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Wednesday, September 13
Navarre faces biggest test of young career

By Jeff Potrykus
Special to ESPN.com

John Navarre has passed the basic skills test.

The redshirt freshman quarterback has proved that, surrounded by a plethora of offensive talent, he can coolly guide the Michigan Wolverines past the likes of Bowling Green and Rice.

At home.


	Michigan's John Navarre is 25 of 34 for 394 yards and seven TDs in two games.

But after just two games, is Navarre ready to handle some advanced work? Is he ready to lead the third-ranked Wolverines against a quality opponent in a hostile stadium?

Those questions and more should be answered sometime Saturday, when the Wolverines (2-0) meet 17th-ranked UCLA (2-0) in the Rose Bowl.

"John is going to face a lot of noise when he gets sacked or when he makes a bad throw," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "He's going to face tremendous noise as he gets the team close to the goal line.

"And certainly, he's going to be up against a much more intense team in terms of their speed when the ball is snapped."

UCLA has already dispatched one highly ranked team this season. The Bruins opened the season by overwhelming then-No. 3 Alabama, 35-24.

However, last week they struggled before subduing Fresno State, 24-21.

"We won, we're 2-0, we're undefeated," UCLA coach Bob Toledo said. "There are no easy games. We did not execute; it's as simple as that. What people don't realize is Fresno State has an outstanding team."

Not nearly as strong as Michigan, though.

"This is another big game for us in our house," Toledo said. "This is a great challenge, this is a great opportunity, facing the No. 3 team again."

Navarre will be on the spot again because junior Drew Henson still is not ready to return to action. Henson broke a bone in his right foot during preseason camp and had surgery on Aug. 24. Now it appears he won't be back until the Big Ten opener on Sept. 23 against Illinois -- at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Navarre has posted the best numbers in the nation. He is ranked No. 1 in pass efficiency with a rating of 238.8 points. Navarre has completed 25 of 34 passes for 394 yards and seven touchdowns. Most important, he has yet to throw an interception.

But neither Bowling Green nor Rice applied consistent pressure against Navarre. UCLA will certainly test the redshirt freshman.

"You're not going to have a lot of time to throw the football," Carr said. "They don't seem to be playing as much man-to-man coverage as they did a year ago. They do zone-blitz a lot. You have to get ready for a fast team in a hurry."

Whenever Henson returns, Carr may face an interesting dilemma. What happens if Navarre leads the Wolverines to a victory over UCLA and Henson is deemed fit to play against Illinois? Would Carr bench the quarterback who has guided his team to three victories and has more starting experience than Henson?

UCLA has its share of quarterback concerns as well.

Against Alabama, sophomore Ryan McCann came off the bench after starter Cory Paus suffered a separated shoulder on the first play from scrimmage. McCann guided UCLA on three consecutive touchdown drives, threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Mitchell to put the Bruins ahead for good and finished 14 for 24 for 194 yards.

He struggled against Fresno State, though, and was benched after one half. Junior Scott McEwan came in and led the Bruins on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives.

On Monday though, Toledo named McCann his starter.

"He's going to get a chance to do it again," Toledo said. "He's a great kid, he knows he didn't perform well.

"I'm going to play whoever's the best person at all positions. If he's going to do it, he's going to play quarterback. If he can't do it, I may yank him again."

Navarre hasn't given Carr reason to even contemplate such a move. And if he leads the Wolverines past UCLA on Saturday, he may never come out of the lineup.

Around the Big Ten

Illinois
California's defenders have no idea what awaits them when they meet Illinois Saturday in Champaign. After a slow start in their opener against Middle Tennessee State, the Illini blitzed San Diego State for 35 first-half points and appear to have regained the form they displayed down the stretch last season. Quarterback Kurt Kittner has completed 36 of 51 passes (70.6%) for 333 yards and six touchdowns. Dueling tailbacks Antoineo Harris (245 rushing yards, four touchdowns) and Rocky Harvey (236 yards, one touchdown) have combined for 481 yards and five touchdowns. "Rocky's making Antoineo better; Antoineo's making Rocky better," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "Most people would rather go with one guy (at running back). But this isn't unprecedented, by any means. When you can run the football, it makes play-calling much easier." ... The loss of sophomore wide receiver Brandon Lloyd (broken leg) hasn't hurt nearly as much as first anticipated. Sophomore Greg Lewis has stepped in for Lloyd and has nine catches for 96 yards and four touchdowns. ... Illinois scored as many points in the opening half against San Diego State (35) as it did in the entire game against Middle Tennessee State. The Illini scored on five of their first seven possessions against the Aztecs.

