English finally does what we've been screaming for and let's the dogs loose. And we don't settle for field goals (attempts)
If so, UM 28 ND 17
If not, "bartender..."
Michigan 26, Notre Lame (ha hahahaha! Lame!!) 14. Ross Ryan makes his debut at safety.
Chucky W leaves the field singing "Double double cheese cheese burger burger please".
ND starts with the ball and marches down the field for a TD. Michigan responds in kind with a drive that consumes the rest of the 1st quarter to tie the game at 1.
From here ND makes adjustments, Michigan does not.
ND 34 UM 17
opps "at 1" means "after 1".
Wolverine fans will cause the nation to hold its collective breath till halfway through the third quarter, when Notre Dame collects a crucial turnover and takes control.
ND 31, UM 20. The country has its Lucky Charms with a mixture of Guinness, Bailey's, and Jameson as ESPN causes us to swallow IRISH IRISH IRISH until the showdown with USC that the Trojans win 58-10.
Michigan 27, Notre Dame 17
UM 109
ND 3
Lloyd Carr= Colonel Kurtz
I drove by his house 2nite and his lights are still on...........game plan developing.......
Mich 24, ND 14---Think you guys have the D to control them my only concern "Will "Carr catch up with the rest of the country and take off the leather helmets and learn this beautiful thing called the forward pass"....
Llloyd and the boys show up at ND Stadium and underperform, as usual. Charlie and the offense strike early and own the first half, making the four quarter largely academic.
At the end of it all, Michigan leaves best all-time winning percentage in South Bend where it belongs.
ND 34, UM 14
And of course, Michigan fans will claim that they were robbed and that it was all sooo unfair...
Charlie Weis proves that he is the BEST COACH EVER by going for it on 4th and 38 from his own 3 yard line in the first quarter. Although the play fails and Michigan goes on to win the game, ESPN praises Weis for his brilliant and agressive play calling. Much better than boring old Llllloyd Carr.
Or maybe it will be a boring grind em out game coming down to a last second field goal.....
38-0
I like that prediction Korea Blue: "Houston's better!" Haha. You KNOW It!!! Let's knock that "BRILLIANT" fat ass and his team where they belong...In the ocean.
I think it might be a little closer than that though...
37-0
Go Blue!!!
Ok...maybe not... 31-21 Big Blue rolls. Yahtzee!
I'm a Buckeye fan, so you can take this for what it's worth...on second thought, I don't give a shit how you take it, but here it is:
Having watched a great deal of both ND games, I'm not at all convinced they're for real - just barely winning (mostly) because Georgia Tech was completely inept on offense (and not because ND was all that "ept" on D), and a comfortable but not really all that impressive win against a Penn State team that's nothing like last year's (and, truth be told, last year's wan't all THAT great)...
I'm guessing (I've only seen the Vandy game) that Michigan's defense can hold the Irish to a manageable number of points, and I'm HOPING (again, and because, I've only seen the Vandy game) that the offense can exploit ND's obviously weak-ass defense just enough. You SHOULD be able to do much, MUCH better than Penn State; that team's in for a lot of long Saturdays.
As much as I'd love ND to fill the "vs. Ohio State" slot in the championship game - knowing that we own them too - I don't think that's in the cards (it'll be USC), and I'd love even more for UM to be the team that's "returning to glory".
So - Go Big Blue!
Thing of the most ridiculous way to fail. No, that's already been done. Even the fumble on the quarterback sneak. Hmm. What's even left? Maybe that means we win. Probably not though.
Dear Matsut,
I'd worry a bit more about your run defense (aren't you guys 10th in your conference?) and the possibility that beating a team with a freshman QB with "moxie" (but little else of value) might not be the best indicator that a trip to Arizona is a done deal.
The Buckeye post claiming they're already in the NC game is intresting!
Pride comes before a fall and I remember the 90's
can you say Tim Biakatupa!
I could manage to say Biakabatuka, it was his first name I had problems with: Tsimonga? Those were the days. Let's hope Hart has one of those magical games.
38-0 Korea Blue? You're not giving Michigan much credit, are you? Even the PSU scrubs could score a couple of garbage time TDs against the ND 2nd/3rd string defense. Michigan should be able to do the same.
"Houston's Better" was the student section's greatest moment in my four years there. I laughed 'til I cried.
first name: Tshimanga
last name: Biakabutuka
gmw said: "And of course, Michigan fans will claim that they were robbed and that it was all sooo unfair..."
did you think of that nugget all by your lonesome?
nd wears the green jerseys, which dooms them for failure. they score on their opening drive, but end up losing 27-17. they drop to #8 in the polls, just behind Michigan at #7. the "returning to glory since 1993" t-shirt makes it onto espn and brian becomes a gajillionaire and spreads the wealth. we all receive checks in the mail for $27.17. thanks bri.
Hart, Manningham, and Woodley are the keys. If they all have a good game It will be 31 - 24 Meeechigan. GO BLUE!!!
"nd wears the green jerseys, which dooms them for failure."
If ND comes out in green jerseys, I'm going to start weeping and drinking heavily.
Mike Hart has never played against Notre Dame.
That should make everyone's hair stand on end.
ND won't bother wasting Green Jerseys on UM. MI runs very well but does manage to find itself in passing downs, ultimately killing drives. ND manages a touchdown on one of it's first two drives and puts on another in the 2nd. Score at half 14-6.
The story of the second half is breaks and the Irish get them. The pressure to score forces the M into forcing a bit leading to turnovers. ND drops 17 b/w the 3rd and 4th while, after a Tid late in the third, the M waits till late in the fourth to bringing the scoring to an end. 31-20.
Matsut, did you copy and paste your comment from a previous one? And why are you still bitter about a team that LOST to you?
I can't believe only one person so far in this thread has predicted a score closer than 10 points, aside from a few vague "we'll lose a heartbreaking close game" predictions...
Honest opinion: The first half offensive shoot out, turns into a second half stale mate...and some fireworks to end the show. Team w/ last possession wins the ball game.
ND fans & Brady Quinn after this game start writing poems about what exactly "Jim Herrmann meant to Notre Dame."
From what I have seen the first two games, the days of "No Gameday Changes" are over, at least for the Michigan D.
This game truly comes down to Ron English vs. Charlie Weis... with a side show of "who can screw up the least" on the other side of the ball. But, this game always comes down to the trenches and who can run the ball/hold the line.
Advantage Michigan.
Got to love the UM homers. Nevermind that Michigan has not won in South Bend since 1994. I do suppose they were playing quality Notre Dame teams during that stretch. Right?
I also love how the immediate response to that statement is "well Michigan was always favored, now the tables are turned!", as if it is good to be less talented (on field and sideline) than your opponent.
Yawn. MSU next weekend to get out of September with a clean record. Big Game.
ND 34 UM 24
Re-run,
Glad to know that the Irish will not break out the "fearsome" (cackle) green jerseys against Michigan. I guess you guys only save those for truly elite programs like Boston College, huh?
Bill,
Please inform us what it's like to celebrate a 3-loss season? Michigan fans are pretty grumpy when that happens. Of course, I guess that beats the alternative - namely ND's record in the previous seasons.
Not sure why not having won in south bend since Remy's beautiful 42 yarder in 1994 is at all relevant to 2006...
However, I would take that back and forth contest, even the last two-minutes with Powlus to Hayes, er... Quinn to Samardjia, for the go-ahead score, so long as I get to watch Henne flip it to mario, then stevie B, then Carson Butler makes a big over the middle catch to bring us inside the ND 40 yd. line with just under 20 seconds to play...
one more sideline pass to stevie wonder to gain yardage, and a quick Hart push to the center of the field gives us Rivas from 35 for the game...
And the win...
UM 27 - ND 24
oops... that's Quinn ->Samarzdjiasyhsdgjhdfbued for the tie...
Kurt,
I'd love to discuss that with you. Could help me out and tell me what it's like when your "legendary" coach does not win a national championship.
Looks like he couldn't even beat teams in the top 10. Niceee.
Go Bo!
Although I appreciate Notre Dame for having the fight song to which I learned the quadratic formula so many years ago, I'm going to have to say Michigan 31, Notre Dame 14..Go Blue!
I've been working this over in my head, and after a few simulated games on NCAA Football '07 on my xbox360, as well as reviewing stats and prior games, accounting for penalties and possible injuries I think I've come up with a likely out come.
Zoltan Mesko 148 - Notre Dame 3
Now, in the unlikely event that Michigan decides not to let Zoltan be the only player on the field, and make it a fair game, I took 15 seconds to ponder about the ending score.
UM 20 - ND 17
Defense is going to rule this game.
Bill,
Why don't you do some research and run the numbers on Carr vs. the top 10 (which is far more relevant to this game). Then post your results. Oh, and by the way, how is Weis against the top 10?
Bill, I've saved you the trouble:
Lloyd Carr is 15-6 against top 10 teams. He is 3-1 against #2 teams.
Charlie Weis is, I believe, 0-3 against the top 10. 0-2 if sParty wasn't in it before they beat ND last year.
Carr is 10-12 against AP Final Top Ten.......that's really where the rubber meets the road.
And once again: why do you people revere a loser like Bo????? My god, do you think OSU has an office set aside for John Cooper?!?
http://bluegraysky.blogspot.com/
Mike, your ignorance of Bo's contributions and value to the program dating back to the 1960s is probably directly related to your ignorance in deifying your coach of an entirety of 14 football games.
Final top 10? That's stupid ex post facto logic. It's like saying Marilyn Monroe only had sex with men who are now dead.
If Hart runs for over 200, Michigan wins for sure. I say he runs for 180-ish, and Michigans win anyway. Final score, 24-17.
Bill, do you revere Lou "saliva gush" Holtz? Didn't he win a bowl game while also tarnishing the dome?
If Hart runs for over 200, Michigan wins for sure. I say he runs for 180-ish, and Michigans win anyway. Final score, 24-17.
Bill, do you revere Lou "saliva gush" Holtz? Didn't he win a bowl game while also tarnishing the dome?
bill wrote: "Got to love the UM homers."
umm, as opposed to the rampant anti-homerism of notre dame fans?
The notion that we'll unveil all kinds of new stuff in the passing game never seen before by beast or man or Jabba the Weis is unsupported by anything in Debord's or Carr's resume (or in the last 50 years of Michigan football, for that matter). We'll certainly pass more, but there's no reason to think it will be anything that Weis & Co. haven't seen 250 times before.
So, can we simply cram the ball down their throats on the ground? ND may not be the '86 Bears, but neither are they Indiana. I think they'll load up against the run on first and second down and be able to force UM into the obvious passing situations, and here's where I think our Achilles heel will be. I haven't seen any hard evidence yet this season that UM posseses a potent and reliable downfield passing game, either in the throwing or the catching. If we don't, we'll fail repeatedly to convert on third down, which means we'll be punting too often. Field position will gradually turn heavily in ND's favor in the second quarter, meaning we'll be repeatedly starting deep in our own territory, which will lessen the opportunities to throw the ball vertically. Many of our passes will be the horizontal throws to Breaston we've come to know and love, with Stevie being forced to shake and bake with little or no blocking.
All this means that our defense will be under continuous pressure to bail us out, and they'll do a manly job of it in the first half. They'll do reasonably well against the ND run, and will get to Quinn a couple of times. However, by the middle of the third quarter, the 80+ heat will start to take its toll, and ND will start to pile up the yards, TOP, and points.
• Can our defensive front get constant meaningful pressure on Quinn? Will we get to him BEFORE he attepts a 3rd-and-17 pass to sustain a drive, or will we have to be content with knocking him on his butt AFTER the completion? I'm guessing that ND's experienced (aside from Young) O-line will force a stalemate with our front.
• Will Hart/Grady/Minor have any room to run, or will ND successfully stack the line to keep them bottled up? I'm guessing the latter.
• Can Henne keep the chains moving by getting first downs via the air? I'm afraid not often enough.
• Can we prevent big kick returns by ND? Judging from the historical clusterfuck that is our special teams performance against ND, not to mention our performance against CMU, I say no.
Score at the half: ND 17 UM 10
Score after 3: ND 24 UM 13
Final: ND 34 UM 16
I will be the happiest guy around if I'm completely wrong. I detest losing to ND more than any other program, including OSU and USC, and losing to them is a rusty spike in the temple every time.
Willingham was better...
G.I.M.B.(Get in my Belly)=Weis
You know its tragic when OSU fans defend Kittyverines...But you bastards should win by 2 touchdowns just based on the simplicity of it all....Just quit throwing gawddam bubble screens and life will be good.....Steve Breaston is the Dick Cheney of the UM offense, where does he go, where does he go???????????
What does it matter what Carr's record is against the Top 10? It is the "mandate" of the UM coach to win the Big 10. Nuff said. He could be 0-100 against the Top 10 and still win the Big 10 and bring much joy to Ann Arbor annually.
That being said...how does beating Central Northwestern Michigan Tech School of Agriculture and Husbandry help you achieve the goal of winning the Big 10?
By the way, we sure do appreciate you all allowing the rest of college football to fight over that national championship thingy each year...
And once again: why do you people revere a loser like Bo?????
Because he revived the program and led it with class and integrity for twenty years. You're done commenting here, Mike.
Michigan wins if Henne can somehow throw a pass 10 yards down the field. He has the receivers that can run them down and a sold running game behind him. Those deep throws keep the defense honest and will open up running room for Hart.
Yeah, Bo was 4-6 against Notre Dame. One Gillette shank (in 1988) away from a .500 record against your sacred school.
But hey, I'm not the right guy to defend Bo. My brother was on the team (he was a SS) in the mid-80's under Bo. He truly hated the guy, and he also thought Bo was a terrible coach. He always used to lament about how much talent Bo squandered with his incredibly conservative game planning. The only thing he gave Bo credit for was that his teams always played hard, and hit even harder. Even if a team did beat a Bo team, they felt it the next day.
http://weiswatchers.com/
Jeezus Rice
If Carr really is 10-12 against end of the season top 10 teams I'd say that is pretty friggin' good. Especially when combined with the "top 10 at game time" record. First off, teams that lose any given game have a hard time making it into the top 10. They can really only lose one more. So, by beating them UM has decreased their chances of remaining top 10. Second, if you have a nearly .500 record against final top 10 teams that means you were nearly .500 against the best teams in the nation (often despite having one loss) without taking into account the strength of UM's team. This stat is very different from a record against one team (say 5-4 vs. OSU or whatever) because it pits you against the best which will rotate every year and doesn't give you the benefit of the down seasons of your opponent.
I'm still not Carr's biggest fan but those aggregate stats are his strength.
Bo is a good man. There's more to a man than now many National Championships he won.
Zoltan versus Ditka...
One of the things I'll never understand about the UM/ND build up is that people on both sides take comments about their teams personally. As if they're part of the actual team or that Carr or Weis is going to point into the stands and call them onto the field.
