Michigan-Notre Dame Live Blog

By Ian Robinson, written on Sep. 13, 2008

Final: Notre Dame 35, Michigan 17

Well, the mood around the team was pretty glum as they boarded the bus. Check SportsMonday and michigandaily.com for complete coverage of today’s loss.

6:59 Fourth Quarter, Notre Dame 35-17

Redshirt sophomore Nick Sheridan subbed in for redshirt freshman Steven Threet on the last drive. After a short pass over the middle and a deep one on the sideline (with some help from a defensive holding on Notre Dame), Michigan was in scoring position. But Sheridan threw and interception over the middle.

After hearing Threet’s numbers for the game (15-for-22), it didn’t seem like he played that poorly. It almost looked as if he had locked up the no. 1 quarterback job. But, we’ll have to see what Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has to say.

9:13 Fourth Quarter, Notre Dame 35-17

Michigan couldn’t get anything going on its drive. Notre Dame picked up a first down on the ground before being stopped.

14:50 Fourth Quarter, Notre Dame 35-17

It is getting wet out there, and Notre Dame just got a break. Threet’s hand off got loose, and the ball bounced into the open. Notre Dame’s Brian Smith picked up the loose ball and carried in into the end zone. That was Michigan’s sixth fumble of the game and the fourth it lost.

Michigan wide receiver Greg Mathws was helped off the field.

(On the ensuing kickoff, Michigan fumbled again but recovered it this time)

End of third quarter, Notre Dame 28-17

Notre Dame set all kinds of records in the first quarter with 21 points and setting a record most points in a quarter against Michigan. In the third quarter, the teams failed to put anything on the board.

Michigan and Notre Dame each had nice drives, but the wet conditions are starting to really affect this game.

3:32 Third Quarter, Notre Dame 28-17

Thanks to freshman wide receiver Martavious Odoms, Michigan just had a great scoring opportunity. But a lost fumbled ruined it for the Wolverines.

Senior Kevin Grady got the ball up the middle at the five. As he tries to keep moving forward, he gets tackled by three Notre Dame defenders and the ball is knocked loose. Notre Dame recovers at the seven. I can’t tell if that was because of the weather (it’s raining) or Grady’s history of fumbling the ball.

Odoms had a 33-yard catch and drew a pass interference call on the drive.

7:21 Third Quarter, Notre Dame 28-17

Neither Michigan nor Notre Dame could get points on their first drive of the half. Michigan picked up a first down on a nice run by Sam McGuffie but couldn’t keep the drive alive. Notre Dame started to move the ball but a great play by defensive end Brandon Graham on second and long set up an obvious passing situation. The Michigan defensive line forced Jimmy Clausen to throw the ball away and forced the Fighitng Irish to punt.

Halftime, Notre Dame 28-17

Are there really 30 more minutes of this? So much has happened already.

Everybody expected this to be a sloppy game because of the weather but it has been sloppy so far and the bad weather hasn’t even arrived. Two early Michigan turnovers gave Notre Dame the ball inside redzone twice. The Fighting Irish converted on both of those.

Michigan’s offense has been able to move the ball. In previous games, the Wolverines would struggle for the second and third quarters or fail to complete a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Today, the offense has already piled up 244 yards. The Michigan defense, which had played really well since the first half against Utah, showed that it is prone to give up the big play. Notre Dame quaterback Jimmy Clausen set his personal record for the longest pass of his career. He broke that record again later in the half.

The key for Michigan to cut the margin would be to minimize the mistakes in the second half, keep up the offensive production and take away the big plays. (Insert quip about how I just pointed out the obvious)

Let’s take a look at some of the numbers from the first half:

• Michigan already has more first downs than it did in any of the first two games (16).
• In just one half, Threet has already set a season high for yards in a game by a Michigan quarterback (128).
• Michigan holds the edge in time of possession by almost 10 minutes (19:57 to 10:03). This is more because Notre Dame has routinely had the short field than the Wolverines’ offense controlling the pace of play
• McGuffie has 132 all-purpose yards and a touchdown

3:34 Second Quarter, first punt of the game

It took over 26 minutes, but we have just witnessed the first of the game by either team. Notre Dame’s Eric Maust punted a 40-yarder to the Michigan 25-yard line.

