Freshman QB Mallett shows off powerful arm

Some observations from Michigan's final spring practice Saturday at Michigan Stadium (all statistics are unofficial):

• The defense won, 42-41, in front of about 5,500 fans on a cold, windy day at Michigan Stadium.

With Garrett Rivas gone, kicking duties are going to be up in the air. None of the three candidates (Bryan Wright, K.C. Lopata and Jason Olesnavage) wowed anyone. No kickoff reached beyond the 5-yard line. But Lopata, a senior from Farmington High, did connect on 39-, 40- and 43-yard field goals to make him the unofficial front-runner. Wright missed his first attempt -- a 32-yarder -- but connected later on a 25-yarder. Olesnavage, who made his first extra-point attempt, came up short of his first 44-yard attempt.

• The defense, though not allowed to touch senior quarterback Chad Henne, did find pressure through the middle of the line a couple of times -- especially when there was a safety blitz.

• Michigan's cornerbacks did not fare well when it mattered most, as junior Johnny Sears was beaten on both touchdown passes by a receiving corps headlined by sophomore Greg Mathews.

• Freshman fullback Vince Helmuth and sophomore Brandon Minor received the majority of carries in the absence of Kevin Grady and Mike Hart. Helmuth had the largest gain of the two at 14 yards and showed he can take a barraging of hits. Grady recently tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and will miss a good portion, if not all, of the 2007 season. Hart recently had minor shoulder surgery, but he should be OK for the fall.

• Henne threw a touchdown pass to Mathews before giving way to backup Ryan Mallett.

• Ryan Mallett, U-M's top-ranked recruit, was greeted with the loudest individual applause of the day and displayed a bullet of an arm during warm-ups. Ryan Mallett, a 6-foot-6, 247-pounder, kept things light and received cheers when he rolled out to his right on a busted play and ran into the end zone untouched. (Quarterbacks were off limit to defenders.) He also connected with sophomore David Middleton on a 16-yard tightly thrown post pass just beyond the hand of Sears. Ryan Mallett's first attempt at a deep ball was slightly overthrown. The second -- on a fade to Mathews -- created the most controversy when Morgan Trent appeared to tackle Mathews from behind. The officials ruled it clean, drawing ire from fans.

• Ryan Mallett's second session was not as clean as the first -- he did not connect with any of his wideouts.

• Junior tight end Chris McLaurin seemed to be a favorite target of Henne's and Ryan Mallett's -- or, at least the tight end drifting out into the flats was a popular route for the quarterback; it could be a sign that defensive coverage was up to par or that it will be an easy three-to-five yard pickup (similar to how Andy Reid utilizes most of his offensive players in the Philadelphia Eagles' offense).

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