Indiana
If Cam Cameron fails to turn the Indiana program around, there will be no mystery as to the reasons why. The Hoosiers still can't stop anyone. The lastest example came Saturday, when North Carolina State freshman quarterback David Rivers torched the Hoosiers' revamped defense for 401 yards and five touchdowns in the Wolfpack's 41-38. Indiana blew leads of 21-3, 28-13 and 38-26 in the loss. Last season, Indiana allowed 40 points or more five times. Cameron acknowledged his defense struggled badly but also blasted the ACC officiating crew. "We played well enough to win the football game on the scoreboard, period," the normally mild-mannered Cameron said. "You can slice any way you want. That football game was flat taken from Indiana University. Not from Cam Cameron. Not just from our football team. It was taken from every single one of us and you saw it with your own two eyes. I've never seen anything like it in my life." Not surprisingly, Cameron has been fined $10,000 for his comments. On Tuesday, he apologized for his remarks. "How I handled that was really inappropriate," he said. "That's just not the way we handle things in the Big Ten conference."

Iowa
How bad is life in Iowa City these days? Iowa's loss to Western Michigan means the Hawkeyes could be headed for a winless season, the school's first since 1973. Iowa State travels to Iowa City on Saturday and the Hawkeyes then travel to Nebraska before diving into their conference schedule. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who won just one game a year ago, is already feeling the heat at home. "I saw a headline in the paper that said if we didn't win today, we may never win this year," he said after the loss to Western Michigan. "I'm glad that guy isn't in charge of our country. I don't think most competitive people think like that. We still have 10 games left. I like the guys we have on our football team. We're far from ready to pack it in." ... Iowa has lost 10 consecutive games and 17 of its last 18. ... The Hawkeyes gained 363 yards against Western Michigan, but only 49 on the ground. Through two games, the Hawkeyes are averaging 2.1 yards per carry.

Michigan State
There are just two questions on the minds of Michigan State fans as their team prepares to take on host Missouri Saturday. How much will the Spartans win by? (Missouri is coming off a 62-9 loss to Clemson.) And, will freshman Jeff Smoker or junior Ryan Van Dyke start at quarterback. Van Dyke suffered a badly bruised right thumb in the first quarter of the victory over Marshall last week. Smoker came in and completed 16 of 24 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. With Smoker in the lineup, the Spartans scored on four of their last five drives. Van Dyke was expected to practice Tuesday and Wednesday. "If Ryan can be effective in practice," Michigan State coach Bobby Williams said, "he'll play Saturday." Williams added that Van Dyke would not lose his starting job because of the injury. "Ryan played very well up until his injury other than the one bad throw, the bad decision," Williams said. "When he's healthy, Ryan will return as our starting quarterback." ... Sophomore tailback T.J. Duckett picked up where he left off last season by rushing 26 times for 219 yards and a touchdown. He could be the best running back in the Big Ten this season. ... Starting linebacker T.J Turner suffered a severely sprained left shoulder and may not play Saturday.

Minnesota
Ever since he took over the Minnesota program in 1997, Glen Mason has been consistently been ripped by local reporters for providing his team with creampuff non-conference opponents, such as Northeast Louisiana, Illinois State and Ohio University. Perhaps Mason's players read the hype before they met Mid-American Conference member Ohio University Saturday. The Bobcats rolled up 453 total yards en route to a 23-17 victory. "From start to finish, we were outplayed," said Mason, who coached in the MAC at Kent in 1986 and '87. "It's been coming. I wasn't real pleased in our performance last week and I sure wasn't pleased with the way that we prepared." ... Minnesota should be able to rebound this week with a road game at Baylor -- if its defense decides to make the trip to Waco. The Gophers' defense surrendered 363 rushing yards, the most since Michigan ran for 381 yards in 1992. Do you think the Gophers miss safety Tyrone Carter, who never seemed to miss a tackle? ... Minnesota became the third Big Ten team to fall to a MAC school in the last two weeks. Penn State fell to Toledo two weeks ago and Iowa fell to Western Michigan on Saturday.

Northwestern
It seems safe to say the Wildcats are vastly improved over a year ago, when they won three games all season. After crushing Duke, 38-5, Saturday, Northwestern is 2-0 for first time in 25 seasons. Not even Gary Barnett's Big Ten championship teams of 1995 and '96 started quickly. Will the roll continue this week with a road game against No. 21 TCU? The Horned Frogs have tailback LaDainian Tomlinson and a defense that recorded 15 sacks in a 41-10 victory over Nevada Saturday. But remember that Northwestern beat TCU last season in Evanston, 17-7. ... Northwestern's point total against Duke gave the Wildcats more than 30 points in consecutive games for the first time in five seasons. ... The Wildcats have 73 points in two games. They scored 141 in 11 games last season. "Gosh, we've got a lot of fun guys to watch," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. "We've got a bunch of weapons, and it's great to be 2-0." ... On the down side, Northwestern was penalized 12 times for 135 yards.