When I called Weis classless for running up the score last week you'd think I spit on the floor of the Vatican. Nothing was directed at the ND faithful, it was directed at the coach for what I and a number of people regarded as unnecessary oneupsmanship. ND supporters emailed or posted saying I was dillusional and all sorts of things. Sheesh.
It's almost like people feel the only way they can prove they're a bigger fan than the next is by denegrating the other side. Calling them losers or other such nonsense.
Word to the wise, being an asshole doesn't make you a better fan. It just makes you an asshole.
ducky wrote: " It is the "mandate" of the UM coach to win the Big 10. Nuff said. He could be 0-100 against the Top 10 and still win the Big 10 and bring much joy to Ann Arbor annually."
and you still obviously don't know what "ostensibly" means.
Am I missing earlier obsenity-laced flamings, or did Mike just get banned for simply pointing out the fact that Bo didn't do so great in big games against top 10 teams? Someone's a wee bit high strung this morning...
Basically the latter, Scott, plus another couple comments along those lines. He's not bringing anything useful to the discussion. It's flamebait.
I am consistently high-strung if that's any comfort.
duck,
First, you should know that many (if not most) fans are not happy with simply winning the Big 10 - although it's not a bad consolation prize to go to the Rose Bowl.
Second, how ironic for you to bring up strength of schedule. Granted, ND's is OK this year but from years past - I guess the service academies were tought, huh?
Third, Michigan has a national title more recently than does ND (which has not won a bowl game since before Carr was hired) so I am not sure why you are trying to play that card.
UM CAUP, since you started the Bo stories, I'll continue. My uncle-in-law (is that even a term) was on Bo's first team, actually recruited by Bump Elliot. (And while he thought he was a good coach, he also kind of hated him, but mainly because he was recruited as a passing qb and was quickly converted to fullback, where his dreams of beautiful spirals was replaced with ramming his head into linebackers).
He said that most Friday nights, Bo would take the entire team to a movie to briefly take their minds off the game, usually something like Patton or the Green Berets. One Friday, Bo saw Midnight Cowboy in the paper and, thinking it was a western, took the team.
About a half-hour into it, Bo realizes that no shootouts or horseback chases are likely to appear in the film, and that there's a good chance that Jon Voigt's ass may make an appearance. He gets up, roars, 'We're getting the hell out of here,' and leads the entire team out of the theater.
UM 24-ND 20, Hart 175, Henne 200, Woodley 2 sacks.
Just wanted to comment and say I recently got linked to this blog and I'm completely amazed by it. This is heaven for an alum like me living in OR. Thanks for doing such a great job. Seriously, you rock. I don't know how many female regular readers you have, but add me to the list.
Guys, I hate to break it to us all, but much better Michigan squads have lost to much worse ND squads over the years. I have a feeling that this game isn't going to be close:
ND 35 Mich 13
Oh and to stay on topic:
UM 24 ND 17
Keys to the Game: ND is too good not to expect them to make plays in the passing game, but hopefully UM limits those plays. Turnover ratio is important in every football game, so I won't be boring and state that as one of my keys. I do believe there are three keys to a Michigan victory over the Irish.
1. Outgain the Irish by 100 yards or more on the ground.
2. Score touchdowns in the red zone.
3. Get a big play or TD one of these four ways: deep pass, trick play, special teams, or defence.
What do you guys think?
chad henne has to play a lot better for the wolverine to win. although there doesn't seem to be a david terrell or braylon edwards in our receiving corps right now, the receivers are more talented than the DBs of vanderbilt and CMU. yet, debord rarely called for any pass plays down the field.
i am hoping this has been a strategic decision to set up notre dame. every analyst is questioning the pass offense of michigan and i hope our wolverines make this game to prove that the team can pass against the hyped up safeties of ND. this is what i'm counting on for michigan to beat ND.
who thought the greise-streets combination would be so lethal in the 1997(really 1998) rose bowl? washington state didn't expect michigan to pass like that. i hope michigan has been setting up ND in the same way.
now it's time for michigan to execute all phases of the game.
Brian, are you coming to SB for the game? If so, you are more than welcome to come to our tailgater and hang out. We have a prime spot and will have plenty of food & drink.
Do you still have my contact info from way back when?
scott -
It was a little more than "pointing out the fact that Bo didn't do so great in big games." He came to Michigan board and called Bo a loser. The only reason to do that is to piss people off. Brian's right, his comments added nothing and were made with the direct intention of annoying the readers here and starting a flame war.
I'm not going to the game, Jay, but thanks for the offer.
Brian -
It looks like leaving your engineering job was a wise move. You've (finally) picked up your first hot blog groupie.
Congrats.
Kurt,
I'll be happy to go toe to toe with you over ND/UM national championships...the point that UM has made consistently over the years is that it's not important. Win or lose this weekend against ND, you are not one step closer to that Holy Grail of college football...the Big 10 Champioinship.
Anytime, brian. Seriously.
here is another prediction:
if ND wins, the chances of this game making the cover of SI: 100%
if M wins, the chances of this game making the cover: 1%. (in the case of a close, exciting win for M, the chances rises to 10%.)
This game should come down to turnovers and ball control. The team with the better net punting / special teams will also have a significant advantage.
I personally try to shy away from the 'bravado' talk and instead focus on the fact that both programs are full of good talent (both top-10 recruiting for the past 5 years) and both programs will bring it to the field. The team 'x' is going to clobber the other team because of (blahblah) type comments are simply naive IMO.
Make fun of conservative coaching all you want -- but both programs (and several other all-time top 10 programs) have their high winning percentage because of their ability to implement a strategy and perfect it over time. (Note: this is directed at both ND and M)
I am just hoping that this will be a good game and not a blowout (like both teams had last week).
Looking at the skill players on each team, one can't help but conclude that Quinn/Walker/Szamardja (I tried)/McKnight beats Henne/Hart/Manningham/Breaston. We're going to need to win convincingly in the trenches to take the game. Looking at the personnel, I think that's possible, but Riley's going to need serious help on the right side, at least in the passing game.
i wish i could spell. thing ≠ think.
BGS has finally crossed over into the realm of ND Nation-like dimentia and general crudeness.
I used to like that blog - despite an admitted distaste for notre dame. It's a shame they've turned it into a flame pit based loosely on suspiciously selected, self-serving facts.
Here's my take and I will preface this by saying I am an ND die-hard.
When I started looking at this schedule from January through the start of the season. There were three games that stuck out to me as potential losses.
3. @ Georgia Tech
2. @ USC
1. vs Michigan
I have been worried about this game since the end of last year and nothing has happened to change my opinion.
When I look at the last 4 years, I see 3 close games and the one debacle. Frankly, I think Michigan was the better team every one of those days but through a poor call from an official (2002) or just shooting yourself in the foot over and over (2004 and 2005), Michigan has found a way to lose to a team that they should have beat those three years.
This year, I just look at ND's defense which is supposedly back. I think they have done a solid job but then I cant help but think that the two running backs they have faced have been able to pick up 6+ yards easily on many runs. I consider Hart and Michigan's OL better than either of the two we have faced so far, and I would expect they would have a fairly easy time running on ND. I actually think ND will shut down the pass pretty well but it is the running game that scares me. IF UM decides to throw the ball alot, I like ND's chances.
On the other side of the ball, lets not forget that Notre Dame had a tough time moving the ball against this Michigan defense last year outside of the opening drive. Michigan seems to have a decent defensive coordinator this year too.
I just can't make a pick in this game as my heart tells me ND, obviously, but head says Michigan. But I could see it going either way. I dont really see how anyone can say definitively who wins this game. It seems like one of those where you could play it 10 times and each team wins 5.
Hopefully the Irish pull it out though as I have a hard time seeing them lose in the next 8 games if they win this one.
Either way, hopefully we see a good game.
Jason
I'll start off saying that Green Jersey's come out for a particularly noteworthy game and just like Breaston isn't a jersey #1 type player, this isn't that type of game. Not to say this won't be a great game, but it certainly doesn't rival last year's USC game or the buzz to, yes, the BC (after which the Irish would have been undefeated and playing for (and, admittedly, losing) the national championship). This game, while having great promise, is not that sort of game. So, why waste the green jersey's on them?
"deifying your coach of an entirety of 14 football games" oh yeah, just 14 wins. oh wait, and 3 super bowl wins. oh, AND making Tom Brady a HOF'er. Cheese & Rice, i love dropping the 3 super bowl rings. It's like busting out some "Sex Panther"
...never gets old.
Plus, no way Hart goes for 175, that's just the stuff of fantasy. Hell, Reggie Bush didn't approach 175 against a less experienced version of this same defense. Then again, maybe that was because of the green jerseys. or maybe just the
THREE SUPER BOWL RINGS.
Gyros,
Thats only looking at the offensive players. We have a sick D-line and pretty capable corners. Linebackers and safeties are the biggest concern. I think Hall and Trent can run with NDs receivers. No one is convincing me that a pitcher is faster than Leon Hall or former track star Morgan trent
Jason -- I pretty much have a mirror image of your view. Heart says UM, head says ND. I think UM can run on ND. I haven't seen a passing game form UM this year. The UM secondary makes me nervous. The D-line has been good, but not entirely consistent. The Michigan O-line has had pretty significant problems pass protecting. WR have been ok at best. I think ND could get a lot of big passing plays if Quinn is not constistently pressured.
Re-run,
That's great. Congratulations. You "held" Bush to a mere 160 yards (3 TDs) on 15 attempts, over 10 yards per carry - impressive! That also might have something to do with USC passing for over 300 yards.
Yes, I realize that Bush was all world and no I do not think that Hart gets 175 but I do predict he gets over 100.
Finally, I was not aware that Tom Brady was a HOFer due to Weiss. You mean a couple of good years gets you in? Oh and let's at least mention that Weis WAS NOT THE HEAD COACH!
Adam,
I agree. I think Michigan CAN win this game but honestly I think ND DOES win this game. Michigan has a smaller margin for errors given ND's superior offense. Plus it's in South Bend. Those two factors move it from a toss-up to a probable ND victory IMO.
re-run: Charlie Weis, 60% of the time he wins everytime.
I think Michigan wins this game in surprisingly dominant fashion from start to finish. The defense this year looks great. If pass protection holds up Hart's running game will make Henne's job easy and the pasing game will go smoothly. I don't think the passing game is hiding something amazing, but they certainly haven't been in a situation where they need to gun balls downfield or over the middle. WE haven't seen many long 3rd downs this season. I like Henne's decision making in pressure situations this year and I think that has been the "x-factor" in his 2 previous losses against ND.
Call it a hunch.
Michigan 24 - ND 13
i promised myself after our last 2 defeats at ND (when i picked michigan to win both times), NEVER bet on michigan to win at ND. history tells us that is a fool's bet, doesn't it?
Oh boy. The green jerseys. Yet another example of fine nd dimentia. Hey, I have an idea, let's choose a third color, completely arbitrary in nature, that doesn't even resemble one of our two school colors. Sound crazy?
Shouldn't your arbitrarily selected, third color jerseys be red... or blue... since nd is a French institution? Nah, that would actually make some sense.
Ben: There is that whole Ireland-Green connection thing.
"Shouldn't your arbitrarily selected, third color jerseys be red... or blue... since nd is a French institution? Nah, that would actually make some sense."
Who knew that Michigan had subway fans? Because I'm assuming Michigan grads have basic cultural knowledge, stuff like Ireland's color being green and Notre Dame being nicknamed the Fighting Irish because of the heavy Irish presence there at one time.
My prediction? Whoever wins, people like Ben and Mike will still be losers.
Quite simply, Brady Quinn solidifies his strangle hold on the Weisman Trophy.
Notre Dame - 71
Michigan - 4
Ok, seriously:
Michigan - 27
Notre Dame - 24
And I get to shat all over the face of a converted Notre Dame fan that I know who, until 2 years ago, was a die hard Michigan fan. Who does that at age 30? Honestly...
The keys to the game for Michigan are easily:
1. Winning first down
2. Winning the turnover battle
3. No special teams mistakes- this means you Garrett Rivas!
We have to be able to establish the run on first down so we have manageable down and distance on second/third down.
Turnovers-they just can't happen. Look at the last game we played there. We just pissed the ball away. Last year, fumble on the goalline. Again, we have to win this battle.
Rivas has to kick like he did last week. No blocks, no shanks, no heart-beating on XP's.
My head says ND, but my blood is Maize and Blue, so I say....
UM 24
ND 23
Osvaldo, if I educate you as to why notre dame is called the fighting irish will you leave?
NDjim, thanks for the explanation, but I got it. Let me offer you the following, nd green jerseys are as arbitrary and laughable as brown jerseys for Hawkeyes or buckeyes, gold jerseys for the sooners, or maize jerseys for the cornhuskers.
They are called mascots. Inventing a third color for your school that only has two, then creating jerseys for it is ridiculous. I shouldn't have said arbitrary before, it's more ridiculous.
Re-run -
ever think that maybe, just maybe, Brady turned Weis into a super bowl champ? didn't see bledsoe winning any super bowls under him.
and not that i expect a domer to do his homework, but Weis has FOUR super bowl rings. (see: Bill Parcells' Giants)
and i agree w/ Ben, instead of blue, gold, and "green", the domers should change to their true Frenchie colors of blue, white, and red
I just heard that in preparation for the game, Notre Dame has unveiled a Charlie Weiss mural to complement their Touchdown Jesus:
http://tinyurl.com/qsjcz
*Sigh*
More petty bickering between the idiot factions of the fan bases and less civil dialogue about the game? Y'all know that trash talking won't actually affect the outcome, right?
Whatever, I think I'm gonna go hang out at Maize 'N Brew where Dave at least seems to be keeping his sanity. Not to say Brian isn't, but then again legions of delisonal fans aren't over there.
Link had trouble. Sorry. Try this:
http://thumbsnap.com/v/lXcvjlQ9.jpg
And once again: why do you people revere a loser like Bo?????
Mike | 09.14.06 - 10:58 am | #
If you watch "Michigan Football Memories," there is a scene where Bo is describing his coaching staff's first visit into the Michigan locker-room, having just come up from Miami-Ohio.
One of the coaches proposes tearing out a nail or spike in the wall and upgrading to a higher-quality hook or something, but Bo stops him, and reminds everyone in the room of the incredible history and tradition that rests in the Michigan Football program:
"You might have fancier hooks at some schools, but you DON'T have the spike where the great Fielding H. Yost hung his coat and his whistle."
You ask why we continue to revere and protect Bo?
Think of it this way: It's our turn to protect that spike.
Hey Dave, quit logging in as other people and trying to mooch hits over at Maize 'n Brew.
