So Henne was good...really good.
Wow. I started watching UM football in 1981. I have fond memories of Henne. I remember him as a good QB. I don't remember Henne being this good. I know we live in an era where star QBs play 2-3 years and then bolt to the NFL....but dang. Math never lies:
#GoBlue
October 27th, 2023 at 6:56 PM ^
Chad, congrats on a great college and NFL career. Great to see you back on MGoBlog!
October 27th, 2023 at 9:13 PM ^
He's trying to provoke JJ into coming back.
I approve.
October 28th, 2023 at 7:33 PM ^
If you’re making a few million a year and not having to officially adult I’d Tommy boy the shit out of that. Come back JJ and be a Dr
October 27th, 2023 at 9:48 PM ^
Thanks !! /s
October 27th, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
No doubt about it. Also had a really good WR corps most of his time, and Mike Hart. But yeah, go reread “Nails” and recall all it took was a solid kick to his Soviet era motherboard and hes off to nailcoeds.exe
-one of Brian’s best postgame summaries
October 27th, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
Henne was truly THAT good. The dude could throw a missile and he had some great receivers (i.e. Avant, Manningham) along for the ride that helped him as well. His longevity in the NFL was not surprising to me at all and like Brady, proud of him being a Wolverine…Go Blue!
October 27th, 2023 at 7:40 PM ^
Too bad Lloyd was his coach, and DeBord his OC.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:35 PM ^
Didn't all of Lloyd's starting QBs make the NFL? There are a lot worse coaches you could have played for.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
Dreisbach (Rostered, but never played in an NFL game)
Griese
Brady
Henson
Navarre
Henne
Mallett
He inherited the first three from Moeller, but they only played under the Carr regime. And of course, Mallett was a spot starter in 2007 when Henne was hurt.
October 28th, 2023 at 5:19 PM ^
Matt Gutierrez
October 31st, 2023 at 3:23 PM ^
LLLLoyd was a great recruiter, yes.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:54 PM ^
Don't forget Braylon in '04.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:59 PM ^
I always thought he was the best QB michigan has had in my lifetime, until JJ. I started watching in Michigan football in 1984.
October 28th, 2023 at 1:34 AM ^
IMO Rick Leach was the best. Plus he kicked Woody's ass.
October 27th, 2023 at 6:58 PM ^
We'll just have to get JJ to stay all four years to see if he can break those records.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:16 PM ^
Didn’t Henne start as a freshman/all four years?
October 27th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
Yes. He didn't play every game his senior season, or else his numbers would be even better.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:02 PM ^
With a little help from the fact that Matt Guiterez was set to be the starter in 2004 but some injury the week leading up to the opening game forced Henne into the starting position against Miami-Ohio. I went to that game. Back in those days, I posted on rivals.com, and someone posted rumors that Henne was about to be named the starter and everyone was like...gulp. When I got to Ann Arbor, nobody else had seemed to hear this news and the stadium was in shock when Henne trotted out for the first offensive series. He played so well that Lloyd had to stick with him (something that would happen with Mike Hart 2 weeks later against San Diego State).
Henne's stats are crazy, especially when you consider that injuries kept him from playing against Notre Dame, Penn State, Minnesota and most of the Wisconsin game his senior year. So those stats would have been higher.
October 28th, 2023 at 11:54 AM ^
I’ll always wonder what could have been had Gutierrez never gotten hurt. He always looked so solid in relief of Navarre. Granted, it was at the end of blowouts…
October 28th, 2023 at 6:06 AM ^
Henne was really good, but he was also a statistical outlier for a college QB.
4 years.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:02 PM ^
I don't know if we'll see JJ play 4 quarters this year (until the Playoff) let alone 4 years.
October 27th, 2023 at 6:59 PM ^
I think if JJ plays one more year, he could compete for total yards, but TDs will be hard.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:45 PM ^
Well we do play MSU and USC next year.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:00 PM ^
I’m starting the campaign right here, right now.
JJ McCarthy 2024 Pass Henne SZN.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:01 PM ^
I mean...He did play for 4 years minus a few games.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:32 PM ^
That’s definitely part of it - he started more games than probably all the others at the top of the list.
