Terrell plays and talks big for Wolverines

David Terrell doesn't believe in small. He's big in size, standing at 6-foot-3, five inches taller than the Penn State cornerbacks who will try to cover him this weekend. He's big in actions, sparking Michigan's offense with big catches and big plays and contributing on defense, including an interception against Northwestern this past weekend. And, most of all, he talks big, running off at the mouth in Charles Woodson-esque fassion.

There's no question about it, the sophomore wide receiver is big. But, if you ask Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, Terrell's not as big as Terrell thinks.

"Terrell thinks he's Deion Sanders," Carr said, "but he isn't."

Against Penn State this weekend, he may need to play like Sanders. Carr was mum on how much time Terrell would see at defensive back. Playing a nickel formation, he said, could be tough because of the Nittany Lions' one-back set, which makes it difficult to predict their play-call.

"He may see some time in there, but that would be dictated more on down and distance," Carr said.

Carr, who spent seven years as a defensive backs coach at Michigan in the early '80s, said he never envisioned playing two young wide receivers at cornerback (freshman Ron Bellamy saw some time at corner, too).

And although they haven't faltered yet, he knows neither has come close to mastering the position.

Terrell "would be the first to tell ... well, maybe he wouldn't, but he's still got a lot to learn," Carr said.

On a team where the captains promote quiet leadership by example, Terrell is the exception, his mouth running as often as Carr's gameplan.

"As long as he backs up what he's saying, it's okay," captain and nose tackle Rob Renes said. "It's good to have different sorts of leaders on the team."

Terrell's most outragous comment?

"To me," said Renes, "they're all pretty much out there. I don't know how he does it - when he's talking, I'm usually trying to catch my breath."

Giving back: Carr said yesterday he will donate $350,000 during0 the next seven years to the Michigan athletic department to endow a scholarship for a women's varsity athlete.

"I always thought if I ever had an opportunity to do that, I would," Carr said. "For a long time, women's student athletes haven't had an equal opportunity."

Carr said he hoped former Michigan athletes would follow suit and endow scholarships.

"It will set a precedent for others to follow," Michigan athletic director Tom Goss said. "We haven't had any coach do anything like this. It's a unique situation.

"The future of Michigan athletics depends on having scholarship endowments."

Injury update: After keeping injuries hush-hush all season, Carr finally owned up to a few of them. Cornerback Brandon Williams, who missed the Northwestern game due to a concussion and an unspecified injury in his left leg suffered during practice last week, will miss the rest of the season with a broken leg.

This is despite Williams' assurances on Saturday that he'd return this season, and the fact that he was wobbling around the stadium without crutches.

Grady Brooks, a linebacker who's missed the last two games with an unspecified injury, is out for the rest of the season. Now that we know he won't return, will Carr finally say what the injury is?

"No," Carr said. "I'm not going to comment on that."

11-09-99