(that was a joke, Matt K... felt the need to explain since it appears you've no sense of humor)
it's going to be close, as it has been the past couple years. it's hard to tell which team has looked better in the first two games, simply because vandy and cmu aren't very good competition, and gtech and psu have flaws that gave the games to nd.
just from rep and brief observation, i'd give both offenses the edge over both defenses. nd has had a somewhat difficult time stopping the run, but just looking at the recent cmu game recap and the player quotes, the um o-line seems to be having some trouble. similarly, quinn/shark/mcknight have been playing fairly well, but the o-line has been having trouble when d's go blitz-happy. however, both defenses are good enough that neither team is going to be out of it early, unless nd going deep against the blitz turns out better or the nd db's take up some of the previous year's incompotence. also, looks like both teams are playing more 5 db than usual, so the run games will be magnified.
as an nd homer, and judging by previous performance, i'm figuring darius walker will have another big game against the wolverines, and that that will be the difference in this game. nd 27 - um 20
Ben, if I'd known Dave was desparate for hits, I'd have tried to charge him for the plug.
Oh my. RHammer, you just made me feel a hell of alot better about the annoying tendencies of some of my fellow Domers who over-romanticize our admittedly rich past with cheesy soundbites.
I literally shot coffee through my nose laughing, as I imagined thousands of Michigan fans comforting themselves after Bo refused to kick it away from the Rocket (or perhaps after Bo lost his 10th rose bowl) with "well, at least he kept that rusty nail that Yost hung his coat on".
Hey Scott, if you could bottle the arrogance and ignorance with which you post, you could light up the universe.
Matt K -- it's not too late... hit him up for the cash!
man, can we just cut out the jibes on bo? i mean, i'm an nd fan, and it's even making me a bit uncomfortable. on top of that, it's giving the rest of the nd fans here a bad rep. yes, he's not a nice guy from a notre dame fan's point of view, but he was a legend at michigan.
it's like the whole lou holtz thing. everyone will point out that holtz had the recruiting scandal (which, in lou's defense, was simply someone being designated a "booster" for paying $25 to join "the quarterback club" or something like that), and that he lisps, and is borderline senile. yet the man's a legend at nd because he ran the program with integrity. nobody outside of the irish faithful really gets it. same thing with bo. give it a rest.
Ben, my man-- my post was perhaps a bit arrogant, but please note that I'm clearly also ragging on my fellow Irish fans who go over the top with the cheese when discussing legends from our past. The perfect example on our side is Lou Holtz. I love Lou for many reasons, but I'll never go overboard like some of my fellow ND fans and claim he was some paragon of virtue. Conversely, while Bo may have indeed led UM's program back from the dead and done so while running a clean program and graduating players, it strains the bounds of credibility to ignore his poor record in the big games or lack of NC's when comparing him to the other coaching giants.
Um, Scott, you misspelled Holth
too bad you aren't one for history scott...
i guess it was too much to ask for you to understand a simple metaphor for why Bo might have engendered such respect amongst those who are tied to the UM program...
I'm not wasting any one else's time on this... you aren't a fan of history (ND or UM), or anecdotes, or "learning things"... i understand that now... forgive me
I can assure you. Most ND fans love Bo and Lloyd and hope they remain key cogs in the UM football factory for many, many years to come!
So we've established so far in this thread that neither team has any chance of winning and that neither team has any sort of tradition or history worth talking about. Bo never won a game. The earth orbits Charlie Weis. Got it.
I think this game presents some very favorable matchups for Michigan. ND's relative weaknesses--linebackers and offensive line--play to Michigan's strengths. Michigan's biggest weakness--the receiver position--isn't exactly something that will play into the teeth of ND's entire team (though Morgan Trent is small, meaning he's at risk of being sucked into Weis' gravitational pull).
If I didn't already know that Michigan doesn't win at Notre Dame, I'd be picking a Michigan win. I think Michigan will get more yardage and more first downs, will win the clock battle and force more turnovers than it surrenders, but will lose ... 28-20. Big plays sprinkled here and there save the day for the Irish.
Conversely, while Bo may have indeed led UM's program back from the dead and done so while running a clean program and graduating players, it strains the bounds of credibility to ignore his poor record in the big games or lack of NC's when comparing him to the other coaching giants.
And if you could point out some examples of Michigan fans, I dunno, DOING that maybe this would have some slight relevance. As it is the only people talking about Bo this week are Blue-Gray Sky. You know he retired over 15 years ago, right? If rude Domer fans hadn't brought it up his name wouldn't even be mentioned in this thread.
I realize it's difficult for ND fans to believe that the last 15 years actually happened, but let's move on.
I'm banned, everybody! I said Bo was likely a bigot because Yost was a bigot! I drool on myself frequently!
Edited By Siteowner
I agree with Brian...let's move on. Michigan needs to do two things in order to win, IMHO. First, Michigan's offense MUST score more points than ND's offense. Second, and I cannot stress this enough, Michigan's Defense MUST concede fewer points to ND than ND's defense concedes to Michigan. If that happens, I think our chances of winning would be very good.
@brian:
just defending the guys at bgs. while 15 years have indeed moved on since bo retired, it's only been a month since bo said such things as "We don't need Notre Dame. They need us more than we need them. Hell, we're playing all these Big Ten teams. When Penn State came into the league, then we should do everything we can to get this Notre Dame series over with. Now that's the way I feel" and "I would rather have an intersectional game than a midwest game. Play Southern Cal. I don't care. Play Texas... somebody like that. But not Notre Dame."
when a rival's revered coach says that, especially recently, it will come up during rivalry week. if holtz had said something like that, i'd bet you'd have it up as well.
and it looks like the whole bo thing game up only after flamebait from whoever that kurt fellow is. rudeness begets rudeness, i suppose.
duck, I see how being a bigot is relevant to this thread at all. Believe me, this is not a path you want to go down. I think it would be best if you just went away now.
Hey ducky, did you like Lloyd Carr as a key cog in 2003?
"... likely a bigot ..."
Sweet Jesus. Somebody obviously isn't smart enough to get into Notre Dame or Michigan.
tedwick: arguing over who started it is juvenile, but I'm juvenile so: you started it. Nyaaah!
Seriously, I would appreciate it if we could cool it. Ben, Kurt, various other Michigan posters getting understandably ornery: please cut it out, Dave Coulier style, and let's talk about the game. Civil Notre Dame fans, as apparently rare as they are on the Internet, are more than welcome.
I really don't think we are going to see Michigan blitzing like GT. ND figured that out after 25 minutes, and I'm sure its not going to take them that long again.
The key for Michigan is going to be getting pressure with there front 4, or 4 + 1.
This game is going to come down to Henne. Everyone knows UM is going to try to pound the ball. I don't think ND will stop them all together, but they will be focused on the run enough to keep it from beating them. Henne is going to have to keep the safties honest by going down field.
I think the difference in the game will be Henne's inability to do this.
ND 34 UM 20
Not that I don't enjoy the lobbing of molotov cocktails at one another, I've got a few questions if people have answers.
1) Is everyone healthy on our sidelines for the game saturday? Ecker for instance?
2) If you had to choose between man-boobs or frontal ass which would it be?
3) Who's gonna start opposite Hall on Saturday? Stewart started wk 1 and Trent started wk 2.
4) Death is not an option: Laura Quinn or Chelsea Clinton? Am I the only one that thinks Quinn looks like a grown up version of Wednesday from the Adams Family?
5) Reuben Riley: Great Right Tackle or Greatest Right Tackle?
ducky and scott, i wonder if you wouldn't mind returning to discussing the game at hand (this the "Game Thread" is it not?)
You could try adding your two cents about why you think your defense is truly underrated and has as much of a chip on its shoulder following last year's fiesta bowl outing ("performance" sounded too good to use there)...
Or how your medusa-like, many-headed monster of an offense will overwhelm any lingering weaknesses in our reinvigorated defense.
Those are interesting topics, and things we may disagree on, but debatable points...
much more fun to debate than baseless accusations
1) I think Graham is questionable. Ecker should play.
2) Er, no comment.
3) Stewart, probably.
4) Chelsea Clinton, because she isn't married to AJ Hawk.
5) Super Greatest.
Don't take this as ammo for the flame war, but Bo is right in a big way about the ND game. As far as Michigan is concerned it hasn't been very beneficial, we've mostly lost and lost to teams that weren't all that great. And it would be a more interesting TV game as well as a better recruiting tool for Michigan to play a Texas or USC on a regular basis.
I don't know who "needs" who more, although ND would struggle with strength of schedule issues without us in some years. I also think its pretty weak that they wouldn't join the Big Ten because it would've taken some of their bowl money back when they went to bowls more regularly.
i like popcorn
piggybacking off of Greg... I agree it will fall to Henne to sustain drives through passing, but I don't know if it will necessarily need to be deep balls all day in order to be successful.
the run will set up the LB's to fall victim to a (hopefully healthy) Ecker, Butler, or lil' Massey over the middle, or up a seam...
As Brian has indicated in his UFR on our offense, much of this will come down to whether they bring 7 or 8 into the box...
I'm hoping our formations (TE over Riley (pass) or Long(run)? three wide with StevieB set back, etc.) don't give away our playcalling, and that we run consistently at Abiamiri and the rest for the whole first quarter to tire them out and weaken the pass rush (points i believe Brian or others here have made earlier this week)...
Again, I am cautiously optimistic and am cognizant of the fact that this is usually decided in the last quarter, meaning there is a strong likelihood this will be a close game, regardless of which way it tilts.
Meaningless Prediction: Weis brings them out in green and leprechauns rejoice
@Kevin: the thing is, notre dame hasn't really had a problem replacing michigan when michigan refused to play them. in recent history, teams like nebraska and osu came into the fold when michigan decided to take a break. i'd say that nd still gets more benefit out of the game, at least recently since michigan keeps losing games they should win, but it's still become somewhat of a rivalry. if michigan quits, it just seems like sour grapes. oh, and it was pretty weak of yost to blackball them back in the beginning of the big ten.
re: the game. just wondering how michigan's nickel has looked in the past couple games? because on top of samardzija and mcknight, nd's third wide reciever, david grimes, is coming back from injury(?). last year matt shelton, who played the same position, had a big game against ya'll, and grimes is more talented. just wondering if there's any reads on how that matchup will play out.
we've hardly played anything but nickel with two games against spread teams, so it's been pretty good given the results. The nickel back is usually either Ryan Mundy, a free safety, or Morgan Trent, a cornerback. Mundy missed a jam and that resulted in a touchdown versus central, but that was more Englemon's fault.
In nickel packages on passing downs expect a lot of 3-3-5 with Shawn Crable as a quasi-DE hell bent on the QB.
(ignoring tedwick's still inflammatory remarks because Brian asked us to)
Do we know with any degree of certainty that Graham won't play? I thought the presser and TV said it was a thigh bruise or something... but he's listed in Wolverine magazine as having a hamstring pull. Any inside info?
No inside info, unfortunately, but I doubt he plays. He didn't even dress versus CMU.
What I most want to see Saturday is simply Carr taking this game seriously. What made 2002 and 2004 so incredibly frustrating was that we bumbled around on offense, not even using our best players, and of course lost. Carr seemed to go into those games with the feeling that while it'd be nice to win, we didn't, oh well, onto the B10.
I think that's lead to the over-conservative game plans, lack of mental focus, and general sloppiness (lost fumbles) we've seen. If we correct that stuff, we can win.
Wow people have been busy getting the panties gnarled up and such!
Michigan is hungry, and I think the hog mollies will come out strong establishing the ground game they have worked ALL off season on. Michigan gets early lead... ND will play close to LOS and even if our runs are reduced to 2-3 YPC, I doubt we go to air more then first two games unless it is 4qtr. Actually, most likely turnover paranoia keeps on the ground/screen game all game while we lead. If Michigan does not have a late turnover we hold lead, and win in a semi-boring to watch game. If we do turn it over big MO pulls a flip-MO and the Irish storm ahead all 05 Wisconsin style. Good game either way, excited to go watch it.
Any SB locals got bar suggestions for Fri, Sat night...
First, I think I have only responded to flames in kind. But anyway...
I think Michigan has a good shot at a halftime lead but I fear the 4th Q collapse that was so familiar last year. Quinn is a clutch performer and if the M defense gets tentative at all I think Quinn wins the game for ND late.
I really don't think we are going to see Michigan blitzing like GT. ND figured that out after 25 minutes
Figured it out? They scored 14 points for the entire game. I'd glady give up that level of "figuring out" the blitz.
If Michigan takes a break from the ND series after 2011, ND fans will say we are ducking them. If ND does not keep playing BC, the Eagles will say they are being ducked (joining LSU). It is only ducking when some other school is doing it.
Michigan won't be able to find a bigger OOC game than ND, but playing an FSU or a Texas might be better for recruiting. Certainly Irish fans who are wary of scheduling too many Midwestern teams can understand this motive.
As far as the game goes, ND's short and midrange passing scares the bejebus out of me.
Michigan will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by not going for it on 4th and one late in the game, holding onto a slim lead. They punt instead, and Quinn leads the Irish down the field in less than 90 seconds, passing the ball to Walker out of the backfield as time expires to win the game.
Scott,
Why don't you try watching a game instead of looking at a boxscore.
Thanks for returning the level of dialog to an O$U level.
1. In preparation for this game ND has had the opportunity to work out many areas of concern versus two quality opponents from BCS conferences while UM has kicked over two tomato cans. In any event, ND is battle tested & hardened and it has emerged through the fire of more substantial challenges as a stronger & more experienced team.
2. UM's best shot against the high octane ND offense is to bring constant withering pressure (cf. the OSU and GT games). And yet ND was able to adjust to the pressure after the half of the GT game and they showed similar compsure by handling the PSU blitzes easily. UM will only keep this game close if they are able to keep constant unrelenting pressure on Quinn. If Quinn has time to throw, expect another lopsided win for ND against the Big Ten.
3. In the latest game, Brady Quinn demonstrated the deadly ability to distribute the ball evenly among two all-American receivers (RM & JS), Darius Walker, and the big Muchacho John Carlson, which will make life hell for the UM linebacking corps and secondary.
4. Appropos #3, Brady Quinn ran the best linebacking corps in the country ragged last week as they chased TE's and RB's all over God's green earth; the UM backers will likely share a similar fate.
5. A very good UM running game will begin promising drives, but eventually UM will be forced into third down passing situations; Henne will not be able to convert and otherwise promising drives will stall (this will likely be the source of the greatest angst for the UM faithful).
6. Appropos #5, Henne, under pressure in third and long situations, will force a throw or two and give up at least one interception; ND will win the turnover battle 2-1.
7. Weis will wear down the UM defense by winning the all important time of possession battle, a factor which will be especially evident by the end of the first half and into the fourth quarter.
8. The game is being played in SB.
I'm expecting a good first half that is relatively close, followed by ND running away with the game in the 2nd half.
ND 38 UM 14
It's "apropos." And you're using it wrong anyway.
psu didn't blitz even close to as much as GT did. obvious occasional blitzes should be picked up pretty easily. GT, on the other hand, runs like 70million different blitzes on 3 out of 4 downs. seriously, they blitz like 75% of the time. seriously.
nd's offense stunk against the only decent defenses they played last season. they've done nothing this year to convince me that their offense won't stink against a good defense so far this season. i guess we'll see who is and is not for real.
nd education dig: that would be "apropos of", not "appropos" [sic].
