He Wants to Show Another Dimension : Michigan: Grbac hopes things are different against Washington with a more versatile offense.

The first two times Michigan’s Elvis Grbac tried to pass in last year’s Rose Bowl game, he was sacked by Washington’s defense.

That was tough to take for a quarterback who had led the nation in pass efficiency and who had been sacked only half a dozen times all season.

Whenever yardage or touchdowns were needed, Grbac had gone to his former high school teammate, Desmond Howard, who earned a Heisman Trophy catching passes from Grbac and running back kicks. They had clicked on 61 passes in 11 regular-season games for 950 yards and 19 touchdowns. But in the Rose Bowl, Grbac completed only one pass to Howard.

The result was predictable: Washington 34, Michigan 14.

“It was like we got cut and couldn’t stop the bleeding,” the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Grbac said of the sacks.

“Our offense was one-dimensional last year, and their speed on the corners took us out of our game plan. They were so quick that we started trying to speed up our offense to beat their quickness, but all that happened was that we got completely out of rhythm. We got away from what we did best.”

Grbac says the Huskies are just as quick this year, despite the loss of Steve Emtman, who was the NFL’s No. 1 draft choice, but that Michigan’s offensive line is much stronger. One reason is that Steve Everitt is ready to play. Everitt, a second team All-American and All-Big Ten, sat out the 1992 game after suffering an ankle injury during practice three days before the Rose Bowl game.

How important is Everitt? With Everitt as starting center in three seasons, Michigan is 18-1-3. In games he missed, they are 9-4.

“We have more weapons to throw at them this time, and that puts more pressure on the defense,” Grbac said. “Last year we went to Desmond when we needed something, and when they took that away from us, we were lost. This year, it definitely helps to be able to throw to the tight end and running backs as well as wide receivers.”

For example, tight end Tony McGee has caught 32 passes for 350 yards and four touchdowns. By comparison, Michigan’s tight end output in 1991 was 11 receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns. And four of the six other players who have caught more than 10 passes this season are backs.

Grbac says he has been waiting all year, hoping for another shot at Washington, a team that earned national championship honors with its rout of the Wolverines, but he says he’s trying to downplay vengeance.

“There’s a bit of a revenge factor, but there’s also the fact that we want to finish the season undefeated,” he said. “That was one of my goals before the season. I’ll admit, I didn’t figure on three ties, but it would still be great to be undefeated.

“The most important thing for me to do is not put too much pressure on myself, not to try and do too much. We want to establish our offensive scheme and let it flow. We don’t want any more bleeding.”

Some critics have labeled Grbac a quarterback who doesn’t play his best in big games. They point to last year’s Rose Bowl game and this year’s tie with Notre Dame, in which he tried to throw the ball away and instead threw it to a defensive back. That interception cost Michigan a potential game-winning field goal.

Neither Coach Gary Moeller nor his teammates will listen to such talk.

“Sometimes the competition will create problems he’s never seen before,” Moeller said. “But overall. Elvis has done very well. As for big games, remember all the attention Desmond Howard got last year for that Heisman catch against Notre Dame? Well, somebody had to throw that ball, and that somebody was Elvis.

“This year, Elvis has been able to get us into the right place (in the game plan) pretty effectively. I feel comfortable with him.

“Friday, all his thinking, and mine, and everyone’s, should be about winning for Michigan. It won’t matter if he has to hand the ball off 50 times and never throw, or if he has to throw 50 times. No matter how he looks, or how I look, we must think in terms of winning this game.”

Doug Skene, Michigan’s All-Big Ten offensive guard, says that Grbac is clearly the leader of the offense.

“Elvis doesn’t say much but when he does, you know it’s important,” Skene said. “When he comes into the huddle and says, ‘Let’s go get one,’ you can sense the urgency.

“You can’t put the blame on him for last year’s game. We had no power up the middle and when we tried to go outside, they were waiting for us. By halftime, we were feeling helpless. It was only 13-7, but it felt like it was 35-7.”

Grbac was injured early in the final game against Ohio State last Nov. 21 but says he is fit for the Rose Bowl.

“I had some bruised ribs and lung, but since Rose Bowl practice started, I’ve got back in the flow of things. The downside of this season was missing two games (Oklahoma State and Houston) with an injured ankle. It was tough to sit and watch.”

The high mark of the season for Grbac was a comeback victory over Purdue, 24-17, after having trailed at halftime, 17-7.

“Purdue really came at us in the first half, and I thought we showed a lot of character coming back the way we did, with one long drive (92 yards) to start the second half and came right back for another one the next time we got the ball,” Grbac said.

Now all that’s left is Washington.

Grbac is one of several fifth-year seniors who have made their fourth trip to Pasadena. The only time they have seen Michigan win was in 1989, and none of them played except on the practice field.

“It’s tough to look back over your career and know that’s the only time you’ve won in the Rose Bowl,” he said. “I want one huge game in a big game, but what we have to have is the very best game from everybody on the team.

“If we do that, I think we can beat Washington.”