ANN ARBOR -- It has been, without question, a trying season for Michigan sophomore quarterback Chad Henne.

But Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is firmly behind his starter, echoing his support week after week, particularly when backup quarterback Matt Gutierrez's name is brought up.

Henne has started 18 straight games for the unranked Wolverines (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten), and while at times he has looked solid and poised this season, there have been other games, in particular the three losses, in which he has looked uncertain and mechanically unsound.

In each of Michigan's three losses, Henne completed less than 50 percent of his attempts. He also had two of his three interceptions. Last season Henne had only two games where he completed 50 percent or less of his attempts.

After the Wolverines' most recent loss to Minnesota, Henne was not available to the media. His teammates this week said he is remaining upbeat.

"I don't think he's lost confidence," said senior left tackle Adam Stenavich. "He looked good in the Michigan State game, because we protected him.

"Then, in the Minnesota game, we gave up three sacks and a couple hits, so that just can't happen. If we give him time, he can do whatever he wants, because he's a great player, and he knows that.

"I just look at it from the offensive-line standpoint that we're just not getting it done."

Stenavich wasn't about to place all of the offense's woes on the shoulders of the linemen.

It isn't all their fault that Michigan is 10th in the Big Ten in red zone offense, converting on 21-of-29 attempts.

"There are breakdowns all over the place," Stenavich said.

There were other offensive breakdowns against Minnesota. There were five dropped passes, and Henne had at least three overthrows.

Henne said after the Wisconsin game that there were some mechanical twitches in his throwing motion -- he was 16-of-34 for 258 yards, an interception and two touchdowns -- that he repaired in 20 minutes during the following practice.

He is eighth in pass efficiency in the Big Ten and sixth in passing, averaging 211 yards. Henne's best game by far was Michigan's overtime victory at Michigan State when he was 26-of-35 (74 percent) for 256 yards and three touchdowns.

"You can't sit here and say that Chad doesn't throw the ball well -- he does," said senior tight end Tim Massaquoi. "He throws the ball well in practice and in the game. When your offensive line is not protecting well, when your receivers and tight ends aren't getting open or are dropping the ball, it makes it harder for the quarterback to throw.

"It's not just the quarterback, it's the whole offense. We're taking chances, but we're just not converting. We can't be conservative if we want to win. We're just not making the plays. The quarterback and the coaches are always to blame when the team doesn't do well. The blame should be spread to everybody. All of us aren't playing well. We win as a team, and we lose as a team. That's the concept we have here. That's how football is. It's not just one person playing the game, it's eleven guys on defense, it's eleven guys on offense, it's the special teams."

The Minnesota game was particularly difficult in terms of converting on third down, or, as in Michigan's case, its inability to convert. The Wolverines were 3-of-14 on third down.

Some of the inability to convert rests on Henne's shoulders. On two critical third-down situations, he took sacks of 8 and 3 yards and both times Michigan was forced to punt. On one third-and-9, he completed a 7-yard pass, and Michigan punted, and on a third-and-12, he completed a 4-yard pass to Mario Manningham, which led to a missed field-goal attempt.

Henne overthrew Jason Avant on third-and-10, and Michigan settled for a first-half field goal.

"I think he made three overthrows, all three to Jason Avant," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "He missed him by five or six inches on (the third-and-10) play I think from the (30)-yard line. The ball was just missed. And then he missed on a play at the north end zone where he had Jason and he threw the ball low. I think on that particular case, he simply rushed the throw. That's what it looked like to me."

Carr said that, yes, there were some throwing mechanics worked out after the Wisconsin game, but he would not say this week that Henne has any issues with his throwing.

"You know, I see those plays every week in the NFL, I see them in college, I see them in high school," Carr said.


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