Thanks for all the laughs, intentional and unintentional.
I'd do my own breakdown of the teams but my breakdown of the teams says we won in both 2002 and 2004. Even when I do it now.
To win, UM has to solve its problem from last year in red zone execution. It has to solve its problems from many years in being abused on special teams. We have the personnel to win on special teams but until it happens, it's hard to believe in. The red zone issue is going plague us until a WR or TE steps up and says I can't be covered by a conventional defense. Now would be a good time.
If you told me UM would get a push or better on special teams and would execute well in the red zone, I'd like our chances a lot. But I don't see both happening.
Overhyped 27 -- Undercoached 21.
Jim Herrmann is coaching with the Jets this year right? So it's conceivable he could get a super bowl ring? (Ok not with the Jets)
Maybe we shouldn't enshrine Charlie Weis because he was an assistant coach of some great teams?
"It's "apropos." And you're using it wrong anyway."
FYI, while the word was indeed spelled incorrectly (it's late and I usually run things through Word to spell check - didn't think it necessary on comments for a CFB blog!) but it was used properly (in colloquial & numbered discourse I assumed that the preposition "of" would be inferred by the astute readers of this blog and would therefore be unnecessary).
"nd education dig: that would be "apropos of", not "appropos" [sic]."
For the record, neither my undergraduate or graduate degrees are from the UND.
I have a new favorite Wolverine. His name is Tim Biakatupa. He is devastating.
Is this the week we see cut blocking on the backside?
I was a UM fan as a kid through the late sixties and early to late seventies just to piss off my parents who were rabid ND fans. I still remember sitting at our piano one Jan. 1st after another disappointment, playing the fight song with one finger real slow, like a dirge. Then it struck me. Bo can't win bowl games. Why don't they hire someone who can win bowl games? He was an awesomely classy coach (compared to Woody Hayes, who wouldn't look classy?).
So, why is Bo revered anyway?
I guess it's time to ban me.
10 Reasons to Be Worried if You're a ND Fan (in no necessary order)
1.) Jim Herrmann no longer has an Ann Arbor address
2.) Mike Hart
3.) Three freshman running backs running under the radar
4.) Ron English's Swarm and Sting Defense
5.) Mike Hart
6.) Zoltan Mesko
7.) Steve Breaston
8.) Destiny
9.) Mike Hart
10.) The big chip on Lamar Woodley's shoulder
10 Reasons to Be Worried if You're a Wolverine Fan (in no necessary order)
1.) Road opener in South Bend
2.) Chad Henne
3.) Jeff Samwhosiwhatsis
4.) Vanderbilt and CMU vs. GT and PSU
5.) Whoever is playing opposite Leon Hall
6.) Special teams coverage
7.) Chad Henne
8.) The Luck of the Irish
9.) The specter of Kraus or Long, or both, hobbling to the sidelines early in the second quarter
10.) Overwhelming evidence that UM kickers are born and raised to break your heart
How about a slight diversion? Something that can join the Michigan and Notre Dame fans together in some day-before-the-game snickering scheudenfreud: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/ne...=yhoo&
type=lgns
I have a feeling the NCAA may come down fab five style on USC for this one. Strip the 2004 Championship? His Heisman? Who knows.
Well, Christopher, lest you grow disenfranchised with the unenviable eminence of the discourteous replies proffered in remuneration for the humble monologue you advanced, momentarily observe your pragmatic virtual environment, which endeavors for a level of sophistication in its sports dissemination surpassing that achievable by your ordinary four-year-old and robustly unshackled by the bonds of thesarusdom.
Under those circumstances, a misspelling becomes funny and something people feel compelled to point out.
To contribute to the discussion, does anyone else here suspect that many U-M fans won’t be happy with a win if it doesn’t involve chucking the ball downfield? I think, if the game is close or Michigan has a lead, the team will continue to throw short- and medium-range passes (though to tight ends far more often than we’ve seen) in order to limit the chances that Henne is squished by Abriani. I personally don’t think Michigan needs the deep ball to win this game and would prefer to keep Henne in the land of the living. Just get those tight ends going and work from there, I say.
Who all is actually going to the game??
My best friend from HS (and now a ND faculty member) is once again letting me have a ticket, despite knowing I am a die hard UM fan..
Friendships like that are invaluable.. just like getting to see our first victory since 94 in ann arbor would be!
Get you butts to the game and support our boys!
meant priceless, not invaluable. oops.
still get your butts out there!
Ooops, my bad, I accidentally missed that FOURTH superbowl ring. How could I have let that happen? Thanks for pointing it out though, I'm glad you're helping me keep track.
As for Brady being a HOF'er, are seriously going to argue against it Kurt? Did I accidentally assume a Mich fan would want Brady in the Hall? And while we're not kidding ourselves, let's keep in mind that Bill Belicheck is an offensive coach in nobody's book. Brady gave Weis credit for his nfl success and that's good enough for me.
As for the game, stamina will be key. We've played two BCS conference defenses and worn them both out pretty quickly. Michigan's got more horses, so who knows how much longer they'll hold up.
Make no mistake, UM will blitz. Whatever poster above said they wouldn't was off the mark. And it will definitely be more GT-blitzing that PSU-"blitzing". I think it will give us some problems, but we have had two weeks to work on it. It will be telling how well we handle it as the game wears on.
As for the rushing game, I think both teams will have success. Mich early on and Irish as things progress. Again, let's not kid ourselves, llllloyd's not going to come out with 5 receiver sets and ND knows it. We'll be aligned to stop the run. Whether or not we manage it remains to be seen. If there's any place you'll have success it will be running inside of the tackles and at our WLB. For all of its deficiencies, our secondary does pretty well on outside runs. Despite that, we've faced two notable (admittedly, not Hart-esque) runners that ran well on us and it mattered very little in the end. I just don't see rushing, alone, deciding this game. Their's gonna have to be passing and it's importance, for you guys, will be more pronounced later in the game.
As for what I said about Bush not getting 175, I was just making a point that the "greatest college RB since Barry Sanders" didn't manage that and mike hart, who for all his considerable talent is not Reggie Bush, won't manage it either. Also I didn't say we stunted USC's offense? I'll be the first to admit we didn't.
I think a player like our OTHER TE M. Freeman gets some attention and makes some decisive plays. If they blitz or, better yet, stunts give us problems. I think you see some powerpackages designed to run at your line and work some playaction. Weis is going to test the fitness of your whole line and see if he can take the wind out of you. If he manages that, he'll just stick with the run until he wants to try for the house.
Christopher-
"Battle tested & hardened"? "Emerged through the fire"?
You watch a lot of the history channel don't you? I think you set a record for the most meaningless, military cliches in a single post. Bravo.
I went to ND for college and Michigan for grad school, and while my sympathies are with the Irish (they got to me first) I'm just hoping for a good game.
My hunch, sympathies aside, is that Notre Dame will win in a close game. I was at the 1980 game (53-yard FG as the clock wound down) and the 1990 game (two Ismail returns) and simply believe that God, or luck, or whatever, smiles on the Irish in these games. Michigan's history of great teams, great coaches, great talent, and just 1.5 National Championships sort of proves the point.
Before I go, I'd like to answer Ben's question about why Notre Dame teams sometimes wear green, when their official colors are Blue and Gold. The reason is simple: in early the 1900s, Notre Dame's teams were called the Ramblers (they had to travel for games because your man Yost, anti-Catholic that he was, refused to play them and got much of the rest of the Big Ten to do the same) and were made up largely of Irish-Americans whose parents came here after the famine. Reporters started calling the team the Irish; hostile fans jeered at them as the (drunken, dirty) Fighting Irish; and the name stuck and became a badge of pride. When your team is named the Fighting Irish, and used to be majority Irish in composition, you can wear green.
Re-run,
Let's be clear - I am a big Brady fan and would like it very much if he gets in. But he doesn't have the credentials yet. Two or three years does not a career make. And if he does get in it's not SOLELY because of Weis (although he may have had a big role).
As for Bush, you said he didn't "approach" 175 and I simply pointed out that 1) he did in fact get close and on a limited number of carries, and 2) that Bush might have gone for more if USC was not so successful passing. Hart might get 30 carries in this game and it's not beyond reason to think he could get 150 or even (gasp) 175. Not probable IMO but certainly possible.
I would rather not snipe back and forth. Anyway, you have seen that I am predicting that ND will win (although I think Michigan has a definite chance to win). But I don't think it will be because the Michigan line wears down.
4 super bowls as an assistant vs. 1 NC as head coach
Joe,
I never asked why. I know why. My point was simply that it's stupid. Just like it'd be stupid for Oklahoma to wear gold jerseys because a Sooner migrated west for the gold rush.
And for your regurgitated half-truth about Yost being anti-Catholic, you might want to check your own backyard as to why your were boycotted way back when. I'll give you a hint -- ineligible players and low academic requirements. I guess along with the color green, pretextual, self-serving historical spin is an irish trait.
(Sorry, Brian)
Two or three years does not a career make.
You're right and, while I think this point is valid at times, this is not one of those times. Brady QB'd three SB champs and I can't recall a similar QB that's not in the hall. He's in regardless of what he does from here on out. He could be arrested for driven naked through Detroit on his way back from a sexboat scandal and he's still in. And I agree that he doesn't get in solely because of Weis. I just contend that it was Weis that put him in his current position.
As for 1 NC vs. 4 SB's (as an asst.). I'd rather have, well, neither since I'm neither a Pats or Wolve's fan. However, the SB's carry more weight for me b/c they're SuperBowls. Assistant or not, that's something. Plus, it's just fun to drop because no other fanbase can. It's like you guys dropping Tim Biakab^!*ca into the discussion, right?
fritz,
NFL != NCAAF
The way UM has defended the rush so far I don't see ND having consistent success on the ground.
I don't think it's accurate to say GT's success running had no effect on that game. The final score was 14-10. So close that everything done well or poorly affected the outcome. I grant you PSU was unable to take advantage of their success on the ground. If UM can run successfully (unlike many of the previous matchups) they willl be in a comfort zone. UM is something like 12-1 when Hart goes over 100. That means something.
The only things that stopped Reggie were Pete Carrol and the end zone. ND certainly did not stop Reggie. My OSU friend suggested last year ND should have made shirts that said, "My other win was a loss". The USC game goes down as a loss. Only crappy programs are proud of losses.
1.5 championships? With that sort of math (FWIW, I credit Michigan with 7 and ND with 12 NCs), that leaves ND with what, 3.2? If we can't agree on who has how many, we can always look at the combined AP, which counts championship years along with all the other seasons, and shows Michigan to be the current All Time AP Champion. I know I know: Heismans are a better gauge of how succesful a program has been over the last 70 years...
"I think you set a record for the most meaningless, military cliches in a single post."
Thanks Dave!
I aim to please.
Does anyone else from the morAn faction of the UM fanbase want to talk about rhetorical style, spelling, grammar, syntax, etc.?
This blog seems like the perfect venue for that!
I'll be the first to admit that I could be mistaken about my expectations. Therefore, in light of that, do any of the thoughtful UM fans (I know you're out there) want to respond to the points I raised which led me to the conclusion that ND runs away with this game?
Brian, I promised my self I would leave work today whenever the ND preview was posted. Can a brother get an ETA?
"4 super bowls as an assistant vs. 1 NC as head coach"
Might want to put an asterisk next to that split NC Herr Fritz.
*** Therefore, in light of that, do any of the thoughtful UM fans ***
The problem, Christopher, is that I don't think you're interested in dialogue with what you call "thoughtful" U-M fans.
You, and most of your ND brethren, along with some of the U-M fans, are on this thread to flame.
I opened this thread today under the assumption that there would be a lengthy discussion of the game, the matchups, and so on.
Among the 100+ responses there are a few such posts presenting an intelligent discussion of the game. The rest is spin or bile.
And "intelligent discussion" does not include wishful thinking about matchups (and that's aimed at fans of both schools). The assumption that "oh, McKnight can be covered easily" or "Michigan's D-line will get worn down" is simply ignorant and both claims will be disproved tomorrow.
Good luck tomorrow, but if you're seeking enlightenment on this thread, you might want to try shining a light yourself.
2 PM.
Yeah, Christopher, I’ll be happy to help you improve your communication skills. Step 1: Buy a dictionary. Step 2: Use it. Step 3: Stop trying so hard. If you want, I can offer you additional tutoring, but something tells me you’re going to give up on the whole “use pretty words I don’t understand so people think I’m smart” thing after this little misadventure.
In response to your points, here’s my reply:
1. I agree with your observation that ND’s first two opponents are stronger than Michigan’s first two. However, while this is a common observation when people are scrounging for potential swing factors in a big game, I’ve never seen evidence one way or another that it makes a difference. Georgia plays in the NFC South, for example, while West Virginia plays in a Pee-Wee league, but that didn’t do Georgia much good in the Sugar Bowl. Perhaps teams that played stronger competition have a higher rate of success in these games, but I’ve never seen anyone do any analysis on it and I don’t have an overall impression. I think it’s just something people like to say.
2. I agree: If Quinn has time to throw, he’ll probably have success. I think you can substitute the name of any quarterback playing at any level in that sentence and it would remain accurate.
3. I would expect that a fourth-year starter has learned to distribute the ball, and I agree it’s something that Michigan should anticipate. I’ve e-mailed the Michigan coaching staff to discourage the team from only covering one receiver. You characterized this ability as being a “deadly” one, though, and I’m not entirely sure how to take this. Is it Michigan’s players that are at risk of death? Notre Dame’s? Charlie Weis? Please provide additional information on this aspect of Quinn’s game.
4. PSU might have the best LBs in the country, but I think Charlie Weis suspects that there might be more to a defense than a single position group. A superior secondary to what ND has seen along with an excellent defensive line are also factors to consider.
5. I have no reason to think that Henne will not be able to play a strong game. Apparently you don’t either, because you didn’t explain yourself.
6. Maybe. Maybe not. Oddly, I thought that, of the two QBs, Quinn would be the one under more consistent pressure. The defensive line he’s facing, in my opinion, is stronger and the offensive line weaker than the ones Michigan will be facing. He’s a great QB so he’ll find his way out of trouble more often than not, though.
7. Again, there’s no explanation here. I’d point out that most reasonable observers agree that Michigan will have a stronger running game than ND, and that the running game generally controls the clock, but if you disagree, more power to you.
8. The teams are equal. This is the factor that’s leading me to predict: ND 28, Michigan 20.
uh, holy sh!t Ben and Joe, isn't flaming supposed to be funny?
While the score of the GT game was definitely too close, the outcome was pretty well determined once the Irish took the lead. GT crossed the 50 like once from that point on (don't flame me if I'm off, I'm going from memory, not google) and the Irish burned like the last six minutes of the game. And it was clear that once ND opted to double team Johnson out of the game (and leave the run open), GT lost its mojo. Ball and their RB were still ripping of runs once and a while, but the offense went dead.
