The Ypsi-Arbor Bowl

Eagles make short trip to Ann Arbor

No. Eastern Michigan doesn't run the option.

Eastern coach Rick Rasnick assured media the other day that his Eagles wouldn't use the much-publicized formation tomorrow against Michigan, despite the Wolverines' even-more-publicized inability to stop it thus far in the season.

"That's not just something that you throw in at the last minute," Rasnick said.

Two weeks ago, this game looked to be a breather in the schedule for the Wolverines. It was supposed to be Michigan's easy week, sandwiched between a pair of tough nonconference games and the annual intrastate clash with Michigan State.

FILE PHOTO Michigan strong safety Marcus Ray will be sorely missed by the defensive unit. The tri-captain's 'indefinite suspension' has left another gaping hole for the Wolverines - this time, in the defensive secondary. Ray faces possible ineligibility should the allegations that he interacted with a sports agent be proven true.

Now, this game's a big one.

It might only be Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan that's coming to town, but tomorrow's game is nonetheless huge for the Wolverines (0-2), who are 0-2 to start the season for the first time since 1988.

After dropping back-to-back contests to Notre Dame (36-20) and Syracuse (38-28), Michigan's title defense has started on a sour note. The Wolverines have been surprisingly bad in nearly all phases of the game. The 74 points they've surrendered thus far are more than they gave up in their first nine games combined last season. Their pass defense, tops in the nation last year, is worse than all but three teams in Division I. They haven't been able to run the ball on offense, leading to an uncharacteristically high average of 44 pass attempts per game.

Yes, by all indications, now's as good a time as ever to invite a MAC team into the Big House.

The Eagles (1-1), coming off a victory over Ball State, rely heavily upon sophomore quarterback Walt Church. Church, who started as a true freshman after incumbent Charlie Batch was lost for the season to an injury, redshirted last year when a healthy Batch resumed the position. Now, it's his Church's turn again.

But Rasnick said that even though Church is clearly the No. 1 guy, he may throw in backup quarterback Adrian Barbera "just to mix it up and give a different look."

Strangely enough, that's similar to the philosophy employed by Michigan coach Lloyd Carr in the early stages of the season this year. Junior Tom Brady has been the starter - and will be again tomorrow - but freshman Drew Henson has seen playing time in both games - and will again tomorrow.

Carr said that "Henson has earned the opportunity to play" with his improvement in practice. He also said that "if Tom Brady had his druthers, he'd play the entire game. But he doesn't have his druthers."

If Carr had his druthers, he'd likely be commanding a 2-0 team instead of one looking for its first victory. But he doesn't. But then again, neither does Rasnick. He, too, was hoping the Wolverines would be 2-0 entering tomorrow's game.

"I wish they'd won their first two games, certainly," Rasnick said. "But we'll deal with it. Hopefully we can come out and give a strong showing."

09-18-98