It’s No Secret What They Want to Do

Asked for his assessment of the Texas receivers, Michigan safety Ryan Mundy said Wednesday that they were good athletes, but with a laugh he added, “They just don’t get the ball.�

Indeed, as the Wolverine practice intensifies in preparation for Saturday’s Rose Bowl game against the Longhorns, the emphasis is on stopping the run -- which in this case is a two-headed dragon, Cedric Benson and quarterback Vince Young.

Benson, fourth in the nation in rushing yardage, has run for 1,764 yards and 19 touchdowns. Young has 887 yards and 10 touchdown runs to go with his 1,669 yards passing. Between them as rushers, they’ve scored 39 of the Longhorns’ 50 touchdowns.

“They can make plays if you let them,� Mundy said of the receivers. “But our main focus is shutting down the run -- and we have to stop Benson.�

*

A monumental task is even more imposing considering that the Wolverines will be without defensive linemen Larry Harrison and Jeremy Van Alstyne.

Harrison, a sophomore, was suspended by Coach Lloyd Carr after his Dec. 7 arraignment on one charge of indecent exposure. Police are seeking additional charges and say he is a suspect in as many as 15 cases in neighborhoods around the Ann Arbor campus.

Van Alstyne is sidelined because of a foot injury suffered in the Wolverines’ last game, against Ohio State.

Defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann was not specific about changes on the line but said several players -- among them Rondell Biggs, Alex Ofili, William Paul, Prescott Burgess and Chris Graham -- could play more than usual.

“I’m excited about that, because they’ve worked hard and when you work hard you want to be rewarded,� Herrmann said.

“And they’re excited about the opportunity. You can [see it] in their eyes.�

*

The last team the Wolverines faced with a quarterback who doubles as a running back was Ohio State -- and the Buckeyes’ Troy Smith torched them through the air and on the ground. He passed for 241 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 145 and another score.

The Buckeyes, at one point, scored 27 unanswered points in a 37-21 victory.

Asked why he expected things to be different this time around, Michigan defensive tackle Patrick Massey said one of the keys would be getting to Young much quicker than the Wolverines were able to get to Smith, because so many of Smith’s big gains came on broken plays.

“Now we definitely know what our weaknesses are, and we’ve had time to work on them,� Massey reasoned. “We’ve had a reality check, and now we know what we’ve got to do.�

*

Mundy said the coaches were “on us for two, three weeks pounding and pounding into our heads how bad we played� against the Buckeyes and added that “a lot of guys made up in their minds, that can never happen again.�

Asked whether that loss, to end the regular season, serves as the Wolverines’ biggest motivation as they prepare for the Longhorns, Mundy thought for only a moment before responding.

“It’s motivation, but not as big as the loss last year [in the Rose Bowl to USC, 28-14],� he said. “We don’t want to come out here and get embarrassed again.