The Mike Hart 100-yard stat is a good one and I look forward to adding to the 1, not the 12.
I don't doubt you guys will have success rushing. I'd be surprised if we didn't as well considering Walker's been good for Hundy against UM the past two years. The fact that one of those years was with Willingham only increases the likelihood.
As for Reggie Bush, can we put this to bed? Did I EVER say ND "stopped" Reggie or that Reggie didn't win that game or anything along those lines? No, I said that he didn't gain 175 yards against (and I don't care about whatever circumstances you want to cite as a reason) and that reason would have it that expecting Mike Hart to gain 175 in light of that is not reasonable. COULD he gain 175, I suppose. Will he, doubtful. That's all. I'm not saying Mike Hart's not good; I'm not saying he's not Awesome; I'm not saying he couldn't save a family of five, two small pets, 4.5 major appliances, a grand piano and both family vehicles from a 3-alarm fire single-handidly. I'm just saying Reggie Bush didn't do it (again, spare me the circumstances), so why predict that Mike Hart would? If he does, you have my permission to proudly display your "Mike Hart and " BFF braclet whenever you want. Nobody will stop you.
Thanks Funky!
As far as watching the game, I will be focusing early on what's happening at the LOS.
The Irish had trouble controlling the LOS on both sides of the ball against PSU, and I'm a bit worried about that for the UM game as well.
I'm also worried about our linebacking corps - probably the greatest weakness of the Irish defensively imo.
UM certainly can win this game - and I believe that UM is coming into this game convinced that they are, in fact, going to win. No question, this is a very dangerous game for the Irish.
But as I said I'm personally rather confident about ND's chances in light of the points I raised above (some more valid than others no doubt).
GBW, I hope my post on the d-line getting worn down didn't cause you to write what you did. I only said that Weis would try to wear out the D-Line and then speculate as to what he would do, if successful. He's basically used that approach for two straight games and there's no doubt he'll try it again (considering some of your lineman have some substantial girth to carry around).
Please don't take this as some attempt to burn you-I just don't want to give the wrong impression.
I think that we could gather the best minds in football analysis, put them all in a room for a week and have them come to an agreement on how this game is going to play out. However, this would be pretty worthless analysis. When was the last time this game came out the way that anybody thought it would? Even in hindsight, do these games ever make sense? What Michigan fan would have predicted the 38-0 game? I would say that last season most unbiased observers would admit that Notre Dame had a very good (great even?) offense. Michigan had its worst defense in years and yet the Irish scored what, 17 points?
I think that when it comes to this game in particular you have to throw all the talk out the window and admit that nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow. Of course, that is why I love college football. After all the talking, talking, talking and talking, Saturday (or these days Thursday or Friday) comes and we get both a winner and a loser (or a team that time-ran-out-on/got-screwed-by-the-refs/was-a-
victim-of-bizarre-circumstance).
As for all the flaming before this game, I honestly don't get it. Notre Dame has a strong football tradition in part because Yost acted like a tool. How are the other football playing institutions in Indiana that were allowed into the Big Ten doing these days? And sure, Michigan fans wish that they had a TV deal like ND does, but being stuck in Texas I can honestly say that I'm just glad that I'll be able to watch this game tomorrow, one of the great regional rivalries, which is made all the better because the teams haven't played every year since the beginning of time.
Here's to a good clean, hopefully controversy free, game tomorrow. Good luck to the Irish, I sincerely hope that Michigan is able to beat your best effort.
Go Blue.
Re-Run: I wasn't trying to flame. All apologies to anyone who thought otherwise.
Ben: you're right that ND's low standards (I think the Gipper had a 0.0 GPA when he died, from pneumonia caught after passing out drunk in the snow) might have contributed to Michigan's decision not to play them and to encourage others to do the same. But because few schools were pure back then, and Yost continued to play many of them, it's realistic to think that his anti-Catholicism was the driving force behind his decision to keep ND out of the Big Ten.
"If you want, I can offer you additional tutoring, but something tells me you’re going to give up on the whole “use pretty words I don’t understand so people think I’m smart” thing after this little misadventure."
Thanks for the offer of assistance gnr! I've been looking for someone to help me better connect with a simple and unrefined audience! I do hope your offer is sincere b/c you appear to be the person for the job.
1. Your point may be valid in an ultimate sense concerning the irrelevance of facing stronger competition. A crappy team is a crappy team regardless of the level of competition they have faced. However, it may be more significant early in the season as teams are building confidence and working out flaws in execution. What works against a lesser opponent may not work against stiffer competition and so problem areas may be better illuminated against more challenging opposition. For example, GT has an excellent defensive coordinator and this has been evident in the quality of the defense that team has put together the past two seasons. The GT game was very helpful for the Irish in terms of identifying problem areas against a good defense and it has given the Irish an opportunity to address them - can UM say the same?
2. Clearly, giving a QB time is an advantage for any D-1 quarterback - If Henne is given all day to sit back in the pocket [strike]unmolested[/strike] wiht litle presuare (thinking of your advice here gnr), ND will be in deep trouble. However, I think more skilled quarterbacks who excel at reading & responding to coverage are *more* dangerous when given time in the pocket. My own *opinion* is that BQ is the finest QB in the country in this regard and therefore that he poses a particular threat to inflict greater damage when given time to pass.
3. I would imagine that we agree that not all QB's are equal in terms of their ability to distribute the ball evenly (4th year starter or not). GT's offense, for example, flounderd once ND responded to Calvin Johnson by consistently covering above and below him. If a QB can consistently spread the ball around, it makes it considerably more difficult for a defense to double up on future NFL receivers (JS and RM) - if you're comfortable with your corners going one on one with JS and RM - more power to you. I guess we'll see how successful of a strategy that proves to be if attempted.
4. Don't dispute your points here - clearly there is more to a defense than merely the backers. I was just highlighting the success ND had against what I think is a capable PSU defense which most regard as having the best linebackers in the country. Something to consider in the conversation - that's all.
5. No doubt #5 was and is merely my own speculation based on (1) UM's previous 2 games in the passing game, and (2) my own observation of Henne against ND and other teams. We will see on game day won't we?
6. You're probably right on this - I am worr
6. You're probably right on this - I am worried about the OL and UM's defensive front. This may turn out to be a significant challenge for UND. Hopefully BQ will demonstrate the same sage good thinken' ability that he's demonstrated in the previous two games and take a sack rather than risk an ill-advised throw.
7. Strictly speaking, I don't believe that TOP is determined by the running game per se (although clearly it is an essential factor), but by sustained drives. My [possibly mistaken] belief that ND will win this component of the game is based on evidence from last season and the previous two games. Chan Gailey summed up the problem GT faced in this area when he said, after the game, "We just couldn't get them [i.e., the ND offense] off the field." PSU faced a similar problem even though in that game the ND offense was slanted more toward the passing game. Who knows what will happen for sure - this was just a hunch of mine. As before - time will tell.
8. We both seem to agree wrt to the importance of home field as a consideration (although as last years context has proven, this is not a definitive factor).
How about we give future replies sans all the vitriol?
meant to say
"...last years conteSt..."
Fair point, Joe. Most programs were tarnished, at least a bit back then.
But it's also fair to call out domers who conveniently spout anti-Catholic rhetoric as a substitute for actual facts. It's just as easy to say Rockne was a cheater -- would you consider one assertion more factually grounded than the other?
One last note: 24:15 to kickoff!
Keeping the gloves up is fine with me, Christopher, if that's what you want. I prefer thoughtful discussion but that's not what you were asking for. And I'll do it one more time: That "simple and unrefined audience" line might have been pointed and funny if you weren't literally schooled by everyone who bothered responding to you.
Back to the analysis. I'm interested in the first point--whether having stronger opponents for the first two games makes a difference. You explained the rationale--WHY it would make a difference if, in fact, it does--but you haven't proven that it does. I don't blame you for this because I don't think there's evidence either way.
I could say, for example, that playing inferior competition in those games gives Michigan an advantage because the Wolverines now know what they have in the two- and three-deep at a number of positions. What's more, the starters will have fewer bumps, bruises, aches and strains than a team that's played stronger opponents in those two games. As for knowing what you have and what you don't have, I think programs at this level know with 99 percent certainty what they have before they ever take the field. Almost ever week, the competition they see on the practice field is stronger than what they see on Saturday. That's been true of Michigan in the last two weeks and also of Notre Dame.
I think both sides of that discussion seem reasonable, but I think they're both nonsense. Like I said, I'd guess that you could do a study of highly ranked teams that played in the third week of the season, one with an easier pair of games to start than the other, and I don't think we'd find that there's an advantage either way. Football isn't a Highlander movie; Notre Dame's win over Penn State doesn't mean ND gets to absorb Penn State's linebackers, or that Rhema McNight is faster or has better hands. It's the same team either way. It gives us fans a better idea of what to expect, but it doesn't change the players on the field.
Anyway, I'm interested in knowing what everyone here thinks about it. A lot has been made of it and whether it's an advantage or disadvantage. Does anyone else think what happened in the last two weeks won't matter one bit on Saturday? Christopher, what do you think?
nice article on the espn college football page about the michigan -notre dame game this weekend. it's titled "Nittany Lions prepare for Irish." fucking idiots.
I haven't read very much about refuting th talk of flipside of ND being "battle-tested." I never played football, but it seems like it's a very hard game to get up for week-in and week-out when you're playing tough opponents. Although I think Penn State came in a little overrated, ND still had to get up for that game, in addition to the GT game. In other words, whereas ND (really its athletic supporters)views its first 2 games as making them "battle-tested," while I think that's true, I also think that's overplayed in the sense that being "battle-tested" also means you're likely emotionally and physically drained, if not banged-up. On the flip side, UM seems like they've been "gameplanning" for this ND game to peak at the right moment. I'm not saying this is the end-all factor; only that I don't think ND's more difficult first 2 games versus UM's less difficult first 2 games is the big advantage some might think. In fact, it might be a negative for ND and a positive for UM. Thoughts?
gnrgoblue, in the future, please don't ask questions right before I ask them (gnroblue, -1)... it's rude and it evidences that I haven't read all the previous posts. Good Highlander reference (gnroblue +1).
Christopher, let me refute your arguments in terms you might understand. On Saturday 16th in the year of our Lord 2006 the Fighting Irish girded themselves for battle with the cowardly Wolverines for the pleasure of Touchdown Jesus. Football’s Falstaff had locked horns with the ancient evil of the Big Ten before and come out victorious (unless it was Michigan State or Ohio State.) On defense the green garmented leviathans were eager to crush the Wolverine mite #20 who had cowered on the sidelines of their previous meetings. Today he would meet the fury of The Brothers I-need-a-vowel—The Boxer and Am-I-supposed-to-cover-#7! But lo, what sorcery is this? The Mite in blue shifts and darts like a knave fearing his father’s wrath. His little feet a churning blur from years of running from justice. Do my eyes deceive me—a second goblin wrapped in blue? He receives the ball hiding behind the fat ones and then slinks ahead when the field is empty running from our manly challenge. The good Brothers I-need-a-vowel creep forward to crush the wretched life from these blue gnats who nip and buzz spilling the golden headed heroes blood drop by drop. For sooth, their end will be ignominous (Oh Fleshy Leader you’re sure those fast green guys aren’t going to show up with their flag again?). Hark Boxer! The wretched one from land of Quakers has thrown the ball away so great is his fear! ‘s blood, the one named after the video game has collected his comrades cowardly cast. Satan’s work has given them 7 (was that your man or mine?) But Fear not for now the Great Gaelic God strodes into the eyes of our Lord. The maidens blush at his steely gaze. The blue goblins gnash their teeth and wring their hands in their dark holes for they know their master has arrived. And he is angry with a righteous wrath. Flanked by his trusty lieutenants—Earl Pajamapants and Sir McKnight he flies down the field. Time and again the blue ogres bear down on him hurling him to the ground. Each time he rises again from the crumpled bodies of his fallen foes--his jerkin stained with the holy green and brown of God’s turf where his fall has bruised the earth. The announcers hail his courage and strength. The beautiful maidens of Indiana (? well, maybe it's better than the hirsute women of the northern men) faint in fear for his immaculate limbs. The Gaelic God hears none of it. His great heart pumps so loudly that all he knows is the blood rushing through his mortal temple (or maybe he can’t hear because his ears are ringing and his teeth chattering). As the time strikes zero we look to sky to confirm our victory but alas can it be? The jesters in black and white so old and infirm seeming once scurried forgotten in the arena with their yellow hankies. They have stolen victory from the golden headed heroes. The Quaker and his goblins have bewitched the autumn night and snatched the laurels for Our Lord (27-24).
Rob,
That would explain why PSU looked so awful last week. Paterno really needs to retire.
imafreak, I've had myself entirely too much fun today messing around with Christopher, but I've been bested. That story was timeless. I was cracking up at, "But lo, what sorcery is this?"
Thanks for that. Hilarious. You should bust that out every year the day before the Michigan/ND game.
("a second goblin wrapped in blue?" Hah! Awesome.)
"Just like it'd be stupid for Oklahoma to wear gold jerseys because a Sooner migrated west for the gold rush."
That would be stupid, since the gold rush happened in California. Fifty odd years before Oklahoma was settled.
Michigan needs a better class of subway fan.
Osvaldo, I was wrong. You are right. It was the LANDrush for which OU is named. But there have been multiple gold rushes in the United States other than California (e.g. Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, etc.), not that that's relevant to our discussion.
Notwithstanding my error, you conveniently (and repeatedly) dodge the issue about the stupidity of basing a third team color on the identity of a mascot. The Sooner example was wrong, so let's try another:
LSU develops an orange jersey to wear... you know, since they're the Tigers. Stupid.
Looking at one of the BGS preview posts, and their abuse therein of the always witty term "scUM", I got to thinking.
I said to myself, "Self, what would be a good retort for us to shoot back at them when they break out such juvenile behavior?"
Seeing as how I am not mature enough to turn the other cheek, I've decided to go with a term in honor of their current coach/deity/Hutt.
So if you are ever in a flame war with a Domer who breaks out "scUM", I think it's fair game to break out "rotUND"
re: subway fans, I guess the Michigan subway fans will have to aspire to the upper echelon that is the northwest Indiana toothless.
Hey, but I guess they're irish. Or catholic. Or irish catholic, which makes them twice entitled.
Our subway fans are more like "ride a moped downriver because you have 3 DUIs in the past six months" fans.
"Osvaldo, I was wrong. You are right."
&
"not that that's relevant to our discussion."
&
"Stupid."
Frankly, I didn't expect this level of self-knowledge.
"Michigan", "a better class of" "fan."
You heard it from Osvaldo first.
Ben
Nice anti-catholic bigotry. Keep on being classy.
"Michigan, a better class of fan."
