This Season, It's A Different Game -- Elvis Grbac Doesn't Feel So Overwhelmed

He is not the same Elvis Grbac he remembers, not the one who dreaded the approaching new year.

Not the same Elvis Grbac who, one year ago, helped create the instruments of his torture. There was this bowl game with national championship implications. There also was this idea of turning pro early, as some thought the junior was capable of doing after the Rose Bowl.

And lest we forget that the quarterback for the University of Michigan was also a student, there was this large matter of taking final exams.

The vise was closing, and Grbac put his head right into it.

"It was a tough time," Grbac remembered. "There was so much hype for the game, finals were around. It all was overwhelming."

Grbac's Wolverines lost 34-14 to the Washington Huskies on New Year's Day. Grbac finished last season as the NCAA's top-rated quarterback, with a 169.0 rating, but he could not have cared less.

"It was a terrible month," he said.

One year later, the game is the same, but the circumstances are much different.

"It's great," said Grbac, who will quarterback Michigan one more time when the Wolverines play Washington in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. "I can't imagine anything better. I'm going to finish up school, then really concentrate on the game. It will be nice to get away from the snow, relax and enjoy myself. What better way to do that than play Washington again in the Rose Bowl?

"Then I'll continue on with the pro scouts, and see where life takes me. I'm definitely having a good time right now."

And why not? Grbac holds seven career records at Michigan, including most yards (6,285), most completions (505), highest completion percentage (62.7 percent) and most touchdown passes (69).

Not bad for a guy who didn't start playing football until his senior year in high school. Grbac did not have colleges falling for him. Were it not for his high school teammate Desmond Howard, Grbac might not have been noticed. While looking at tape of Howard, coaches noticed the guy throwing the ball.

Grbac took his last test Friday, a 10-page exam for a television and radio class. He expects to earn a degree in communications in May. Tomorrow he will go home to Willoughby Hills, Ohio. He and his fiancee will see the Cleveland ballet perform "The Nutcracker." He guarantees his friends and family will see a mellower, happier Grbac.

"My season's done with, my career is over," Grbac said. "There's just one more game to play."

Unlike last year's Rose Bowl, the rematch has no strings attached. The national championship is no longer a consideration. Grbac will turn pro whether he has a good game or not.

Grbac's statistics, though not as good as those of last season, made him the NCAA's highest-rated quarterback for the second consecutive year. Grbac completed 112 of 169 passes (66.3 percent) for 15 touchdowns. He was intercepted 12 times, giving him a rating of 154.2.

"He reads defenses well," said Washington defensive coordinator Jim Lambright. "He dumps off well and takes what defenses give him. He's not going to hold on to the ball when he sees the rush. What I really like about him is that he's a coach's type of quarterback. He obviously studies and does what it takes to beat you."

Grbac's passing skills are unquestionably sound. It is his feet that are questioned.

"We want him to run the ball," said Husky safety Walter Bailey. "We want to make him move out of the pocket."

Grbac rushed for just 17 yards as a sophomore, dipped to minus-103 as a junior and finished with minus-48 this season. He scored the only rushing touchdown of his career last month against Ohio State.

Grbac's senior season has at times fallen short of expectations. In a 17-17 tie with Notre Dame in September, Grbac threw three interceptions, including one that killed Michigan's final drive on Notre Dame's 30-yard line. Grbac meant to throw the pass away, but carelessly lofted it toward a defender.

He also sprained his ankle in the game, forcing him to miss two games. Talk of a demotion spread as backup Todd Collins sparkled in victories over Oklahoma State, 35-3, and Houston, 61-7.

Michigan beat Iowa and Michigan State in Grbac's first two games back, but the quarterback had only mediocre days, each time passing for a little more than 100 yards with two interceptions.

"At the beginning of the season, there was so much pressure on all the quarterbacks," Grbac said. "We were supposed to do so well. After one or two bad weeks, no one wanted to talk to us anymore. You put so much pressure on yourself, and the media puts more pressure on you. I just had to get away from everything, go back to the fundamentals."

Grbac has passed for 200 yards or more in three of his last five games. He was on track for 200 yards in the last game of the regular season against Ohio State. But he left the game early in the second quarter after being hit hard while scoring on a quarterback draw.

In his absence, the Wolverines played their second consecutive tie.

Play-calling has been blamed, but Grbac will not make any excuses for his team's three ties. No, he does not have Howard to throw to anymore, but he will tell you the team's big-play potential has not been compromised. At the same time, the offense has involved more people, grown more diverse.

"One of the biggest improvements has been the changes their coaching staff has made as far as multiple formations," Lambright said. "They're going to four-receiver sets, giving defenses greater problems as far as stretching you to cover the whole field."

That being the case, sophomore tailback Tyrone Wheatley, who has rushed for 1,122 yards, offered this advice:

"The poor guy (Grbac) should calm down, relax, take a rest. There are other seniors on the team. Elvis is taking it all on his shoulders. Being a fifth-year senior, and the quarterback, he thinks he's obligated to do everything. The truth is, he's playing very well." ------------------------------

GRBAC'S STATS Season PC-PA Pct. Yds. TD Int. Rating. 1992 112-169 66.3 1,465 15 12 154.2#. 1991 165-254 65.0 2,085 25 6 169.0 .

# - Grbac was the NCAA's highest-rated quarterback for the second consecutive season.