ShareThisBy MATT MARKEY
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Nobody knows the University of Michigan comptroller, the chair of the economics department or the student rep to the board of trustees. But everyone here knows who Chad Henne is.
As a true freshman in 2004, Henne was named the starting quarterback for the winningest program in the history of college football. If this were the great kingdom of Macedonia, Henne was Alexander the Great - the boy king who would lead the conquest of the world.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr handed Henne that symbolic sword, making him the first freshman to start at quarterback for the Wolverines since Rick Leach in 1975. Carr and the Wolverines put their trust and their fate in his hands, and the pressure was on Henne to produce.
And he has - a 27-8 record as a starter, 7,201 passing yards, 66 touchdown passes. Along the way Henne has taken at least his share of hits - some in the pocket, and a lot more outside the lines.
Henne nears the end of his third season in that highest-profile job with this single stinging indictment: he is just 1-6 in the really big ones - games against Ohio State, Notre Dame and the Wolverines' bowl opponents.
He will need to lead his No. 2 Michigan team to a win over top-ranked Ohio State in their mega showdown in Columbus on Saturday to satiate his ever present critics.
"I think criticism is always out there when you play quarterback at a school like Michigan," Henne said. "You want to play in the biggest games, and play for the best program, and along with that you expect some criticism. You can't let it affect you, but you are aware of it."
Carr chose Henne three years ago with the full knowledge that Carr's fate was on the line as much as was Henne's, if not more so.
"I've always been impressed with his leadership skills," said Carr, who has been victorious in just one of the last five games against the Buckeyes. "He's always been a good leader here, even as a freshman, and people who question that part of Chad Henne, they don't know him."
Henne has Michigan 11-0, and poised to win an outright Big Ten championship and earn a berth in the national championship game - if he can take down Ohio State, a team he has failed to defeat in two tries.
This kid from the quiet Pennsylvania countryside near Reading burned a few bridges back home when he backed off an early commitment to Penn State and left to play for Michigan, and he knows the significance of this weekend's game in the college football universe.
"I haven't beaten Ohio State yet," Henne said. "The pressure is definitely out there to win the game. People ask you about it all year, because it means so much to this program, to this team, and the whole state. We just have to handle that pressure, and perform."
Carr has stuck with Henne as his starter for all 36 games in Henne's career, and staunchly defended his choice. A coach who usually scoffs at criticism, Carr bristles when the target is Henne. Carr sets his jaw, knits that well-weathered brow, and fires back with both guns blazing.
After Henne was brilliant in a rout over Notre Dame earlier this season, bouncing back from an early interception to complete 13 of 22 passes for 220 yards and connect on three first-half touchdown passes, Carr seized the opportunity to settle an old score concerning derogatory remarks written about Henne.
"A year ago, when we did not have much success, Henne had to take an incredible amount of unfair criticism," Carr said. "He can't do this, he can't do that. It's just baloney. If you value courage ... what he did after that interception, that speaks to what he is."
Henne has been exceptional the majority of his career, but Michigan has also been his school of hard knocks at times.
"At a place like Michigan, the expectations are always sky high, so you expect to be under a lot of scrutiny," Henne said. "It just goes with the territory. There's pressure that goes with it, but everybody who plays here has to deal with that. It's not just me."
Henne has appeared stoic at times, but Carr said the focus and competitive nature of his quarterback are second to none. While Henne is not as demonstrative as some, Carr cautions that Henne's staid expression not be interpreted as a lack of passion.
"I think if you get to know him, he's a pretty reserved guy," Carr said. "But he's got a fire in his belly. This guy is a great competitor. When you look at the quarterback, if you know anything about the game, you're watching to see the protection.
"Chad Henne, if we do a great job of protecting him, then good things will happen. And when he doesn't get protection, they won't. And a year ago he took a beating, and that's largely as a result of not being able to protect him very well."
Michigan captain Jake Long, the Wolverines' left tackle, said Henne's brand of steely leadership has worked well, even when he was a very young quarterback giving direction to a huddle full of veterans.
"Off the field, people might think he's quiet and think that means he's not good about taking charge," Long said. "But every day in practice there will be a situation where he takes control and gets after somebody who is not on the right page. And in the games, it's more of the same thing. He's definitely comfortable in a leadership role on this team."
This season Henne has thrown for 18 touchdowns and completed 62 percent of his passes (156 of 252) with seven interceptions. With just 68 passing yards against the Buckeyes, Henne will have a third straight 2,000-yard season. He will join John Navarre as the only Michigan quarterbacks to throw for 2,000 yards three times in a career.