Yeah, most fans are only good during the summer, but Michigan fans also blow hot air.
Notre Dame, a better class of football team. You heard it from me first.
I have to admit. rotUND is kind of funny.
UofM loves to lose to ND, tomorrow will continue this fabulous ritual. Go J. Smarzjkysidiaisua!! ND wins by field goal.
Anti-Catholic bigotry is about as relevant as anti-Italian or anti-Irish bigotry these days. And I'm Catholic.
"Osvaldo": I'm tired of you. Next thing from you that's a tiny bit irritating and you're gone.
Ben: can we let the green go, maybe?
whoooo! flame wars!
re the green jerseys: it started out with rockne dressing the team in green versus teams that wore blue themselves. so, for one, it's paying homage to rock. then, there's "the switch", the game in 1977 against usc. the irish warmed up in blue, but switched to green before kickoff, a dan devine motivational ploy. that, of course, was joe montana's coming-out game, as they beat usc 49-19 on the way to a national championship.
since then, the green hasn't really paid off, but it came close last year. a couple of inches and no push would have made another legendary "green" game. so, in short, it was rockne's call. and you don't argue with what rock did. it's sorta like the goofy umich helmets (just had to get that in there :D). it's a throwback to the glory days.
on a side note: there is no way weis breaks out the green jerseys versus umich. ever. those things are reserved for BIG games. not that nd-um isn't a big game. but they're only going to get broken out for OMGUSC(!!!) games, such as last year. kinda shows that davie and willingham didn't get nd (davie broke 'em out vs. gtech, willingham vs. bc)
further reading here:
In '77, Green meant something
Brian at MGOblog:
I only regret that I have but one IP address to give for football sanity.
My hat's off to the "he's a freak." I find the Christopher - Whoever (no insult intended) argument concerning the first two games of respective schedules incredibly interesting. I have lived in Italy for more than 20 years and follow international soccer. In the World Cup no team wins the trophy without having struggled in the preliminary stages. That reads NO ONE. I know, I know (in no small part via the uninformed blog slog on the last World Cup on American Web sites) that international soccer and American college football are two very different sports. But, in the final analysis, there are more similarities than differences in competitive team-sports. You may fear and loathe Nostra Donna, but you can't, in real intellectual honesty, accuse them of taking the path of least resistance. It's an integral part of what makes ND ND. If you're a real sports fan it's difficult to not respect (behind closed doors perhaps) what they do year in and year out. Again, with no disrespect intended, the arguments against Christopher concerning the schedule, asking for some kind of evidence - statistics, I assume - that would suggest a tougher schedule as a barometer worthy of consideration seem ingenuous to me. Nostra Dama has swallowed hard and deep for two weeks and UM has not. Can any self-respecting Wolverine fan contend this point? I don't think you need statistics to tell you that this is a factor. As of now, OSU and ND play tougher schedules than we do. And again, I don't think you can dispute this. They have decided to take more chances; we have not. If it's statistics you're after, look at UM's September numbers over the last 30 years. (I haven't, but I assume somewhere out there has.) I am dead sick and tired of whining at the mouth and sophmoric shots below the belt at these programs (OSU and ND, or whoever the fuck beats us), at our own expense. OSU and ND have out-performed us for the last ten years because they decided to harvest HUEVOS (ND had ALWAYS had them, OSU has recently seen the advantage). Can we Wolverine fans admit as much? We might win tomorrow, but probably won't. Does this surprise us? If we're honest with ourselves, probably not. We underperform with respect to our potential, mates, and have for the nearly 40 years that I have been a fan. There aren't enough words in the language to dispute this. I love this program (we can't really talk about TEAM in the professional, capitalist sense, can we?) to death. In fact, it might be the death of me. We haven't earned the right to flame OSU or ND. When we have, and if I'm still breathing, I will consider tipping in on the action.
Pat:
I do give you props for working an actual angle with "scUM". Most PSU and tOSU fans can't refer to our school in any conversation without using that... even if it's completely irrelevant.
Keep up the good work and hopefully blog relations between scUM and rotUND sites can return to the normal level of snark after the game.
Catholics are fuckin sweet. Our food turns into people.
I want to thank mblog and BGS for doing a great job leading up to this game........I'd like to think that if we weren't all hiding behind flaming keyboards and monitors, we could drink a pint after this thang plays out..........it's gonna be a great one.
8:00 am roll out of bed
8:01 am begin seven hour panic attack
8:30 am waffles, syrup
10:00 am check fridge, those 15 beers ain't gonna cut it. beer run
11:00 am ESPN gameday
11:30 am begin to get my drink on
noon-12:30 pm find a brat, grill it, suck it down, repeat
1-3:00 pm pacing, drinking, pacing some more askin no one in particular, "Who's go cover Samarjebsus? Riley, you showin up?"
3-3:30 pm stretch, face paint, woodson jersey, drinking.
3:30- buckle er up, lock the doors, and hang on for dear life. with any luck, there's a god who'll be listening to my pleas for Blue victory. and He'll answer.
LET'S GO BLUE!!!
Trying to debate analytically with either a ND fan or a UMich fan is like trying to tell your buddy his girlfriend is ugly;
A) He's too involved to perceive any truths you might be saying...
and
B) It doesn't matter because he might get lucky tomorrow anyway.
I can tell you only one thing that will FOR SURE happen tomorrow. Both team's fans will consume a 'wee bit of alcohol (I score credibility for the Irish reference.) That said, GO BLUE!!
Trying to debate analytically with either a ND fan or a UMich fan is like trying to tell your buddy his girlfriend is ugly;
A) He's too involved to perceive any truths you might be saying...
and
B) It doesn't matter because he might get lucky tomorrow anyway.
I can tell you only one thing that will FOR SURE happen tomorrow. Both team's fans will consume a 'wee bit of alcohol (I score credibility for the Irish reference.) That said, GO BLUE!!
To the grammar police, it's supposed to be teams' with the apostrophe after the s.
Cut me some slack, I'm an engineer. When was the last time you Maxwell's (I have it correct this time) equations?
rickshaw,
Good stuff. Full disclosure: ND fan. Was at SB last weekend. Worry factor for PSU game: 3 on a scale of 10. Tomorrow: full tilt.
I've got a 3 year old at solid 2-4:30 nap time. East coast time. Fun.
For all of the poo flung, a great tradition.
Who new that, after just a few pints, both ND and Michigan fans became such huggy drunks?
I too as well concur: here is to improved smart ass relations between our two respective schools.
Go Blue!
edit: knew for new.
Someone get me another beer.
s
UM 31 ND 27
I base this prediction on the following principals: hunches, misgivings, tea leaves (and their ilk), moon phases, stochastic trend analyses of various worm turnings, Canadian geese migration patterns, and the recent proclivity of the highway construction orange barrel to lean towards Ann Arbor. There will be no green jersey swathed on the Irish. Whatever. I don't much care if it's shirts and skins. Quite frankly, the urge of looking past the Irish to the Badgers has been both real and a distraction: bratwurst and cheese curds are family fun. ND fan take note: you are, on the whole, good people and should hold your collective heads up high if not annoying much like that kid in school that never shut up about how his dad would kick my dad's ass.
hilarious cantenkerous!
For some reason I just had a premonition (as I was reading my tea leaves) that this game is absolutely going to turn on a key turn-over (or two) that everyone will remember.
How does one predict who will win the turn-over ratio?
Nique les irlandais qui battent. Nique Notre Dame.
Michigan 27 ND 20
Tomorrow I think we'll find out that Notre Dame's offense and defense are both vastly overrated. Though Carr and Debord will call a frustratingly conservative game, relying on their obvious advantage with the rushing game, we'll enter the fourth quarter up 17-10. However, deep into the 4th, Carr surprisingly tries to go for it on 4th and 2 on our own 35. Miraculously he calls for a deep ball to Manningham (ala desmond 1991) for a touchdown that breaks ND's spirit and puts the game out of reach.
Michigan wins 24-10.
GOOOO BLUUUEE!!!
Henne will be Henne and throw a 50% completion game around. Breaston won't have a chance to make a play on special teams. He'll most likely have to fair catch every punt (and there will be several) or let them drop inside the ten. Samardzija will be non-existent for ND. McKnight will have a good day, probably reel one in. Walker is so-so and goes for about 80. Quinn throws about 65%, but mostly short stuff that increases your stats but isn't enough to turn the tide in a game. Zibby and Ndukwe have a good game and don't give up any big plays. Weis goes for it on fourth again and again but doesn't make it at key times. Kickers for either team are suspect. Comes down to Hart Vs. ND backers. Hart goes for more than 150 and it's Meeechigan 24-17. Hart goes for less than 150 and it's ND 17-10.
getting toward midnight on the west coast and it feels like christmas eve felt when i was 9.
please, if there is a god, go blue.
Wow. I've been reading this blog for about 3 weeks, and I love it. What I don't love is the absolute foolishness that has invaded this thread.
I live in Chicago, and will be meeting 7 of my ND friends (I am UM '95) at a local watering hole at 11am tomorrow. We will watch the early games, root for the teams we chose in our pool, and nervously await the BIG GAME.
What we won't do is flame, make shit up, or try to piss each other off. What we will do is drink some beer, eat some fried food, and talk some playful trash.
Don't get me wrong, I hate ND. I want them to lose every game they play. And they hate UM. Same story. They even quote some meaningless BO stats to me (I'd love to get into that later).
But...when it is all said and done, there is respect. Hatred and disgust, but respect.
So, to all of you from UM who like to flame...we are better than that. SHUT UP. We should be intelligent enough to make a strong, justified argument. If you are not, please read, laugh, and move on. If you are (and I hope the ratio is 9:1), God bless you. Let's continue to talk about the fact that this game hinges solely on our ability to protect the passer and rush the passer.
I step down from my pulpit. Thanks for listening.
Sorry...
UM 27 ND 24
Friend who is tailgating at ND just called me..rumor is that Zibikowski is out for the game...some ankle injury yesterday...
take it for what its worth..
argh! way to make me anxious. it would take a serious injury for zibby to sit this game out. i think he was at the pep rally yesterday, which would indicate he's ok, but... man. now i'm really anxious.
hopefully just a rumor.
oh. it would have had to happen in the friday practice, since it would have been noted here if zibby had been on a bike or something . apparently practice thursday was in shorts, so it wouldn't be too strenuous. now, there's always the chance of freak accident, but i'm hoping that this is more rumor than fact.
(i wish there were an edit button.)
I know this is a big day of college football and all, but Animal Planet is showing a documentary on wolverines.
Karma, bitches.
(Besides, the only decent nooner on TV appears to possibly be Iowa-Iowa State, and Pam Ward is handling those duties. No thanks.)
This is going to bethe longest three hours ever. They couldnt have thrown us a bone a schedule one of the marquee games at one.
Oh well at least we have: Woleverine: Devil of the North Country to enjoy in meantime
Bill,
Please inform us what it's like to celebrate a 3-loss season? Michigan fans are pretty grumpy when that happens. Of course, I guess that beats the alternative - namely ND's record in the previous seasons.
Kurt | 09.14.06 - 9:48 am | #
Hmmmmmm. So it's not OSU's owning you guys for a decade, or all the auto jobs lost? Gotta admit that people from Michigan seem to be perpetually hemmorrhoidal ...anyone here recall the last [pick one]: -season, decade, century, millennium -that Michigan lost LESS than 3 games?
Cheer, cheer!
bill. this is a comment section of love and respect now. clearly.
man. 2.5 hours until kickoff. i've gotten through my wolverine hatred and now moved on to general angst.
oh, and i'm going to be watching the last part of the game with rhema mcknight's cousin. hope he has a big game.
Kurt,
I'll be happy to go toe to toe with you over ND/UM national championships...the point that UM has made consistently over the years is that it's not important. Win or lose this weekend against ND, you are not one step closer to that Holy Grail of college football...the Big 10 Champioinship.
duck | 09.14.06 - 12:50 pm | #
"that Holy Gra....."
Seriously, someone help this guy.
BILL. SHUT UP.
by the way, not to distract from anyone's drinking, but cincy isn't looking bad against osu. 7-3 cincy and smith just got sacked. ok, nevermind. pittman just had 2 huge runs. but anyway, those who follow big 10 football - any chance osu loses this game? because it would make championship hopes for everyone (read: notre dame) and the heisman race for everyone (read: brady quinn) much more realistic.
Brian,
Tate's return isn't solving issues. They're losing at home to Iowa State, a Toledo equivalent. Yes, Iowa may win the game. And yes, this is a rivalry game. But no, Iowa is not a top 10 team. I hope your next ranking reflects this.
Anyone notice how Michigan fans (of which I am one) have taken on the personality of their head coach? "Don't turn the ball over; don't take penalties; don't give up the big play; no special teams mistakes..." UM needs to turn their players loose and make plays. This is not the 70's. The team that makes the most plays wins. Michigan needs to play to their strengths and let their playmakers make plays in all three phases of the game. Why does Lloyd start every game as if he has a ten-point lead? Play to win, get on the Irish early, and keep your hands to their throats for four quarters! Every game starts out zero to zero...make some plays!!!
Go Blue!
"When awake, there is nothing more in motion than a wolverine. But while asleep, there is nothing more oblivious to the world than a wolverine."
Animal Planet has never been so true.
As long as we're starting rumors, did it appear to anyone else that, a la Marcus Vick last season, Troy Smith stomped on a d-lineman's leg following his first td completion to Ginn?
Go Blue!!
Lucy pulls the ball away from Charlie Brown again... ND jumps out to early lead... 10 or 14-0... then UM claws way back into it with inspired play... before shooting self in foot 2 or 3 times and ND slips away from us again... the ND hype train continues... 31-17.
Someone make me a double...
Hope I am wrong... Go Blue!
I know Brian's mentioned how insane it would make him if OSU's kicker turned out to be another Nugent/Huston type...well, here's the line from today:
Redshirt freshman Aaron Pettrey - 2/2 FG (47, 43 yds), 4/4 PAT, 5/7 kickoffs for touchback (the other two reached the goal line).
Ryan Pretorius - 1/1 FG (52 yds), 1/1 kickoffs for touchback.
Now, Sean, it did indeed look like Troy sort of kicked loose emphatically from the UC player, but that player had just - to put it charitably - tried to rip his head off a LONG time after Troy threw the pass. If anything, that should have been offsetting personal fouls, but the refs didn't catch it. This was nothing at all like New Mexico's stomp.
Now Go Blue! DO SOMETHING already!
FUCK YES!! Burgess... 7-0!
2nd, pick 6, michigan up 7-0 41 secs into the game
Attaway, Wolverines.
Had been dreading their opening drive for a month. Guess for naught. Better start would be impossible.
Now keep it up! Go Blue!
PRESCOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!
The defense is doing exactly what they need to do. Holy Crap! Please, please, please, keep this up.
Go Blue!
Fuckity fuck fuck fuck. Is this going to be about whose defense can score the most?
