Manningham faces surgery

ANN ARBOR -- Michigan's standout sophomore receiver Mario Manningham was expected to undergo arthroscopic surgery this morning to repair a partial torn meniscus and a possible partial tear of a medial collateral ligament in a knee, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Manningham was injured in last Saturday's Michigan State victory. He left the field with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter and did not return. He was later seen icing the knee.

He is expected to miss several weeks, beginning, obviously, with Saturday's prime-time game at Penn State.

This is an enormous loss for the fourth-ranked and unbeaten Wolverines. Manningham emerged as Michigan's go-to receiver and leads the Big Ten in receiving yards, averaging 87.8 yards, total receiving yards (527), and he leads the country in receiving touchdowns with nine.

During Monday's weekly news conference, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said at the time he was unclear on Manningham's status.

"I don't have any comment on Mario," Carr said. "I'm sure you understand, because I don't know everything there is to know. At some point, I will."

Medical evidence shows the medial collateral ligament (MCL) is the most frequently injured ligament. These types of injuries are extremely common in football.

Manningham's absence leaves open the door for Adrian Arrington, who has played particularly well the last three games, and for senior Steve Breaston. Freshman Greg Mathews and fifth-year senior Carl Tabb could be factors.

Breaston did not appear too concerned on Monday when asked how the Wolverines would respond to not having Manningham available.

"I really feel that our receivers are prepared for any situation," Breaston said. "He's scored a lot, he's a great part of our offense, but I'm not worried."

Clearly, though, Manningham is their deep threat. Manningham, a two-time Big Ten offensive-player-of-the-week honoree, has scored eight touchdowns in the last four games.

"(Our) confidence level changes," Breaston said, when asked what Manningham brings to the field. "He brings the big play. Whenever you can score a quick strike downfield, that's good for any team. He's been doing that all year.

"He does bring that to the table, but I think we're explosive a lot more than just him. That's one of our weapons, but I'm not really worried."

Carr is confident the depth at receiver will be enough no matter what the circumstances.

"I think Greg Mathews has really done a great job up to this part of the season, and we feel confident in his ability from the first game," Carr said. "That's why we played him early. I think we anticipated at some point that his role would increase. I'm hoping that Carl Tabb, who has been nursing an injury throughout training camp he's close to 100 percent."

Injury update

Tight end Tyler Ecker has missed the last two games because of an injury to his right ankle suffered on the first play of the Minnesota game. He was on crutches Saturday for the MSU game.

"Tyler told me on Friday that he expected to play this week, but I do not have a report yet," Carr said.

No redshirts for frosh

Freshmen Justin Boren and Carlos Brown , who enrolled early at Michigan and participated in spring drills, opted to not take redshirt seasons this year.

Boren, out earlier in the season because of an ankle injury, played against MSU and is listed third string on the depth chart at left guard.

"It was not an easy decision," Carr said. "We just feel like he's in a position on that depth chart where he will get enough opportunity to play to make this a valuable year for him."

Burning the clock

Michigan leads the nation in time of possession, averaging 34:15 a game.

"I think the time of possession is an outcome of playing the game totally, so I think it's important," Carr said. "I mean, I don't know anybody who would not like to have the ball more than their opponent, because if you have it more than your opponent, in most cases, you have got a good chance to win."

The Wolverines held the ball a season-high 37:39 at Minnesota.

Quotable

Carr on whether he or Penn State coach Joe Paterno , who will turn 80 in December, will retire first: "I read where coach Paterno said he's going to coach how many more years? Ten? Well, I can assure you I'm going to be first."

You can reach Angelique S. Chengelis at Angelique.Chengelis@detnews.com">Angelique.Chengelis@detnews.com.