hostile environments against
teams looking to prove their worth
to a national audience.
No.5 Ohio State at No. 23 Pur-
due, ESPN -8 p.m.
The Buckeyes' under-the-radar
status was short-lived after a slew
of upsets last weekend pushed
them up to the No. 5 ranking.
Quarterback Todd Boeckman
and running back Chris Wells
form one of the most formidable
pass-run combinations in the con-
ference. Wells has five touchdowns
and nearly 600 yards on the sea-
son, while Boeckman has filled in
for Smith better than anyone had
expected.
However, if the votes were tal-
lied today, it'd be hard to deny Pur-
due signal-caller Curtis Painter
from being named first-team All-
Big Ten. The junior has thrown for
more than 1,500 yards while toss-
ing 18 touchdowns and just three
interceptions.
But Painter has yet to face a
defense as intimidating as the
Buckeyes'. Ohio State leads the Big
Ten in scoring defense, allowing
fewer than eight points per game.
As much as I want to pick the
upsetchere and watch Buckeye fans
suffer, I just don't trust a Purdue
team that almost allowed Notre
Dame to come back in the second
half last week. The voters agree,
MLB STAFF PICKS
Five of the Daily's
sports editors do their
best to predict what will
happen in this year's
Major League Baseball
playoffs that start this
afternoon.
ranking the Boilermakers the low-
est undefeated team in the polls
this week.
And even though he cheated
and ruined the Mister Rogers
sweater vest look for me, there's no
denying that Ohio State coach Jim
Tressel always has his teams ready
to win these big games.
Ohio State 34, Purdue 17
No. 5 Wisconsin at Illinois,
ESPN - noon.
I went ahead and openly ques-
tioned Ron Zook's coaching abili-
ties last week, and he shockingly
proved me wrong. Although the
score suggests otherwise, the
Fighting Illini controlled the
entire game in its defeat of Penn
State by seven last weekend.
Juice Williams canrun and pass
effectively, and also might have
the best name never to appear in
a pornographic film. Illinois run-
ning back Rashard Mendellhall
averages more than 122 yards per
game.
The Fighting Illini get to show
if they are for real against a Wis-
consin defense reeling after giving
up 34 points to Michigan State at
Camp Randall Stadium. The Bad-
gers allowed 564 yards, the most
they've allowed since 2001. It's
more surprising when you consid-
er they had the sixth-best defense
in the nation last season.
After the huge win last week,
Champaign should be rocking in
anticipation of the Fighting Illini's
biggest home game streak since
their 2001 Big Ten Championship
season, not to mention their lon-
gest winning streak - four games
- since that year.
But there's a reason why Wis-
consin hasn't lost since last Sep-
tember against Michigan. Running
back P.J. Hill will be able to grind
out yards on the ground while
movingthe chains against an aver-
age Illinois defense. Expect the
Badgers' defense to rebound after
an embarrassing showing and con-
firm that sometimes, the juice just
isn't worth the squeeze.
Wisconsin 27, Illinois 14
Quick Hits: Indiana and Kel-
len Lewis should take advantage of
a porous Minnesota D. Michigan
State will easily handle North-
western, unless running back
Tyrell Sutton returns from injury.
If that happens, be on upset alert.
And Penn State should prevail
in an ugly defensive struggle over
Iowa.
Henne on QB controversy:
'It's all a bunch of B.Sn'
By DANIEL BROMWICH
Daily Sports Editor
Even with an injured knee,
quarterback Chad Henne has still
been getting in plenty of throws.
Against doctors' wishes, Henne
tossed his crutches into the back
of his car as soon as he was out of
sight of Schembechler Hall.
And after Saturday's game, the
senior discarded any talk of quar-
terback controversy in a similar
manner.
"It doesn't really make sense,"
Henne said of the contrived quar-
terback controversy. "I came back
(this year) for a reason, and they
realize that. As long as I keep pro-
gressing, I deserve the spot. (The
coaches) won't take it away."
He elaborated Monday, com-
menting both on the "We want
Mallett!" chants he heard during
the Oregon game and the idea that
he would be benched in favor of
the freshman.
"It's all a bunch of B.S.," Henne
said. "It's not going to happen. I
have too much pride to let that
happen, and I'm not going to let
myself slip. (Mallett) is a great
person and I have a lot of respect
for him. But it's my team, it's my
senior year and I'm going to go
out and play my best football these
next couple games."
Henne's lucky to speak so confi-
dently this soon after his injury.