Attaway (not really), Wolverines.
Ugh
i think maybe break out the whiskey earlier than expected
Hennebrain... in full effect today? Hope this is not a harbinger of things to come this season...
Cripes almighty... Like ND needs any help. Where is our almighty line? Getting crushed by no-name ND defense.
Where is the running game?
I'm more nervous when Michigan has the ball than I am when Notre Dame does. Ugh!
Damn, damn, damn... long ball = good. Blocked XP = bad... I'll take what we can get... Go Blue!
(I'm about half in the bag right now...)...
The deep ball! Manningham! Fuck yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Strike to Manningham, but we mess up the PAT. Sigh.
again with special teams, oye.
can they put a cardiac on standby for me?
Hey...THERE ya go...sucks to miss the PAT, though - but still, nice play. I've said all week that you ought to be able to exploit there weak-ass defense.
Now: what's up w/ that queer yellow bib/piping/whatever it is on y'all's jerseys?
Oooops..."their", it should be.
I hate the Notre Dame, excuse me, NBC announcers. Listeneing to them, you would hardly know there's another team on field.
a special teams play, for this team? WOW!
Go Blue!
I AM GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK
Fumble!!!!!
Could it be Notre Dame cashed in on all their luck last week?
It was sweet how they were talking about the def backs coach right before that pass .. communication!!
Holy Crap! Hart can fly!
I thought (according to BGS) that Zbikowski was immortal - where do the officials get off flagging a superhero?
Great leap!
Great leap!
TD Hart!
BTW, Brian: I'm wearing my I heart-Hart and mgoblog and my wife is wearing her I-heart-Hart.
Raise your hand.... who here thought UM scores 20 points in the first damn quarter??? Not me... I think the defenses and offenses settle down and steady out from here... then again, what do I know?
Go Blue!
!!!!!
Please Lloyd, please do not let up.
Great start, but it is far from over. We all know how Lloyd likes to play with a lead, so let's keep it in perspective. There is a lot of game left.
3rd and 1 STOPPED!
I especially never would have guessed 20 to 7 with Mike Hart averaging less than 2 yards per carry.
best game of all time.
if the clock stops right now. right now , declare the game over.
I think that right now Michigan's MVP is ND's kick return team. Every return they have made a serious mistake.
Michigan needs to keep the pedal to the metal. I won't feel good about any lead until this game is over.
How about Oluigbo? Nice FF and then he gets the screen pass (or maybe a waggle) that helps open it up.
fingers crossed, but dont we always get bad results on the reviews?
It's only the second quarter, bot Michigan already has twice as many points as they scored in last year's game and the ND ofense has gone nowhere.
Compared to the Weis-float, LC is looking downright cool.
maybe the luck is changing
I'm rooting for you guys - I really am - but regardless of the merits of his argument, why does __oyd (no L's yet) always look like such a whiny b when he's working the refs?
New Math!
anyone else on their way to order a New Math shirt!!!
I love Mario Manningham!
Could it be Michigan really was hiding the passing game?
With 11 minutes remaining in the 2nd Quarter, the score is know the same as the final score of the Vanderbilt game.
86=1
Shirt bought.
Notre Dame just got their first 1st down of the game. It's all over now. :(
Just kidding! LOL!
OMG. Mike Hart just reduced that guy's head to jelly.
mike hart playing some ball.
Love the "hands up" block on that punt return. Where exactly do you think you're goin', fella?
who is the play by play guy who said the "the normally sure handed breaston, doprs the pass?" Has he ever watched one of our games?
Nice 1st down. Good protection.
Can we please do something beside run between the tackles on 1st down?
Very early, but this is one of the best-played games I've seen out of UM in years. Let's hope it keeps up.
can they please stop the "sure handed" comments ?
Manningham is the new Football Jesus.
MARIO!!!
86 + 3 = 1
If it is possible to die of joy from watching a half of football, well, my funeral will be on Monday
announcers= bad.
manningham= Jesus.
I want to have Mannigham's baby
Give Mario the #1 jersey at half time!
I hope touchdown jesus didn't hurt himself when he crashed in to the band there.
I hope touchdown jesus didn't hurt himself when he crashed in to the band there.
So far, so good.
Awesome hit, Harris.
SUPERB pass there by Henne.
Hat trick for Mario. Give him the jersey.
Kansas fan here. I have to say after drinking myself silly last night after we lost to fucking Toledo, this game warms my heart. I hate Notre Dame, and the media conglomerate of espn/disney/abc that has had their heads up Notre Dame's asses the past...forever or so. This game is a joy to watch. GO BLUE!!
Congrats, Wolverines. Y'all are destroying us. I'm feeling pretty ill--we're playing like crap, but you guys are capitalizing and playing great, so congrats. Beat OSU this time will you?
Let's shut them down here. No hope!
Notre Dame might be getting stomped, bur Brady Quinn is sooooooo dreamy.
Zero pressure on Quinn.
Is anybody else kind of insulted that ESPN is listing this game under the upset watch?
was the point of the play calling on the last drive, just to prove beyond any doubt that the way to defend norte dame is by bringing pressure?
Didn't see that last defensive series. Was it as eerily as Hermannesque as it looks on paper i.e. corners 15 yards off. 3 man rush. Linebackers lining up on the sideline?
from my vantage point is was pretty hermannesque.
Is it wrong that i am sill very nervous?
No. 30 minutes is a long time.
No. 30 minutes is a long time.
Herrmannesque to me, too. Dislike it immensely. Very much want a score on the first drive.
this is usually the point where the burger i ate earlier isn't feeling like it's sitting too good in my stomach.
The refs screwed us on that last drive. The Brady sneak was short (i think, or at least deserved a measurement) and then on that 2 & 10 pass, the guy was down a yard short of the marker and they ruled it a first down. what bullshit!!
There was definitely some blitzing on that last drive - I think we should pause for film before dismissing entirely it as poor defensive scheme. Give Quinn credit (for one drive, at least >=).
the first drive is big, if they get some momentum on their side early, visions of last year's colapses will be dancing in my head.
Despite the nervousness, this first half has been a great time. After last year I forgot how much fun this can be.
That is a gift of seven points. I am concerned now whether the ghost of mustaches past has now infected English.
I wonder how much input, the Mustacheless -- yet still terriffied of applying defensive pressure -- Lloyd Carr had into that drive or if, suddenly English was engulfed in lip cheese which clouded the ability of the defensive players to hear his play calls.
Either way, that is exactly how M have squandered 4th quarter leads at record pace during the Carr/Hermann "Axis of Prevent" era and me no like.
I hate Michigan's style with a lead. We are like the Atlanta Braves. Glad to be winning but I hope we don't pack it in and play "Lets bleed the lead"
I had no idea that NBC was based in South Bend,only reported ND issues, and was completely backed by ND alumni.
It's the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation. Since when is this news?
has anyone flipped to the others games?
Is miami officially awful or has louisville looked very good?
LSU/Aub good defense or poor O.
Curious but to superstious to flip when things are going well.
C'mon, it's Pat Freaking Haden in the booth..........do you realize how many ND folks loathe him????????
Great first half Blue - but Melanie, I would never invoke Touchdown Jesus.........never
To quote Ben Crenshaw, I've got a good feeling about this game.........then again, Manningham could be this week's SI cover boy
There are other games on?
If this game made the cover, the headline would read something like : "What went wrong?", not how well UM played.
I figured asking about other games would be futile, but gave it a shot.
I'll be loving the new clock rules if they can wind that clock down and get us out of here with a win.
Stupid band. Mario back to the lockerroom :(
Not the band's fault. I thought the ND guy hit Mario way late.
Nice series on D there, Wolves.
Matthews for Wooden seems like a trade that favors UM...
Gotta say, I'm turning around on the WE screen. It's working due to Breaston's speed.
Steve,
I agree but I just think its a bad thing to have the band on the field for that reason exactly. I don't know where else you could put them but its just unfortunate if Manningham doesn't come back.
Meant WR. Sorry.
nothing but screens and fullback shuffle, did i step into a time machine?
thats 2 baby!
OUTstanding
You guys are AWSUM...and Brady SUCKS.
OK .. I'll have Prescott's and Manningham's baby
OK .. I'll have Prescott's and Manningham's baby
Did anybody else notice what a PUSSY Samardjizidgjaza was on that INT return?
Mario's back!
And: has anybody else noticed that Ryan and Henne look like twins (at least whith helmets on)?
Mario!
Give him the jersey!
There was an article in The Columbus Dispatch yesterday (he's from Dublin, right outside of town) about what a C-word on wheels Brady's mom is. She'll probably bitch-slap him after this performance...
All kidding aside, you guys are kicking ass. Nice job.
Who the hell is Arrington?
Love the play calling
what the hell was the deal with the dude giving breaston the finger in the end zone? how "christian".
Umm, Steve... aren't you a "receiver"?
Rivas - money!
Is it time for "Steve Breaston's traitorious hands" to go back "on notice"?
Still, y'all have got to be happy that w/ a quarter to go, you're up by 4+ scores.
finger are crossed as I say this (or write this) but is anyone else reminded of happy valley circa '97?
We back to a Hermann prevent?
Breaston's traitorous hands should be back on the 'you're on notice' board this week.
come on, crable!
err, woodley. bad announcers.
Seriously, WTF are our defenders doing right now?
Didn't like the Grady 3rd down run. Either give it to Hart or call something more aggressive. I'm drunk.
A nervous silence descends...
Wow. #5 catches that, this starts getting out of hand.
LEON HALL!!
There is over 7 minutes left, im still a nervous wreck.
Go Blue!
Hand Brady Quinn the Heisman!
Leon hall - what can you say on that pick?
Michigan has destroyed the ND National Championship talk and Brady Heisman hype in one fell swoop.
...not gonna say nuthin...
Poppa wants a 1st down here, kids.
it's all true. weis is genius. consider me converted. pure, unadulterated genius. brilliant. also, brady quinn is #1 overall pick after he massages the heisman. what was that sign in the lockerroom? Sulk like champions today?
The Sicilian for this is: Minchia, Minchia, Minchia!!! What we here in Sicily were intoning when the Azzurri won the World Cup. Roughly translated as "Holy Fuckin' Hellfiring Shit." Repeat three times before retiring on Friday night for the rest of the season. Minchia, Minchia, Minchia. (Phonetics=Min'keyia - accent on the first syllable.) UnMinchiaBelievable.
i know people here arent inton baseball, but i am a very big met fan and had some champagne on ice last night when a win would have clinched our fist division title since '88. That champagne is about to be popped.
Congrats all!
Go Blue!!
So sweet.
Hacker - where are you boozing later?
I knew it was going to be a good day when I spotted a "Zoltan for Space Emperor" t-shirt being worn here in DC...
Matt,
I feel your pain dude. Seven minutes. Seven minutes. We have dismembered this team in South Bend, and I am experiencing end-stage organ failure on all burners.
ND has gotten away with horrible holding all game..and Quinn is still getting owned.
Great game.
18 yards on 4th down. It likely doesn't matter, but it's such typical Michigan.
I'm not gonna lie...this feels REAL good.
Anyone getting a personal foul in this game should sit next week. This is just stupid.
Brady Quinn has been blitzed into a quivering pile of goo. Same game plan against Drew Tate I hope.
Another f--king late hit? Enough already.
TD Woodley!!!
How the hell can you make a tackle on the field of play and be called for a late hit out of bounds? how can this happen not once but twice?
OMG: Woodley! Fan-feckin'-fantastic.
that was a late hit my ass... but TD WOODLEY BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahaha....that was a perfect end to this one
That was maybe the greatest non-OSU play EVER.
OK, now I'll say something. OUTstanding!
NICE hit!!!
It's almost time to root for the Spartans - for one week, anyway...and then the Boilermakers.
Haha, Brady Quinn is pulled. pwnination
Haha, Brady Quinn is pulled. pwnination
THAT was what you call an old fashioned butt-whipping!
Congratulations Wolverine fans on a good victory.
You absolutely dominated this game on both sides of the ball in a very impressive road victory.
It appears that many of you were correct with regard to ND being overrated.
Good luck with the rest of the season!
Even as an OSU fan, I'll say that it was good to see __oyd (no L's yet) enjoying a moment in the sun.
It's a done deed, mates. We have fucked these guys up. Remember that Sicilian Mantra!!
All respect to ND .. great day for any UM fan..
Let's keep this momentum going
Where does this game put ND on its return to glory? Does it reverse the return to glory and instead constitute a retreat from glory? Does it simply stop the return to glory until they beat Navy or Rutgers next week? Does it have no effect on the return to glory because the Penn State win was soooooooo OMG convincing? Does it cause ESPN to go in mad convulsions and force them to seek help for the dissonance between OMG Brady Quinn sweepstakes and the actual game? Who will the Chicago Tribune blame? The refs, Michigan luck in getting turnovers? Tyrone Willingham and Darius Walker?
These are the real questions to come out of today, nevermind Michigan's performance.
Quinn is a decent QB but he's no Paulus.
Classy Christopher, classy.
It feels good to be a Michigan alumnus!
3-0. it feels so nice to get to say that again. I hope Michigan builds on this success. What a great day to be a Michigan fan. GO BLUE!
Indeed, Matt. It's been a long time.
Too bad I consumed an unhealthy amount of rum before the game to dull what I thought might be an ugly loss. Alcohol also dulls the high.
GGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOO BBBBLLLLUUUUEEEE!!
Having seen the glory and lived the heartache of a true Michigan fan, I want to say that, "YES, we can go in and KICK the crap out of Notre Dame in South Bend...YES..."
3-0 for the first time 1999. Not so fast...@ Minnesota in 2 weeks can be deadly.
Oh..guys, I made a pyramid of oranges, lit some incense and had a golden flaming oxen on top while chanting "Remy Hamilton..Remy Hamilton...Remy Hamilton.."...ALL DAY today
Next week, I will do the same thing but I will be chanting, "Super Mario..Super Mario..Super Mario..."
That was god damn tremendous.
Someone get that up on youtube I wanna see it again!
By the way, any golden idols of English being erected in Ann Arbor have my official blessing.
Congrats from Columbus where I've just soaked my porch couch in moonshine, thrown it in the dumpster, and set it afire...just kidding. Great game, you guys from That State Up North. I knew you had it in you.
Good game, mister.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
OK, mates. Now we hear the "ND was overrated" mantra from here to kingdom come. The geniuses at CSTV managed to get themselves hacked by some second-rate Russian porno site, thereby negating any access to live Internet radio access. I followed the game on Gametracker, and it ROCKED. CSTV is a fraud, my fellow Wolveninas. Second to none. They deprived me of a memorable, memorable experience, but despite their incompetence, we have shaken a nation. At the risk of sounding like a fool, I want to share my joy with all of you. Every last one of you sweaty, stinking bastards.I KNOW what you are feeling at this VERY moment. We put the wood to these guys. National championship? Unlikely. Heisman (sp?? Molto improbable. Michigan football is the only.... and Ron English is its only prophet. (I hope this doesn't earn me a fatwa from someplace.) I never thought it possible, I'll admit as much. But it has come to pass, and I love it. Let's enjoy this one. Let's enjoy this one together. Finally, we have earned it. Really, really earned it. Who woulda ever thought? Burgess and Henne. Go figure. Go Blue.