Michigan did line up in punt formation earlier in the game, but it was a fake punt. Michigan punter Zoltan Mesko took that one for a 13-yard run.

5:41 Second Quarter, 28-17 Notre Dame

Grady just powered his way into the endzone. Remember that Michigan offense that couldn’t throw the ball past the line of scrimmage? Well, Threet has been able to hit his receivers on some deeper routs today. On that drive, two passes to freshman Daryl Stonum helped move the ball.

On the touchdown, it looked like a Michigan offensive lineman forgot to block his man. That guy tried to tackled Grady, but Grady carried him on his for a touchdown. It is Grady’s first touchdown. And after missing last season with an ACL and facing off-the-field issues over the summer, the Grand Rapids native has to be happy about that one.

8:47 Second Quarter, 28-10 Notre Dame

I had barely finished writing my last post when Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate was slipping through Wolverine arm tackles, en route to a 60-yard reception. Three Michigan players failed to bring him down on the play before he eventually was taken down.

Robert Hughes capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown. Notre Dame running back James Aldridge had success on that drive running between the tackles.

11:53 Second Quarter, 21-10 Notre Dame

K.C. Lopata just put a 23-yarder through the uprights. McGuffie’s legs powered this drive with two long runs. Threet added a 21-yard scramble of his own to put Michigan inside the 10. Once the Wolverines got there, they couldn’t get any farther. McGuffie ran left on another, Threet threw it away on second down and Threet completed a pass to Zion Babb for no gain on third down.

End of first quarter

I just turned over to Dan Feldman and asked him why Michigan didn’t call any timeouts because it was the end of the half. He reminded me that it was just the end of the first quarter. I thought it was the end of the half because so much has happened in the first 15 minutes.

Notre Dame scored 21 plays on its first nine offensive plays. In the first quarter, Michigan had the ball for 11:21.

1:56 First Quarter, Notre Dame 21-7

Michigan gets on the board. After stumbling over itself the entire first quarter, Michigan puts together at seven-play, three first-down, 75-yard drive. And Michigan almost stumbled over itself on the touchdown reception by McGuffie. McGuffie ran into his own offensive lineman, Perry Dorrestein, on the run toward the endzone and tripped a bit but kept his balance en route to the end zone.

4:51 First Quarter, Notre Dame 21-0

Rich Rodriguez called his first fake punt at Michigan, but it went for naught after Michigan couldn’t keep the drive in the next set of downs. Notre Dame took over, and, on the second play of the drive, Jimmy Clausen completed a 48-yard reception to Golden Tate.

11:00 First Quarter, Notre Dame 14-0

That was fast. Clausen found Duval Kamara on a fade in the back corner of the end zone. Some people didn’t predict 14 combined points in this game, we’ve reached that total after just four minutes, thanks to two muffed kickoffs, a dropped lateral and a chop block penalty.

11:45 First Quarter, Notre Dame 7-0

More freshman jitters on the kick returns. After freshman Boubacar Cissoko dropped the first kickoff, fellow freshman Michael Shaw dropped this one. But unlike Cissoko, Shaw was unable to recover the ball.

11:52 First Quarter, Notre Dame 7-0

A few self-inflicted errors just led to Notre Dame’s touchdown. Maybe it was just nerves, but on the opening kickoff, Cissoko didn’t catch the kick and had trouble finding it. By the time he recovered, he could only get to the 10. Then Michigan got two first downs and looked like it was moving the ball. Then a chop block penalty and Brandon Minor dropping a lateral gave Notre Dame the ball inside the 10 yard line.

