Colorado. Notre Dame. Iowa. Penn State. Ohio State.
Five good reasons to believe that the Michigan football team could be in for a long season.
Add to that the losses of three starting offensive linemen, the school's most prolific placekicker, and an all-Big Ten linebacker, and then, the likes of conference patsies Minnesota and Indiana can't even be chalked up as wins on paper, as they have been in recent years.
Still, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was eager to get spring practice underway Saturday morning with a long list of issues to address in the coming months.
"I'm excited that we're ready to start playing football again," Carr said Friday at his first press conference of the spring.
Fifteen practices, 10 of which will be conducted in pads, will be spread out throughout the next four weeks culminating in the annual spring game on April 12 at Michigan Stadium.
And of course, what would be a Michigan spring practice without questions reagrding the quarterback situation? Last season ended with Scott Driesbach falling out of favor with Carr and Brian Griese starting the last game of the season.
But now, it's an open battle once again. A battle that probably won't be decided this spring, according to Carr.
"We will probably not get a feel for who our starting quarterback will be after the end of spring practices," Carr said. "I think that our quaterback situation is very strong, and I think that competition is going to go over the summertime and into fall ball."
But what seemed to be Carr's chief concern is replacing 60 percent of his offensive line from last season - All-America center Rod Payne, guard Damon Denson and tackle Thomas Guynes.
In addition, two of their likely replacements on the line - tackles Paul Tannous and Jeff Backus - are both recovering from off-season surgery and won't be available during the spring.
"We have a real problem at tackle in terms of depth," Carr said. "Backus and Tannous will both be back in the fall, but in terms of practicing for the spring, we have a tremendous problem. We may not be able to play a regulation spring game because of it."
Carr will try to compensate for the losses of Backus and Tannous by moving 6-foot-7, 227-pound sophomore defensive tackle Chris Ziemann to the other side of the ball.
"I think Chris has the type of versatility to play more than one position and I will be very surprised if it is a move that we don't stay with." Carr said. "Ziemann, with his experience, could also be a guy who still helps us out on defense, in goal-line situations for example."
Another issue Carr must address is the team's kicking game. The Wolverines need to replace kicker Remy Hamilton and punter Paul Peristeris. Hamilton had been a Michigan fixture for the past three seasons, while Peristeris followed in a long line of inconsistent Michigan punters by winning the job last season.
The battle to replace Hamilton will be between a pair of juniors - Jay Feely and Kraig Baker. Feely handled much of the kickoff duties last season while Baker has seen rare action as a punter in the past.
"Feely has a very powerful leg and Baker has good athletic ability," Carr said. "That competition will be fierce."
As for the punting situation, Carr will let Baker and a pair of freshmen - Cory Sargent and walk-on Jason Vinson - duke it out.
"We should have a good idea what is going to happen with the kicking after this spring," Carr said.
The one area Carr won't have to worry about completely revamping is his defense. Although he will have a tough time replacing All-Big Ten selections, linebacker Jarrett Irons and tackle William Carr, most of the defensive corps is returning, led by cornerback and likely Heisman Trophy candidate, Charles Woodson.
However, junior linebacker David Bowens will miss spring practice for what Carr said was a "team matter."
The regular season is scheduled to open Sept. 13 at home against Colorado, an unusally late date. That late start gives Michigan an 11-game slate with no bye weeks. But according to Carr, "that date may change" as there are rumors of perhaps Michigan adding a 12th game to its schedule or playing one of the games earlier than scheduled.
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Scott Dreisbach will be fighting for playing time this year.