English 401: A Study in Pain Administration.
English's huns with their long range guns have laid bare the bones of the brave Irish dead.
With all those late hit flags I was beginning to think I was watching some figure skating. If Brady is too precious to be tackled then get his hunky ass on the friggin' sideline next to Jabba.
Is this legal? I don't think we're allowed to do that. I was absolutely convinced up until the 5 minute mark that something horrible was going to happen. This is Robot Jesus we're talking about.
But, hey, the defense was fast, aggressive and opportunistic and everytime Chad had time, he made a great play. Notre Dame stopped our strength, we adjusted and went for the throat. Sweet.
ron english
Ron English
RON ENGLISH!!!!!!
DANNY HAS FOUND HIS PRIDE!!!
I know I just commented...but I have already accumulated new fears to replace the one I had for Notre Dame. Foremost on my mind: this had better not result in the ESPN/ABC/Disney hypeflation machine annointing us in oils.
Man, 47 points in South Bend? That smells like top 5...
TQ3OI4HWTWIHT23;4WI4OHT;2WQ4IHTW2
T4WTIHTWEIHTJEWOIHTWQ
TEWO;IEHTWEOITHWA'TJHWA
TGWUKITHWOIHTGWPTHWOIEHTw
and cartwheels. unbelievable unbelievable unbelieveable. still in shocks. unbelievable.
can we start with premature michigan should be number one talk?
and michigan-osu will be game of century?
That was a dominating performance. The score should have been more lopsided. If not for henne's first throw, a passive D, and a love for FGs it should have been worse. Hall looked good w/out fabulous pass rush; hart always gets a few extra yards (even when he's caught for a loss); trent looked like the next cato june; darius walker (who is good) looked like a poor man's Ricky Powers; and Brady Quinn reminded me more of Aiden Quinn circa 'A river runs through it.'
Charlie Weis should go to the 50 and give Lloyd the reach around post- performance.
GO BLUE!!!!
Oh, and- most dominating game since 1997 Penn St. game where you say, 'wow, we are freaking good'
Need to stop all that talk now .. it's September
Colin,
Great point(s). This feels better than sex. Or at least, almost. Ron English Rules.
Just watched both coaches' postgame press conferences on NBC.com. Weis said ND TRIED EVERYTHING on offense.
Wow. Just. Wow. Sweet fancy jesus, what a complete pummeling. That was just beyond my wildest expectations. ND O-line? 0wn3d!! UM's *third* string guys were owning them in the 4th. Wow, wow, wow. Shawn Crable meet Brady Quinn. Brady Quinn meet Mr. Turf. Big props to Chad Henne. Can the guy who drops perfect 35 yard bombs into Manningham's breadbasket be the same guy who throws to Tacopants on wide open WR screens? Just a great game by Michigan.
awesome awesome awesome win. Michigan dominated on both sides of the ball, forcing ND into a lot of mistakes. from there, it just seemed to snowball for ND.
ND still hasn't played well on offense when they face a good defense. the hype stemmed from great games against bad teams. the pattern continues. we also now see that PSU just wasn't very good.
GO BLUE!!!! (UM '98)
oh yeah, and update PLEASE if you hear anything about greg matthews. hopefully, he's ok and just had the wind knocked out of him. that was a HIT...
Glory, Glory hallelujah!
We have shaken the nation! Brady Quinn and the Shark can kiss that heisman goodbye! I have seen the Promised Land and it is glorious!
YES!!!!!!!
Wow. What a statement. I was actually shaking I was so happy during this game.
Shades of the 97 defense...Scary.
Greg Mathews was there a few plays after. All good
Go Blueeeeeeeeeee!!!!! I am ecstatic!
An ass-kicking on our soul.......I haven't seen a lot of kudos to Mike DeBord here, but he should get them, eh Brian ?
Space, bitches, space!!!!
Nice game guys. Complete and total ass-kicking by both the Michigan players and coaches.
Nice game guys. Complete and total ass-kicking by both the Michigan players and coaches.
Central's better!!!
Sweet Jesus, we actually won. No 4th quarter collapse. No flukey ST play. No refs stealing the game (though they really wanted to). We finally won.
Congratulations to all of us longsuffering fans. The team deserved this one, but so did we!
It's GREAT to be a Michigan Wolverine!
fly the bird Brian, high and proud. 4 rushing yards? still cackling.
Thank you much dear wolverines for granting my request and tea bagging the fat man....heres to Ohio St-Michigan 06...The next game og the century (provided we both keep playing well) :-)
Ahhhhh. It feels so damn good.
I DVR'd the game and I'm watching the first half cuz I couldn't bare to watch the game because if we lost:
1) Swear in every language I know - about 12
2) Break furniture or
3) Throttle my golden retriever and my newfoundland
4) and destroy my little shrine to the golden oxen
Anyways, after watching the first half again I have to say a couple of things:
1) Our defense is freak'n awesome. Ron English is my hero. These are the same suspect players from last year!!! English has, literally, "...RELEASED THE HOUNDS.."
2) Goddamn great gameplan on offense. I can't believe we actually held our cards and didn't show ND anything the first two games (wether by design or by accident). Henne to Super Freak'n Mario...wow...
I will save this game with my collection from 1997. This is up there guys..this will be saved as one of my favorite moments of Michigan Football.
How's this for torture:
Long long ago (i.e. July) I scheduled my GMAT exam for a mid-September Saturday, assuming that the M-ND game would occur in latter parts of the month.
Instead, I found myself with no access to the outside world for 4.5 hours. Regardless, I whipped that exam's ass like Wesley Willis did Batman's...and a quick phone call to a sideline-bound buddy made this one of my most fav'ritests days ever.
Go Blue, yes, Go Blue.
This begins to make up for the Year of Infinite Pain. I loved seeing nuclear jack-in-box (perfect description Brian) slam Quinn into the ground and him come up with chucks of grass on the entire right side of his helmet. I'd love to say something intelligent, but am just too ecstatic. They had this coming.
Wow, a UM victory over ND and a Wesley Willis reference on the same day.. Go Blue! Rock over London, Rock on Chicago!
Geh. We made a lot of mistakes today, while UM made just one. M played great, while Quinn couldn't handle the pressure (both literally and figuratively).
Still, much like our 24 point win over PSU was misleading, I don't believe M was 26 points better than us today. That said, M was clearly the better team today and you guys more than deserve the win. No excuses.
What's really scary is next year's game. We're going to be playing 20 freshmen and sophomores in AA. I'm not hopeful. We may lose by 30 yet again.
Oh well. State sucks.
please make a oluigbo shirt
thank you,
a ridiculously happy and drunk studnet fan
Just rolled back in from South Bend. THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!
First, all of the ND fans I encountered were very classy, NOTHING like going to Columbus where you're threatened by belligerent assholes just because you're cheering for your school.
Second, I don't think I'll ever go to another game in South Bend because NOTHING could ever top this game. So that ASS-WHIPPING shall forever be my one and only memory of being in their stadium.
I saw thousands of Irish fans wandering around shell shocked.
Priceless.
Great game . . . went to SB two years ago and had the miserable experience of watching UM lose a game they should have won.
Think that my favorite part was seeing Henne throw downfield to Manningham after NO HINT of this in the first two weeks. Feel discomforted by the lack of a passing game while Mario was being treated . . . any reports on seriousness of injury? I assume it wasn't serious, otherwise he wouldn't have come back in.
Loved the defense. Loved special teams. Running game was good. What's not to like? Now, if we can adequately prepare for Iowa and OSU, this could be a very good year.
Late hits = ok as they were due to hustle and intensity, not dirty play (not to mention ticky tack calls - even the one on ND)
Also for the Domers, at least it was only 47 thanks to the new clock rules..take heart in that fact.
Lloyd take your clothes off...Lloyd get naked! (not sure if they still do this locker room chant after road wins, but it's awesome anyway)
Wow. Great game by Michigan. Dominating in all three phases of the game. Well played. I'm still in shock...I was worried about this game, but I never imagined it would be the rout that it was. Kudos to Michigan.
Also, I have to say that I was generally impressed with the Michigan fans who traveled to Ann Arbor. The majority of them were pretty gracious and considerate. They let us know how happy they were with the win, but weren't crude or offensive about it. I was sitting in the south endzone, second tier, which is where many of the opposing fans sit. So, there were a lot of UM fans around us. There were a few random comments that were out of line, but in general, the behavior was good.
Good luck the rest of the season. As a Columbus native (but not an OSU alum or fan), I'm really hoping that UM comes into Columbus on 19 November undefeated. That would make for a great game with the Buckeys (assuming they go undefeated, which is never a given in the Big Ten), with everything on the line.
Hail! Hail! From the warm sunny Caribbean I scream Hail! My first born son came on Tuesday and I meant to have him fully clad in his M gear yesterday while in the baby ICU on St. Martin. The nurses don't let in clothing from outside the ICU usually but this time made one exception for the big game and allowed me to put one M sock on his foot (the other has an IV in it). I want to thank my son, Lucas Paul, for willing Michigan to victory. The best part is I think ND is actually a very good team with a good (whale) coach and we still took them behind the woodshed. Now, don't let up! Props to Lloyd. I never lost faith in his ability and he had the team ready for this one! GO BLUE!!!!!
Brian--is this also the no. 1 Michigan blog in Caribbean ICUs?
AWESOME! After a very long season, and after holding my breath until the last 4 minutes of the game, I finally feel like we're back. Best part about it? Watching the game with a OSU fan who got more and more scared as the game went on.
Quote of the night from him...
"wow...47 points...AT Notre Dame. Wow."
oh my...
I'm usually just a lurker here...being the _oyd Carr slappy that I am. I'd just like to say that I'm really proud of our team and especially the coaching staff...great job. heard a great one today...what's the difference between Charlie Wies and Jesus?...Jesus doesn't think he's Charlie Wies.
Ok, so my girlfriend pretty much thinks I'm insane but it's totally worth it. All I can do now is listen to The Victors on a continuous loop. This is why I'm a Michigan fan. I almost forgot what if feels like to WIN a big game. GO BLUE!
I'm full of shit.
I was predicting that we would lose by two+ touchdowns, that Henne couldn't make the big throws, that Hart wouldn't have room to run, and that our d-line couldn't dominate the Irish offensive line juggernaut, blah blah blah etc etc.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, and very wrong.
I had also previously thought our talent was in general over-rated, and that against our toughest competition we did not have any talent advantage at all. I've said this because over the last few years we have repeatedly failed to beat teams that we're supposed to be superior to in talent, and our supposedly great players have so often been non-factors, especially on defense (Gabe Watson, just to unfairly name one).
At least in comparison with ND, there was absolutely no question who the more physically talented team was. Burgess looks like a different player. Branch, Woodley, Diggs, and Taylor dominated the LOS for the majority of the game. Henne looked every bit the QB the hype said he was. Manningham was in fact far faster than anyone in the ND secondary, just like many of you said he would be.
• Yes, changing the DC does seem to have made a dramatic change. Good move, Lloyd.
• Stripling might be the unsung hero among the coaching staff. It also has helped the d-line to have had two non-factors graduate.
• CMU might be a wee bit better than the cupcake many assumed they were. They should have beaten BC, who in turn beat Clemson on the road, who in turn beat FSU on the road.
BEAT DOWN!
haha, this from ESPN
"Charlie Weis' Notre Dame honeymoon came to an abrupt end, just as it did three years ago for Tyrone Willingham. Both Notre Dame coaches entered their 15th game 11-3, both left them after embarrassing losses to Michigan."
Totally meaningless statistical coincidence.. but totally hilarious meaningless statistical coincidence.
The cat pics are hilarious. Now, if I may be so bold to request some funny monkey pics?!
Go Blue!
It has been a long 7 years waiting for this much optimism in September. This feels to amazing, I kinda don't want any more games cause this win is to amazing!!! I pray we keep this tenacity up all year until THE GAME!!!
The creation of a clever Ron English t-shirt is a moral imperative.
Something along the lines of "English 101: Medieval Violence and Gang Tackling"
yeah, yeah, that was pretty f'ing corny...but come up with something, would ya?
Should I make a few dozen of these and sell them outside the stadium?
http://customink.com/cink/r.jsp?...du&
F=ronenglish
Your boys played a tremendous game.
I hope you guys win out, and well see you next year.
"Central's better!!!"
Anyone want to explain this (and Houston's better) to a 15 year old who is very confused?
Also was I the only one who broke out into uncontrollable laughter for 15 minutes on the Woodley TD?
In 2003, we beat Houston 50-3. The following week we beat Notre Dame 38-0. Towards the end of the game the student section chanted "HOUSTON'S BETTER! HOUSTON'S BETTER!" at the Notre Dame fans who were leaving. This was because Houston scored on us and ND did not. We (students) are proud of that moment, and take every availible opportunity to remind ND fans about that chant.
when Michigan beat down notre dame 38-0 in 2003, the students started chanting "Houston's better!" in reference to the houston cougars who gave Michigan a tougher game.
Two tickets on eBay to the Michigan-Notre Dame game $2600.00
Travel by private jet to South Bend $10K.
Watching the Michigan Marching Band play Stairway to Heaven in Notre Dame Stadium and seeing Lloyd, Super Mario and the Wolverines thrash the Irish in Notre Dame Stadium - Priceless
Somebody took a photo to document the outcome -
http://img141.imageshack.us/
img1...dgame138nh0.jpg
Well.... after making a very wrong and stupid post about the outcome of the game (ND wins 31-17), I had to go solidify my stupidity... I drank throughout the first half. A LOT.
I spent the entire second half passed out on the living room floor... didn't see 1 play... only heard the phone ring with like 20 seconds left and saw that we won.
{Napoleon Dynamite voice}: What an *idiot*!
Voice message of the day came from one of my most ardent OSU friends: "Wow,... where in the hell did your team come fom? I mean, I'm glad you beat ND and all... but geez. More than a little worried about November now."
I agree with the one ND poster earlier... We're probably not as good as we're all feeling right now. Gotta put it together again this week.
However, this was a great start to our 3 week run on the redux of the year of infinite pain. ND down. Next up Wisky with Minnehaha on deck.
Go blue!
My memory of the 'Houston's better' chant is that it started before halftime, and that it was intermittantly accompanied by '5 yards passing'
Thank English for the yard monitor on the scoreboard.
Al-
Thanks for giving me my new wallpaper!
Just a thought, if it hasn't already been brought up in the other 400+ comments:
One other positive for Michigan...LLoyd Carr was missing his man boobs for the game. That was probably what accounted for the difference on the scoreboard.
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