Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 29

The Detroit News Set lion Tigers Florida follow-up The players get back all right and will have a workout today to get ready for the Royals. Page 5C U.S. Open, Upset special Seventh sed Maria Shara-pova, right, loses in the third round to Mary Pierce, 4-6, Page 3C 'Curl's ThtDetnitKmOngM All day. every day httpdetnews.com Hockey 2C Golf 3C Baseball 4C For the record UC Sunday, September 5, 2004 nn nr a) 1 mm uuLin I If UUU LJ L-i -i usr I iW wl wiw ''lijwimi phw mmimmmm- mt. wpnu hwii mntm-tmrnv- phi jdhw.ii..

ii 1. I QB Henne shines in 1st start By John Niyo The Detroit News ANN ARBOR One look is all it took Saturday for Chad Henne. "You come out of the tunnel and you've got loo.ooo-plus fans out there when you look up," Henne said. "And I'm like. This isn't high school anymore." No, it was much more than Frunt H.

Conlon Newark Star-Ledger Michigan State's Roderick Maples and Greg Cooper (29) bring down Rutgers' Brian Leonard. U-M43 that for Henne, a freshman who was the surprise starter for No. 8-ranked Michigan in Saturday's 43-10 victory against Miami MIAMI 10 Dowdell, receivers struggle Ohio before a crowd of 110,815 at Michigan Stadium. Henne, who became only the second true freshman in history i AV 7, a By Dave Dye The Detroit News PISCATAWAY, N.J. Damon Dowdell made one big mistake too many.

Defensive end Ryan Neill's 31-yard interception return with RUT. 19 to start a season opener for the Wolverines, stepped in for injured starter Matt Gutierrez and helped the Wolverines escape an early scare from the Redhawks, who owned the nation's longest winning streak at 14 games. Now the question is whether Henne, who wore the same jer sey No. 7 as the last freshman quarterback to start an opener Rick Leach in 1975 did enough to keep the job. Henne, a 19-year-old from Wyomissing, Pa, completed 14 of 24 pass attempts for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

He threw one interception, missed a few reads and took three sacks, but clearly made a strong impression with his poise. Please see U-M, Page 8C 5:10 remaining in the third quarter turned the game in Rutgers' favor Saturday in the season opener. Linebacker Brad Cunningham was coming on a blitz. BucksanThe Detroit News Long snapper Bradford Banta, a 10-year veteran, lost his spot to Jody Littleton. Lions down to final 7 cuts Banta and Babers are among the 14 released Saturday.

ByMikeO'Hara The Detroit News ALLEN PARK The first cut was the deepest, but not the hardest or the last. Coach Steve Mariucci's most difficult decisions will come today when he considers a number of factors in cutting the Lions' roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players. Fourteen players were cut Saturday, leaving seven more to be let go by today's 4 p.m. deadline. Only two Lions with NFL experience were cut long-snapper Bradford Banta, who played 10 pro seasons, and cornerback Rod Babers, a rookie in 2003.

There were no real surprises and no big names in Saturday's roster reduction. That might not be the case today. 5 Injuries could lead to some painful cuts. "Some of these are health issues in regard to the individuals, in regard to the depth at that position that has some injuries," Mariucci said. Strong safety Brian Walker, a starter the last two years after coming from Miami as a free agent, is at risk of not making, the final roster.

It "would not be surprise if Walker were put on injured reserve, which would end his Walker played only the first two exhibition games. He underwent arthroscopic surgery Friday to have loose bodies removed from his "right knee. The date of his return is not known. "From what I understand, it will be a matter of a few weeks," Mariucci said. Please see LIONS, Page jC Ready to go Carson Palmer says he's confident after a solid preseason.

Page 3C Coming Thursday Detroit Lions and NFL preview only in The Detroit News. (a MSU14 John T. Greilick The Detroit News U-M's Chad Henne, left, leaps into the arms of Bray Ion Edwards as Jason Avant helps celebrate a touchdown. Gutierrez uncertain when he will return Dowdell tried to make a quick screen pass to running back DeAndraCobb. But he threw it right to Neill instead.

Neill raced for the end zone to give the Scarlet Knights a 16-7 lead. Rutgers finished off a 19-14 victory before the largest crowd (42,612) in the 10-year history of Rutgers Stadium. The fans celebrated by running onto the field and swarming the players. Dowdell, a fifth-year senior, got the start at quarterback ahead of redshirt freshman Stephen Reaves and third-year sophomore Drew Stantort, who is recovering from knee surgery. Please see MSU, Page 7C some trouble so I wasn't able to practice," said Gutierrez, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound redshirt-sophomore.

"It was just probably the wear of camp. We threw a lot of balls. Beyond that I'm not really sure." When did he start feeling pain? "I'd rather not talk about that," Gutierrez said. When will he be allowed to By Jim Spadafore The Detroit News ANN ARBOR Michigan quarterback Matt Gutierrez isn't sure how or when he injured his throwing arm. He's questionable for Saturday's game against Notre Dame.

Gutierrez practiced Monday and Tuesday. But Wednesday, he told Coach Lloyd Carr he felt some soreness in his arm. After being evaluated by the team doctors, Gutierrez did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Freshman Chad Henne started in his place. Gutierrez's only game action Saturday was holding for extra points.

"My arm started giving me return to practice? "Who knows," Gutierrez said. "I'm just going to try and get healthy and do whatever I can for the team. "It's day to day, trying to get healed up and help the other guys along. And, like I said, do what I can for the team." After winning the starting position, was Gutierrez disappointed? "You can't look at it that way," Gutierrez said, "because if you look at it that way you'll lose sight of the main thing we should be focused on right now and that's the team winning ball games and doing what I can to help the team win." hmV 1 i.pi.w mmm Alabama State stops Howard ing Howard, 27-12, at Ford Field. Alabama State, then viewed as the underdog, won last year's Classic, 38-22, over Florida Welcome home Howard cornerback Ronald Bartell (Detroit Renaissance) has: an interception.

Page 8C This time, the Hornets were the favorite and proved to be Hornets' offense strikes early; defense forces five fumbles. By Joanne C. Gerstner The Detroit News DETROIT Alabama State sees Ford Field as a special place, a haven for winning football games and kicking off seasons. The Hornets used Saturday's Ford Detroit Football Classic again as a good way to start the year, beat A crowd of 45,713 saw the Hornets assume early control. Alabama State junior Keldrick Williams eluded three tacklers on an 8-yard run for the first touchdown at 7:05 in the first quarter.

The Hornets followed up with another touchdown with less than a minute left in the first, as junior quarterback Tavaris Jackson hooked up with Clayton Harris for a 48-yard pass play. Howard was unable to string much together until 13:51 in the second. Senior tailback Jay Colbert scored on a 13-yard run. Neither team was able to score again until the waning minutes of the third quarter. The Hornets kicked field goals of 40 and 37 yards in a two-minute spaa capable of backing up their pre-season buzz.

Alabama State used stifling defense, forcing five fumbles. It also had the ball for more than half of the game. Elizabeth Conley The Detroit News Alabama State running back Keldrick Williams (2) scored on an 8-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. i it" EASY DOES IT Bob Stoops coached No. 2 Oklahoma to an easy victory over Bowling Green.

Oh, it helped that Jason White had a big game. BEARING DOWN Jason Zwick completed 14 of 26 passes for 213 yards in No. 9 Ohio State's 27-9 victory over Cincinnati. Page 6C IIEISr.UN WATCH Quarterback David Greene of Georgia is among five candidates for college football's most prized trophy. Page 6C A.

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