A Frosh Approach

Their names flow smoothly, as if meant to be said together, in a quick burst.

Chad Henne, the avidly recruited quarterback from Wyomissing, Pa., who stepped into a starting role with the Michigan Wolverines quickly and without qualm. Mike Hart, whose high school graduating class in Onandaga, N.Y., numbered 89 and who now routinely plays before crowds of 100,000, just as he envisioned as a kid when he dressed in maize and blue on football Saturdays.

HartandHenne.

HenneandHart.

“I think you have to say, ‘Hart and Henne,’ ” said Coach Lloyd Carr, “because an ‘a’ comes before an ‘e’ on the seating chart.”

They’ve moved to the head of the Big Ten Conference class, honest-to-Schembechler freshmen with uncommon poise and talent.

Hart, 18, was thrust onto center stage after David Underwood suffered a head injury in Michigan’s 28-20 loss to Notre Dame in the second game of the season. Although Hart had carried the ball merely eight times for 37 yards in the first two games, he became the first true freshman to lead the Big Ten in rushing since Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne in 1996, with an average of 124.7 yards a game.

Although some “experts” said he’d have to become a cornerback because he’s only 5 feet 9 and 194 pounds, he used his power and agility to confound defenders and plow through holes. He had 261 carries and 1,372 yards, scored nine touchdowns, and became the first Wolverine to record three consecutive 200-yard rushing games, with 234 against Illinois, 206 against Purdue and 223 against Michigan State. Hart, who grew up in upstate New York but loved the Wolverines’ colors and tradition, also became the first true freshman in Michigan history to surpass 1,000 yards rushing in a season.

“I figured I’d come here and play a little bit here and there,” he said, with no sign of false modesty.

Henne, 19, was expected to back up redshirt sophomore Matt Gutierrez until Gutierrez injured a shoulder the week before Michigan’s opener against Miami of Ohio. Henne became the second true freshman in school history to start the season opener; Rick Leach was the first, on Sept. 13, 1975.

Digesting Michigan’s elaborate playbook with impressive speed, Henne started all 11 games, completing 222 of 365 passes (60.8%) for 2,516 yards and 21 touchdowns. He threw at least one touchdown pass in each game.

“At this point I don’t even consider him a true freshman anymore,” offensive coordinator Terry Malone said. “He’s got 11 games under his belt and all different circumstances and types of games.”

The duo’s feats weren’t the only reasons 13th-ranked Michigan won a share of the Big Ten title and will face sixth-ranked Texas in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. But their success was crucial to Michigan’s return to Pasadena after a 28-14 loss to USC last January -- and reason for the Wolverines to hope trips to the Rose Bowl or national-championship game will become habit.

“You don’t expect freshmen to be able to come in and be able to shoulder the load the way these two kids have for us,” Malone said after a practice last week at the Home Depot Center in Carson. “Their advantage is they’ve been surrounded by some veteran guys who have made some plays for them and been there when they’ve needed them.

“But the fact of the matter is they’re two very special kids. When you start out thinking that a true freshman is going to be playing for you, you hope it’s at a position that isn’t a focal point of the offense that they play, as these two guys are.”

They proved they can thrive under pressure. To Hart, the Rose Bowl is “just another game, I guess,” and Carr believes they won’t be overwhelmed.

“They have shown a remarkable maturity, both of them. I think they’re both grounded,” Carr said. “They’re also both [young]. Their teammates will help them.

“The single most impressive thing about both of them is that they listen, and they’ve continued to listen down through the season, to coaches and teammates and the leaders on this team, particularly the seniors. So I think they’ve been a lot of fun to be around and I know that both of them want very badly to play well in this game.”

Henne discovered early that he wouldn’t be babied by Carr, perhaps the greatest compliment the coach could offer.

“After a couple of games he got on me in practice for making a bad read or not doing the right thing with the ball, and that’s expected,” said Henne, who chose Michigan because of its history of producing quarterbacks like Tom Brady for the pros. “Of course you just keep playing the game and hear him hollering in the background, kind of take it in, and move on....

“You always have to be calm under pressure. I think that’s the great attribute about me. When the team’s down, just be calm, and hopefully things will go our way.”

That same attitude has worked for Hart, who didn’t dwell on his sub-par 61-yard rushing game in Michigan’s loss to Ohio State in the regular-season finale. “I think it would be very difficult to knock the confidence out of Michael Hart,” Malone said. “He is a very strong, very talented young man who knows he has a lot of ability.”

As is Henne. The two clicked quickly and surely, generating mutual respect.

“He always knows where I’m going to be on the plays,” Hart said. “I might run a different course than someone else, and he knows where I’m going to be. It’s more comfortable with him in there.”

Based on his experiences, Henne appreciates the effort Hart has made each week. “It’s great that two freshman get to play a big role on offense here. And I guess we’re doing all right,” Henne said. “We get along. He knows his assignments and I know he’s going to be there. Just him being back there balances out our offense and opens up the pass, and that’s a big help.”

Of course, many freshman have blazed across autumn fields one season only to disappear. But Hart and Henne -- or Henne and Hart -- seem to have the physical and emotional makeup to endure.

“Hopefully we just keep on progressing,” Henne said. “Each year it’s a different team. We’re not going to have everybody back. Of course, you always look for goals: come back to the Rose Bowl, national championship, Big Ten. You just have to work hard in the off-season to get there.”

Asked how far the duo might carry the Wolverines, Hart smiled. “As far as we take it,” he said. To him, that means the point where instead of him hoping to see celebrities at their Westside hotel, celebrities seek out him and Henne. “Hopefully,” Hart said, “in a couple of years.”