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Friday, December 13, 2002
No. 3 Michigan
at No. 17 UCLA
By Will Weiss
BCSfootball.com
The third-ranked team in the country invades the Rose Bowl for the second time in three weeks, but this time, the visitor hopes to leave Pasadena in a better mood. In the season's first full weekend, then-No. 3 Alabama saw its championship goals dissolve out west. This Saturday, No. 3 Michigan visits No. 17 UCLA with its own visions of grandeur (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET).
|  | | Anthony Thomas is the workhorse of Michigan's offense. |
Consistent with the history of Michigan-UCLA contests, this meeting has major implications. A win for Michigan would place the Wolverines as a legitimate national championship contender, while a win for Bob Toledo's upstart Bruins could catapult them into the Top 10 and supply the squad with a wealth of confidence heading into their conference schedule.
Michigan and UCLA have achieved their 2-0 records in different manners: The Wolverines have played two relatively easy games, soundly beating Bowling Green and Rice at home, while UCLA has opened the season with the toughest opening three games west of South Bend, Ind.
For the Wolverines, the team has played solid football in all facets, and will be ready for their first real challenge of the season. Redshirt freshman John Navarre has been nothing short of spectacular in replacing Drew Henson at quarterback. In Westwood, the Bruins ousted Alabama from the Top 10 two weeks ago, and followed that up with a close win against Fresno State. Following this weekend's tussle with Michigan, they open their Pac-10 schedule at Oregon, who came very close to upsetting No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison last Saturday.
The two teams contain a plethora of similarities, so don't be surprised to see this game decided in the waning minutes.
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ABC analyst Tim Brant:
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UCLA may have a slight edge because of that battle with then-No. 3 Alabama. The Bruins were well-prepared mentally for that game and they'll do the same this week for Michigan.
Whereas the offenses determined the outcomes of the prior two games for Michigan and UCLA, the defenses will take center stage in this one. Offensively, both teams will want to establish the run and then get the passing game going, but the defenses, because they are active and quick, should do a great job of containing.
Keep in mind, though, both teams come in wounded, without their starting quarterbacks. UCLA had a little more success with third-string Scott McEwan than with Ryan McCann, at least in the eyes of the head coach anyway. The players have confidence in McCann, but he's going to have to play like he did against Alabama, more so than he did against Fresno State, for UCLA to have a shot at winning this thing.
There's no question the keys to both offenses are the running backs. When you get Anthony Thomas running well, he's as good as it gets, and everybody has seen what DeShaun Foster has done this year. He has gone beyond the form that he showed two years ago.
People will again be surprised with the play of UCLA's front seven. The "A-Train" is going to find out that they're tougher than people give them credit for. Coming into this game, people give the advantage to Thomas, but I don't know if that will be the case.
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When Michigan has the ball:
"Michigan probably has the best offensive line in the country, one of the best power backs in the country, and one of the top playmaking wide receivers in the country."
--ABC college football analyst
Ed Cunningham
All eyes will be on Navarre, and rightfully so. The redshirt freshman has put up fabulous statistics in his first two games, but there are plenty of skeptics out there wondering if he can handle himself against a tough opponent in a hostile environment. UCLA's front seven, led by Lombardi Award candidate Kenyon Coleman, will try to pressure and fluster him as frequently as possible. Leading the Wolverines to a score on the opening drive will silence the naysayers.
The Wolverines' offensive line has been outstanding. In addition to allowing zero sacks in the first two games, the veteran line's play revs up the "A-Train," Anthony Thomas. Through his first two games, Thomas is averaging 6.5 yards per carry, and when he runs at his peak level, he's difficult to stop. It was the absence of a running game, among other things, that cost Alabama a victory in Pasadena. Michigan doesn't have that same crutch with Thomas in the backfield.
UCLA's front seven has been excellent at stuffing the run to this point, but they'll have to play their most disciplined game of the season in order to give the Bruins a chance to win.
Initially, it may have appeared that the injury to tight end Shawn Thompson would hurt the Wolverines' aerial attack. The opposite has been the case. Thompson's injury allowed Lloyd Carr to spread the passing game out to the wide receivers. David Terrell has game-breaking ability, and the Bruins will shadow him. If UCLA becomes too preoccupied with Terrell, look for Marquise Walker to have a big day.
If UCLA employs a man-coverage scheme, the Bruins defensive backs will be in trouble, as Michigan's receivers have a tremendous height advantage over the Bruin corners. Both Terrell and Walker stand 6-foot-3 while Jason Bell and Ricky Manning are 6-0 and 5-9, respectively. The Bruin secondary all but eliminated Freddie Milons two weeks ago, and will need a similar effort this weekend.
When UCLA has the ball:
|  | | Quarterback Ryan McCann will need to improve for the Bruins to defeat their second No. 3 opponent of the season. |
UCLA's offense did not have near the level of success last week that it did in the opener against Alabama.
"Fresno threw a lot of different schemes at us," said wide receiver Freddie Mitchell. "They don't have the athletes that we do, or that Alabama does, so you get a defense like that and they have a lot of stunts, a lot of blitzes, and it was hard to pick them up, so we struggled."
One reason for the slow start was the play of quarterback Ryan McCann, who was pulled after the first half in favor of third-stringer Scott McEwan.
"I just didn't feel he was operating the offense the way I wanted it operated. I felt that he had some errant throws that had stopped some drives," Toledo said.
McCann went 12-for-23 for 106 yards and threw one touchdown pass, but had trouble picking up blitzes and adjusting to Fresno State's various formations.
McCann gets another chance to start Saturday, and he'll have to play well to deflect some attention from tailback DeShaun Foster, who has put up All-America-type numbers (329 yards, 5 TDs in two games). Foster has been the catalyst of the Bruins' 2-0 start, but the other members of UCLA's talented offense will need A-1 performances as well.
UCLA may try to go downfield, with Freddie Mitchell, Brian Poli-Dixon and Tab Perry being considerably taller than Michigan's corners, but the Bruins have had success underneath with Foster coming out of the backfield, and tight ends Gabe Crecion and Mike Seidman. How the Wolverine linebackers cover those short and intermediate routes could determine the potency of UCLA's offense if their ground game slows.
News and notes:
Lloyd Carr said this week that Drew Henson is progressing, but the date of his return to the lineup remains a mystery. On Monday, Carr maintained that the starting position is Henson's once he is healthy. If Michigan keeps winning, the fans in Ann Arbor won't care either way.
UCLA defensive tackle Ken Kocher may see his first playing time of the season on Saturday. He has missed the first two games with a sprained ankle. Anthony Fletcher and Rodney Leisle remain the starting tackles.
This is the 11th meeting between Michigan and UCLA. Michigan carries a three-game win streak against UCLA into Saturday and leads the all-time series 8-2 (7-1 in the regular season).
Saturday marks the fifth time both teams have been nationally ranked when playing each other. In the four previous meetings, Michigan holds a 3-1 edge.
Will Weiss is the assistant editor of BCSfootball.com.
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