Ohio State
Ohio State fans are pumped. After their team's 27-17 road victory over Arizona, the Buckeyes are 2-0. Their defense was suffocating for the second consecutive week, sacking Arizona quarterback Ortege Jenkins eight times and forcing 12 punts. Their offense, after an inept performance in the opener, produced five scores against a defense that allowed just three points a week earlier. Hold off on those Rose Bowl travel plans, though. Remember that Arizona finished 6-6 a year ago, just like Ohio State. The Buckeyes should be able to get past upset-minded Miami (Ohio) on Saturday but we'll have a better idea about their mettle when they open conference play against Penn State on Sept. 23. ... Speaking of that game with Miami (Ohio), this will be just the third meeting between the teams and first since 1911. Ohio State won, 80-0, in 1904 and again in the rematch, 3-0. Miami is 2-0 this season, with victories over Vanderbilt and Mid-American Conference rival Eastern Michigan. Ohio State coach John Cooper knows to expect the RedHawks' best shot. "Their press release says this is one of the biggest games in the history of their school," he said. "It's been 1911 since we played them. It won't get any bigger than this one, will it?" Only if the Buckeyes lose. ... The Buckeyes had seven false-start penalties against Arizona and have racked up 232 yards in penalties in two games.

Penn State
Maybe backup tailback Larry Johnson should rip the coaching staff and offensive system more often. He did that after the ugly loss to Toledo, and the Nittany Lions responded with a 67-7 victory over Louisiana Tech. Johnson, though, was bumped to No. 3 on the depth chart, behind Omar Easy, a seldom-used senior. Easy rushed 12 times for 55 yards; Johnson had eight carries for 29 yards and a touchdown but was unavailable to reporters after the game. "Omar has worked hard, and he hadn't had a shot," Penn State coach Joe Paterno explained. "And, you know, I was a little annoyed at Larry but not to the point where I wanted to punish him." ... Penn State's offense generated just 308 total yards in its first two games, including 36 rushing. The Nittany Lions gained 299 yards rushing and 493 overall against Tech. ... Next up for Penn State is a difficult road game against Pittsburgh. A year ago, Penn State trounced Akron, 70-24, before edging Pittsburgh, 20-17, thanks to LaVar Arrington's block of a last-second field-goal attempt. Don't be surprised to see Pittsburgh beat the Nittany Lions this time. ... The meeting will be the 96th between the rivals, with Penn State holding a 50-41-4 edge. However, no future games between the teams have been scheduled.

Purdue
Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack probably will be putting in longer hours than usual this week as he devises his game plan for the showdown Saturday at Notre Dame. The Irish, who nearly upset No. 1 Nebraska last week, lost starting quarterback Arnaz Battle (broken wrist). Battle was an erratic throw but a dangerous runner, particularly on the option. Sophomore Gary Godsey, a converted tight end, is has been named the starter. Behind Godsey are three freshmen -- Carlyle Holiday, Jared Clark and Matt LoVecchio. Godsey, who was recruited by Purdue, passed for 1,800 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior at Tampa Jesuit High School but was moved to tight end at Notre Dame, Running the option is not his forte. "Gary has been named as the starter but that doesn't preclude an early substitution," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "From a preparation standpoint, this presents huge problems. ... Tiller is 2-1 against the Irish. The last Purdue coach to win more than two games against Notre Dame was Jack Mollenkopf, who went 10-4 from 1956-'69. Between Mollenkopf and Tiller, six Purdue coaches went a combined 6-22 against the Irish. ... The Boilermakers have lost 11 straight games in South Bend, dating to a 31-20 victory on Sept. 28, 1974. That was 26 years and five US Presidents ago. On that day, the unranked Boilermakers scored 24 points in the opening half and held on to upset the No. 2 Irish.

Wisconsin
Wisconsin's players have been waiting to welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats to Madison for nearly a year now. In case you've forgotten, the Badgers were 26-point favorites last season when they stumbled at Cincinnati, 17-12. The memories linger. "Ever since after the Rose Bowl I've been looking forward to this game," senior tight end John Sigmund said. "It's been marked on my calendar and I think it's been marked on a lot of guys' calendars." No one wants to win more than Sigumund. He was called for illegal procedure in the final seconds a year ago, wiping out a 14-yard touchdown pass on fourth down. After the penalty, an incompletion ended Wisconsin's victory hopes. "Everybody knows I've got something to prove," Sigmund said. "Now it's here and I'm going to take advantage of it and have fun. I'm going to seize the moment, I guess." ... Junior tailback Michael Bennett certainly seized the moment last week in the Badgers' 27-23 victory over Oregon. Bennett, making his second start, burned Oregon's defense for 290 yards and two touchdowns in 28 carries. He scored on runs of 59 and 75 yards and raced 83 yards to set up the winning touchdown in the final quarter. His rushing total was the fourth-most in school history. ... Junior cornerback Jamar Fletcher, making his first start after sitting out the opener because of an NCAA-mandated suspension, had three interceptions. Fletcher now has 17 interceptions, one shy of the school record, in just 23 games.

Jeff Potrykus covers the Big Ten for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

ALSO SEE
Big East notebook

Big 12 notebook

Big West notebook

Conference USA notebook

MAC notebook

WAC notebook

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