The senior was hurt on a play
late in the first half against Ore-
gon. He rolled right out of the
pocket and was hit from behind
as he released the pass. The
defender drove Henne's knee into
the ground. Henne said his knee
wasn'tintoomuchinitialpain, and
he thoughtthatif he could walk on
it, he might as well stay in.
The pain didn't really kick in
until several series later. On one of
the final plays of the half, Henne
rolled left to escape pressure and
tried to get out-of-bounds without
getting hit.
"(I) kind of looked like a wound-
ed deer," Henne said. "I was just
trying to make my way out of
bounds so I wouldn't do anything
worse to it. Luckily, (Michigan)
coach (Lloyd) Carr was in front of
me. He was kind of holding on, and
Michigan quarterback Chad Henne dismissed talk of a quarterback controversy.
I shoved him and he (fell) down
and then I fell down."
Followingthe series, Henne told
the trainers on the sideline that
his kneecap felt like it was dislo-
cating on every step. His knee was
examined at halftime, and Henne
was given the bad news. He had
partially torn the posterior cruci-
ate ligament in his right knee.
Henne spent multiple hours
every day rehabilitating his knee,
working with weights to keep his
quads strong and icing the knee.
But when it came to crutches,
Henne disobeyed the doctor's
orders.
"I kind of stayed away from
them because I've never used
crutches before in my life, and
they're just a hassle for me," Henne
said. "I was on them for two or
three days. They would complain
and say, 'Use the crutches more!'
but I didn't want to. I could walk.
It was a straight-legged walk, but
if I could put pressure on it, I was
fine.
Henne has classes just two
times per week this semester - he
is on pace to graduate in December
- and his limited class load eased
the difficulty of getting to campus
on the injured knee.
The rehab and strength train-
ing helped Henne come back soon-
er than most expected. And after
he played the opening drive of the
first half against Northwestern
effectively and relatively pain-
free, Carr looked to his four-year
starter to lead a comeback in the
second half.
After the game, Henne said
he felt pretty good even without
taking any pain medication. He
woke up Sunday morning with
limited swelling and without any
pain, and he hopes to progress to
about 95 percent by the end of this
week.
The offensive line took special
care to protect Henne against
the Wildcats and was successful,
not allowing one sack in the sec-
ond half. But Henne knows that
getting hit is unavoidable and he
doesn't plan tolet a fear of re-inju-
ry affect his play.
"You're going to get hit, that's
the name of the game," Henne
said. "Ifithappens, it happens. I'm
not going to shy away from a rush
or somebody in my face. I'm going
to still try and make those plays. If
I (hold back), then I'm just going
away from what I've done in the
past and ..,. then it creates newhab-
its and my play will slowly decline.
I've just got to keep positive and
be confident in knowing that Ican
make those plays."
If he does, the Mallett cheers
will have to wait until next year.
HENNE ON TOP OF TD LIST
After sitting out two and a halftgames,
Chad Henne didn't wait long to claim his
spot atop the Michigan passing
touchdown list. The seniorfosndMario
Manningham for a score on the game's
first drive and followed it up with two
more passing touchdowns. He now has
75 career passing scores, three more
than John Navarre, the old record-holder.
Henne has
thrown at
least 22
t touchdowns
everyyear,
and matched the
single-season record
with 25last season.
HENNE
Navarre (72)
has bee
humped to
second on
this list and
the career
yardage listby
Henne this year.
NAVARRE
Elvis Grbac
tallied 71
total touch-
downsfrom
1989-92 and
still holds the single-
season touchdown
record. GRBAC
Rick Leach
redefined
the quar-
terback
position
in the heart of the
Schembechler era,
but threw just 48
TDs. LEACH
Steve Smith
flirted with
leach's
record jst
sin years
later, but finished six
shortwith 42touch-
down passes.
SMIT H
H. Jose
Bosch
Bell
Daniel Jack
Bromwich Herman
Nate
Sandals
0
Colorado vs. PHILADELPHIA Colorado Colorado Colorado Philadelphia Philadelphia
ARIZONA vs.Chicago Arizona Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago
BOSTON vs. Los Angeles Los Angeles Boston Boston Boston Boston
CLEVELAND vs. New York New York New York New York New York New York
NL Pennant Colorado Chicago Colorado Chicago Phiadelphia
AL Pennant New York New York New York New York Boston
World Series Champion New York Chicago New York New York Philadelphia
Series Length Five games Five games Seven games Six games Six games
Worl SeiesMVP idei Mtsu AlfosoSoraooAlex Rodriguez Aieox Rodriguez Jimmy Rollins
i