Offense Overlooked, but Not Defensive

Michigan wide receiver Tai Streets doesn’t mind that the Rose Bowl is being summed up as a matchup between the Wolverine defense and Washington State offense. Nor does he begrudge the attention lavished on his team’s superb defensive unit.

“They deserve it,” Streets said Wednesday after the Wolverines left their Orange County base for Pasadena. “They’ve played well. We play all right at times. We’re a pretty good offense.”

The Wolverines may look merely “pretty good” when compared to the Cougars, whose average of 502.2 yards total offense ranked second in the nation. But Michigan is no slouch offensively, and its little-known offensive capabilities may prove as crucial as its famous defensive prowess.

“It’s probably going to come down to us [the offensive unit] winning the game,” quarterback Brian Griese said. “Washington State is going to score points, probably not as much as they usually do, and it’s going to come down to what we do.”

What they hope to do is control the ball and keep the Cougar offense off the field as much as possible.

Griese, praised by Streets as “a great leader this year. . . . He’s always poised under any circumstances,” completed 175 of 277 passes for 2,042 yards and 14 touchdowns. Four freshman running backs combined for 616 rushing yards and 237 receiving yards, led by Big Ten freshman of the year Anthony Thomas’ 529 rushing yards in 130 carries. Senior Chris Howard led the Wolverines with 868 rushing yards in 180 carries, including four 100-yard games.

Jerame Tuman and Streets were the top two receivers with 404 yards and 349 yards, respectively, and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson contributed 11 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns. That doesn’t compare favorably with the 833 yards credited to Washington State’s Kevin McKenzie on 50 receptions. But while the Wolverines respect the Cougars’ accomplishments, they’re not daunted.

“They’re different. They’ve got a great quarterback in Ryan Leaf and outstanding wide receivers who are capable of making big plays,” Howard said. “One thing we’ve got to do as an offense is avoid three-and-outs. We’ve got to be able to move the football up and down the field.

“Our offense is going to have to step up and put points on the board. We love a challenge. We love coming in as the underdog, and with people doubting us. That’s what gives us our strength.”

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Father doesn’t always know best.

Linebacker Rob Swett, a fifth-year senior, said that in analyzing the Wolverine schedule last summer, his father doubted they would improve much over last season’s 8-4 record.

“Even my dad said ‘You’re going to lose two games,’ ” Swett said. “But when we came together in August, we had the mind-set that no one was going to beat us but ourselves. You have to go into this last game with that kind of confidence. We have to take the experience we got playing in big games and the intensity and focus that carried us this far.”

Said linebacker Ian Gold: “Coming into the season, we and the coaches looked at the schedule and figured it probably was the toughest Michigan had ever faced. Having come out of two straight 8-4 seasons and having this kind of schedule, with Notre Dame and Colorado, we knew people wouldn’t support us. We just wanted to satisfy ourselves. We weren’t trying to make the media and fans happy. We wanted to restore the tradition of Michigan football.”

Having done that, Gold said the Wolverines are being besieged by bandwagon jumpers. “At the beginning of the season people said, ‘Michigan beating Colorado was a fluke,’ ” he said. “Now we’ve got people saying, ‘We were with you all the time.’ ”

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The Wolverines accomplished a lot on the practice field before beginning a two-day Christmas break, but Coach Lloyd Carr isn’t yet satisfied. “The game plan is in. What we’re hoping is that as we get closer to the game, our sharpness improves,” he said. “It’s more a matter of working on our timing than anything.”

They’ve been trying to simulate Washington State’s offense, “but there’s nothing like the real thing,” cornerback Andre Weathers said. “I pretty much feel like we’re getting the kinks out but we’re still coming along.”