Notre Dame scored on a two-yard run a few plays later.

Pregame

Captains and coin toss The team just hit the field. The Notre Dame players are firing up the student section as Michigan runs onto the field. The captains are heading out to midfield for the coin toss. Today’s Michigan captains are senior linebacker John Thompson, senior defensive tackle Terrance Taylor and senior safety Brandon Harrison. Former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is joining the Irish’s contingent to the coin toss.

Notre Dame won the toss and deferred to the second half.

(Zachary Meisner / DAILY)

I don’t really know why this just happened, but it was pretty cool: Eight parachutists just descended onto Notre Dame Stadium. The PA announcer’s voice is muffled through the glass, so I don’t know if they were part of a military division or not (my money would on yes). The crowd loved it as the fans reacted to the landing of each successive parachuter. For those keeping track at home, just one (the seventh) landed on his feet. The others each had some form or fall or crash. All in all, a good distraction before the game starts.

if there’s lightning…: Although it’s currently dry and overcast in South Bend, Ind., there is a chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. If there is lightning within seven miles of Notre Dame Stadium (there are two lightning detectors here), the players will leave the field and spectators will be instructed what to do. If this happens, the game cannot resume until lightning has left the seven-mile radius and 30 minutes have passed.

For further excitement, here is a flood watch in effect for the area. Thankfully, the press box is well above ground.

A bit of history: You’ll probably see these figures all over the NBC broadcast of today’s game, but let’s just refresh ourselves on the Michigan-Notre Dame series.

These are the two winningest programs in college football history. Michigan holds a 20-14-1 advantage and has won the last two meetings — a 38-0 win last year in Ann Arbor and 47-21 victory in South Bend two years ago.

First-year Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has faced the Fighting Irish just once in his career. In his first year at West Virginia, the Mountaineers lost 34-24. Michigan coaches are 7-1 in their first games against Notre Dame. Gary Moeller is the only Michigan coach to lose his first meeting with the Irish.

Weather, it be bad: But not yet.

As of 2:20 p.m., the sky above Notre Dame Stadium is overcast. Our photographers on the field say the playing surface is dry right now. The forecast calls for rain all day. This is the weather radar the area around South Bend, taken from weather.com.

The hour-by-hour forecast calls for rain for the rest of the afternoon. If you’re reading this, you’re probably indoors staying dry.

Rodriguez said his teams practice with a wet ball on Thursdays in an attempt to recreate rainy conditions. But it’s a little different when the turf is slippery and the rain is coming down.

Holtz in da house: Notre Dame will honor the 1988 national championship football team today. Fifty players from that team and head coach Lou Holtz are in South Bend, Ind. for the weekend. In addition to honoring the team, Notre Dame will honor Holtz with a sculpture outiside of Gate D of Notre Dame Stadium.

Dress list: For home games, teams dress close to 100 players. For road games, that number drops to around 70. We just got a copy of the dress list for today’s game. Michigan’s injuries on the offensive line are well-documented. Just 10 Wolverine offensive lineman are in uniform today — redshirt junior Mark Ortmann, who hurt his elbow last week, is not dressed. Also missing from today’s dress list is junior defensive lineman Adam Patterson, who forced a fumble in the Utah game. There aren’t too many other surprises on the dress list, but here are some notable names who aren’t in uniform today:

• Freshman Justin Feagin
• Redshirt freshman cornerback Tony Anderson
• Freshman linebacker Kenny Demens
• Fifth-year senior Shakir Edwards
• Redshirt junior Mike Milano
• Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Zac Ciullo
• Freshman offensive lineman Rocko Khoury
• Freshman offensive lineman Kurt Wermers
• Redshirt junior offensive lineman Mark Ortmann
• Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Mark Huyge
• Freshman offensive lineman Dann O’Neill
• Sophomore tight end Martell Webb
• Redshirt freshman tight end Steve Watson
• Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Jason Kates
• Patterson