BRAWN VS. SPEED : No. 2 Michigan Has a Huge Line, but It May Not Slow Down No. 1 Notre Dame

Michigan’s offensive line, anchored by 330-pound tackle Greg Skrepenak, will have the heaviest hitters in Wolverines history when the team, ranked second in the AP college football poll, meets No. 1 Notre Dame on Saturday.

Actually, nobody is quite certain what Skrepenak weighs. The team has to take him across from Michigan Stadium to Godfrey Moving and Storage to find scales that will hold him.

The depth chart provided by the Michigan sports information department lists Skrepenak at 320, but offensive line Coach Jerry Hanlon scoffed at that.

“They keep weighing him, but I don’t even ask anymore,” Hanlon said. “We’d like him to get down to 320, but I don’t think he’s there yet.”

Even assuming Skrepenak does weigh 320, the Wolverines’ offensive line is the heaviest in school history, averaging 293 pounds per player.

The front five consists of Tom Dohring, 290; Dean Dingman, 292; Steve Everett, 270; Joe Cocozzo, 294, and Skrepenak. That is almost enough to blot out the sun.

Consider that when Reggie McKenzie and Dan Dierdorf played on what is considered one of the Wolverines’ great lines in the early 1970s, that line averaged 225 pounds.

Notre Dame’s offensive line of Mike Brennan, Tim Ryan, Mike Heldt, Tim Grunhard and Dean Brown averages only 253 pounds.

“I wonder whether we’re strong enough,” Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz said. “We’re giving away 50 pounds a man.”

But winning the war in the trenches will not guarantee Michigan a victory. The Wolverines also dominated the offensive front last year, but Notre Dame’s Ricky Watters scored on an 81-yard punt return and Reggie Ho kicked four field goals as the Irish won 19-17.

“I don’t know what we have here,” Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler said earlier this week. “We know we have some players at some positions that are very good. We have some at other positions that aren’t experienced enough. That could be a problem to us.”

He also fears his behemoths might be too slow for Notre Dame, which has great quickness, especially in skill positions.

“At the skill positions, offensively, we probably match up pretty well,” Schembechler said. “But we don’t have that great speed that they have at quarterback. There isn’t any way we’re going to be able to match that from a running standpoint.”

Notre Dame quarterback Tony Rice set a school record by rushing for 700 yards while leading the Irish to the national championship last season.

“I think this is a much better Notre Dame offensive team than we faced in the first game a year ago,” Schembechler said. “It’s a veteran offense. It has the speed.”