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