ROSE BOWL REPORT

Top-ranked Michigan is 11-0 and favored to beat Washington State, but that won’t stop Wolverine Coach Lloyd Carr from putting his spin on the game.

“One thing that fires up Mike Price is my bowl record,” Carr said. “It’s horrible. I’m 0 and two.”

Carr, finishing his third season as coach, directed bowl losses in 1995 (Alamo, Texas A&M;) and 1996 (Outback, Alabama).

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Price had a lot of time to think up this gem upon arrival in Los Angeles this weekend.

“The flight was a lot longer than I thought--67 years and about two hours and 20 minutes,” he said.

The Cougars are making their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1931.

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Xs and O’s: Look for Michigan to use kicker Jay Feely instead of Kraig Baker. Baker has made 14 of 19 attempts this season and was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, but his confidence is in question after he missed an extra point in each of the Wolverines’ last two games.

Feely, a junior, has been used primarily on kickoffs and for long field-goal attempts.

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This hasn’t been USC’s week.

Michigan has two players from Los Angeles on its roster: freshman running back Patrick McCall from Carson High and senior receiver Russell Shaw from Locke.

McCall had only 13 carries in 1997, but Shaw started 10 of 11 games and has 52 career catches.

Shaw said Saturday he never wanted to leave Los Angeles.

“I dreamed of playing in the Rose Bowl, but not for UCLA,” Shaw said. “I wanted to go to USC all my life. Unfortunately, I didn’t go there.”

Shaw said the Trojans did not recruit him heavily after he spent two seasons at El Camino Community College.

“They said they had enough receivers,” Shaw said.