CARR LAUDS COUGARS TO LULL LEAF?Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf Ryan David Leaf (born May 15, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks between 1998 and 2002. might be advised to accept the compliment warily, since football coaches are known to praise opponents to the heights in hopes of lulling them into complacency. Then again, the remark came from Michigan coach Lloyd Carr Lloyd H. Carr (born July 30, 1945) has served as head coach of the University of Michigan football team since 1995. To date, Carr has a record of 119-38. Under Carr, the Wolverines have won or shared five Big Ten titles (in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2004), and his 1997 squad was , an avowed a·vow tr.v. a·vowed, a·vow·ing, a·vows 1. To acknowledge openly, boldly, and unashamedly; confess: avow guilt. See Synonyms at acknowledge. 2. To state positively. straight shooter straight shooter n. Informal One who is honest and forthright. straight  -shoot . Carr, in anticipation of a Rose Bowl meeting with Washington State, said Tuesday, ``Since I've been at Michigan - 18 years - I think Ryan Leaf is the best quarterback we've played against. Offensively, we've never played a team in my memory that averaged 42 points a game. We've never faced a team as prolific as this. No one has stopped their offense and I don't think anyone can stop their offense. . . . Our defense is not going to win this game by itself.'' The praise of Leaf gains significance when weighed against the competition. Carr came to Michigan as a defensive assistant in 1980 and served as defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a football team in the National Football League or college football who is in charge of the defense. This position aids the head coach a great deal in many ways by delegating play calling to other coaches and allowing the head for eight years before taking over as coach three seasons ago. Along the way, he prepared for several accomplished college quarterbacks, including Penn State's Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 29, 1972 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the fifth overall pick of the 1995 NFL Draft. , USC's Rodney Peete, Miami's Bernie Kosar, Florida State's Casey Weldon, Iowa's Chuck Long and Ohio State's Art Schlichter. Covering ground: Michigan sack leader Glen Steele cited Washington State's use of multiple wide receivers and said, ``They really like to spread a defense out. It's an offense we haven't quite seen this year.'' In the Big Ten, Purdue probably comes closest to Washington State in offensive style. The Boilermakers upset Michigan 9-3 last year but were not on the schedule in '97. Knuckling down: Quarterback Brian Griese said the team is being worked hard at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo in the wake of bowl losses the last two seasons (Alamo Alamo Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. in '95, Outback in '96). Carr vowed to make certain the players are in sound physical shape and ``realize that we're not here on a vacation.'' |
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