Bears eager to take on Michigan

SARA STILLMAN/Daily Baylor coach Dave Roberts said that he won't throw at Charles Woodson, who burned Colorado last week with an interception.

If Baylor coach Dave Roberts is trying to finagle a nice lunch out of the Michigan football coaches, he knows flattery goes a long way.

Roberts spent most of this week gushing about how good the Wolverines are. He even said that after Michigan whipped fellow-Big 12 opponent Colorado, he threw up and then cried.

While that may be an exaggeration on Roberts' part, the first-year coach left Waco yesterday puckering up, ready to lay a smooch on Michigan's boots when the Bears (1-1) take on No. 8 Michigan (1-0) tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in Michigan Stadium.

"We just sat down and looked at the Colorado tape and said 'woo!'" Roberts said. "We looked at their big ol' linemen and said 'Hey, we don't have any big ol' linemen.

"We do a lot of the same things that Colorado does, and they pretty much shut down Colorado ... There's always a way to attack defenses, but I don't know how we're going to do it."

Roberts may be feigning ignorance - he didn't just pick up a tape of Michigan for the first time. Roberts was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame from 1994-96, so he has a good idea of what Michigan brings to the table.

"They are a good bit better than the Michigan teams I remember," Roberts said. "They used to just sit back and play defense, now they're attacking. I think their new defensive coordinator (Jim Herrmann) has brought a new look to Michigan football, and it looks really, really good."

The Wolverines held the Buffaloes to just 224 yards of total offense last weekend, only 49 of which came on the ground. The passing game wasn't exactly successful either: Colorado quarterback John Hessler completed just 15 of 40 passes and threw four interceptions.

Roberts hopes that Baylor's massive offensive line does a better job protecting the quarterback than Colorado did.

Jeff Watson averages 191 yards passing and has thrown one touchdown, but his biggest asset may be his ability to run the option. Through two games, he has 14 carries, but has lost almost as many yards (36) as has gained (37).

And Baylor has a solid running game with tailback Jerod Douglas leading three players who will split time in the backfield. Douglas racked up 141 yards and two touchdowns two weeks ago. Fullback Anthony Overstreet also ran for two scores against Fresno State.

No matter what happens, Roberts said he won't throw at the receiver that All-American Charles Woodson covers.

"We laughed about this," Roberts said. "We said, 'lets take our worst football player and stick him at flanker,' because he's not going to catch anything.

"What he does is he baits you into throwing the ball that way and than he has about a 58-inch vertical jump. He's incredible."

And although Roberts will admit that his Bears are a little overmatched, he won't concede defeat just yet.

"It's a heck of a challenge, but we look forward to playing at Michigan," Roberts said. "It'll be a good time for our kids and a good experience playing in front of 100,000 people."

09-19-97