But it’s to his credit that he was a four-year starter. A lot of our QBs (even JJ) weren’t ready as true freshmen. Yes, Matt Gutierrez got hurt, but Henne wasn’t just a stopgap player that year, he was very good - and led us to the B1G title.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:35 PM ^
It didn’t hurt that the receiving corps over his years were
Braylon
Avant
Breaston
Ecker
Massaquoi
Manningham
Arrington
Butler
Mathews
We all remember Lloyd as a ground-and-pound guy, but he had some TALENT catching the ball. Harbaugh is the exact same way.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:40 PM ^
A lot of Michigan QBs have had great receivers and TEs to throw to. We're not #1 all-time in wins for nothing.
Still, most of the other QBs on this list were not ready to go as freshmen. Chad was. Watch the Braylonfest game and keep in mind, he's doing this four months after his HS graduation.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:41 PM ^
You left out Arrington.
October 28th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
Man I would’ve loved to see a Mallet/Arrington combination in an alternate 2008 universe (no Rich Rod). Arrington had a great bowl game and would have been dominant as a senior. Manningham could have stayed too. Phew.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:26 PM ^
Having 2 Jason Avant's definitely skewed his stats . .
October 27th, 2023 at 7:02 PM ^
He was really good. Natural drop back passer; great games against osu. Also TD manningham, another td to manningham to wrap up msu game. His last game against Florida May have been his best
October 27th, 2023 at 7:04 PM ^
That Florida game is still one of my favorites.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:40 PM ^
I still ask myself: "Where was that all year?"
There is no reason that it couldn't have been there all year.
What could have been . . .
October 27th, 2023 at 8:01 PM ^
That was one of the most bizarre Michigan games I have ever seen. That offense came out of nowhere. Nothing in Lloyd Carr's career suggested he ever had that ace up his sleeve, and it was frankly frustrating that he waited until the last game of his career to take it out. But it was great to see him go out with a win (against Urban Meyer and the defending national champions, no less).
Also: we won that game despite losing the turnover battle 5-0. I can't think of another game where the winning team was on the wrong end of such a lopsided turnover margin.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:04 PM ^
Hart fumbled twice. smh
October 27th, 2023 at 8:21 PM ^
... Inside the 10 yard line both times.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:49 PM ^
Nothing in Lloyd Carr's career suggested he ever had that ace up his sleeve, and it was frankly frustrating that he waited until the last game of his career to take it out.
The plan reportedly was to unleash that offense against OSU, but Henne's injury made it impossible.
(So many times in the last 20 years we've gone into the Game with our starting QB banged up, if not out. I won't complain about us not running JJ enough in these blowout games. Keep our weapon of a QB healthy.)
October 28th, 2023 at 7:25 PM ^
Lloyd finally deciding to cut loose and say, "Eff it!!!" is another thing that makes that game so great.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:34 PM ^
His game against ND in South Bend is one of my all time favorite Michigan games to watch. Complete domination and the beginning of the end to the Quinn and Weiss mythologies.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:03 PM ^
Recall that Henne had four whole seasons to get those numbers.
He was good. He played at a pretty high level as a true freshman, which is impressive at that position. I would've liked slightly better accuracy, but no one is perfect.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:03 PM ^
Look up his highlights on YouTube, just slinging laser beams all over the field.
Tossing up deep missiles to Braylon and Manningham.
He deserved 2 wins against OSU
October 27th, 2023 at 7:06 PM ^
Yeah and he threw to Braylon, Breaston, Avant, then Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington. Not toooooo shabby. Not to mention Mike hart and Jake Long protecting his blindside. If fucking Shawn Crable doesn't get that late hit out of bounds he would probably have a win over OSU and a National Championship appearance.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:22 PM ^
Other than Jake Long, the O-line wasn't much to write home about. AFAIK no one else made an active NFL roster. Solid players in a couple cases, but topped out at the UDFA / practice squad level.
October 28th, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
david baas had a good long career, i think he was there…and the lines might not have had many pros, but we had all-conference guys every year. stenavich, krause, lentz, bihl, i think ruben riley made it a couple times.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:14 PM ^
Throwing to Braylon during his freshman year, his accuracy wasn't always THAT great. Any bomb he threw, Braylon usually had to adjust to it. But in the Rose Bowl, all of Henne's deep throws were perfectly on target. I think he would have been the Rose Bowl MVP had the Michigan defense not missed about 300 tackles on Vince Young making us lose 38-37....ugh. I just threw up in my mouth.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:39 PM ^
Crable's hit was clean.
October 28th, 2023 at 2:08 AM ^
What was particular annoying was that the exact same hit occurred in the USC-UCLA game and was not flagged!