Michigan vs. OSU Preview Part 2

Michigan vs. OSU, November 18, 3:36 PM
ABC-Brent Musberger (play-by-play), Bob Davie and Kirk Herbstreit (experts) with Lisa Salters and Erin Andrews on the sideline



Scouting the Wolverines

Michigan is undefeated so far this season, having won all 11 games, including 8 conference games. They have victories over Vanderbilt, Central Michigan, at Notre Dame, Wisconsin, at Minnesota, Michigan State, at Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, Ball State and at Indiana. The closest time they came to losing was against Ball State, who had the opportunity to score in the last three minutes and possibly tie with a 2-point conversion, but Ball State was unable to hit the pass in the endzone. The Wolverine's big victories are over Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Penn State. In the Notre Dame game, they won with turnovers. Notre Dame was able to rack up 241 passing yards, but they lost two fumbles and threw three interceptions. Michigan lost the turnover battle to Wisconsin, throwing three interceptions, but they limited the typically potent running attack of Wisconsin to 12 yards on 27 carries. Michigan held Penn State to -14 yards on 25 carries, and the pressure they applied to PSU QBs proved to be the difference maker. Michigan racked up 7 sacks. In fact Penn State's starting quarterback, Anthony Morelli, was knocked out in the third quarter after a collision. Michigan averages 380 yards with a fairly even approach of 185 passing and 194 rushing. They average 29.4 points/game and allow an average of 12 points.



Quarterback

Junior Chad Henne has a streak of 35 straight starts, with a record of 27-8 as a starter. For his career he is 59% for 7,201 yards and 27 interceptions. This season he is 61% for 1932 yards, with 18 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.



Running Back

Junior Mike Hart will be making his 28th start. He is 7th in the Michigan career rushing list with 3,490 yards. This season he has 1373 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averages 4.9 yards/carry. He has caught 13 passes for 122 yards. Hart has a knack for not fumbling, with only one fumble (2004) in his career. He lost the ball and it went out the endzone against Ball State this season, which resulted in a safety (2 points for Ball State) but according to the NCAA it was not a fumble. At fullback is 5th year senior Obi Oluigbo, who is mostly used for blocking, although he has a few catches to his credit.



Receivers

At flanker is fifth year senior Steve Breaston. Breaston also returns punts and kicks. He has the Big Ten career record for punt return yardage, and currently has four punt returns for touchdowns. At split end is sophomore "Super" Marion Manningham. Manningham was injured in the Michigan State game, had knee surgery and returned last week against Indiana. He leads the team with 538 yards and 9 touchdowns, despite missing games. Another major contributor is junior Adrian Arrington, who filled in for a few games for Manningham. At tight end is fifth year senior Tyler Ecker.



O-Line

For the most part, this unit has kept the same starters. At the tackles are senior Jake Long and fifth year senior Reuben Riley. At the guards are senior Adam Kraus and junior Alex Mitchell. Lining up at center is fifth year senior Mark Bihl. The leader of this group would have to be team captain Jake Long. He is a candidate for the Outland Trophy and Lomardi Award.



Kickers

Senior Garrett Rivas handles kickoffs and field goals/PATs. Rivas is Michgan's all-time leading scorer with 343 points. He is a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. This season he is 97% on PATs and 15 of 18 on field goals with a long of 48 (career long.) He has missed one under 30 and two in the 40-49 range. Fifth year senior Ross Ryan handles the punts. He averages 33.1 yards. Zoltan Mesko also handles punting duties and averages 41.2 yards.



Linebackers

At Sam is senior Shawn Crable. At Mike is fifth year senior David Harris. At Will is senior Prescott Burgess. Harris leads the team with 82 tackles, which includes 62 solos, 14 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.



Defensive Backs

At the corners are senior Leon Hall and junior Morgan Trent. At free safety is senior Brandent Englemon and strong safety is junior Jamar Adams. Hall is a Thorpe Award semifinalist and Lott Trophy quarterfinalist. He has the Michigan season record with 18 pass breakups this year.



D-Line

At the ends are senior LaMarr Woodley and fifth year senior Rondell Biggs. At the tackles are junior Alan Branch and sophomore Terrance Taylor. Woodley leads the unit, as team captain, with 11 sacks. The line has been a major reason that Michigan leads the nation in limiting other teams to 29.9 yards rushing/game.