Key Matchup is in the Trenches

Michigan and Notre Dame fans watched their season opening games with nervous anticipation, while their rivals watched with anticipated schadenfreude. But both teams came out and comfortably handled their overmatched visitors, setting up this weekend’s big showdown in Ann Arbor. The Irish open as three point favorites according to Bodog.com, but for Notre Dame to win, Irish fans say the offensive line must give junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen time to throw:

The biggest problem for the Irish is going to be in the trenches. To keep the offense moving, they’ll need to contain the speed, size and talent of the Wolverine front. Brandon Graham is likely a future first round pick, and he’s joined by freshmen Mike Martin (red shirt) and Craig Roh (true). There’s some beef up there with a history of terrorizing Notre Dame quarterbacks, and this will be one of the tougher tests for the Irish offensive line after doing a very capable job in dealing with Nevada’s pass rush. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the caliber of athlete on Michigan might be slightly more polished than those hailing from the great city of Reno. We will address this later, but unless the Michigan secondary has gotten considerably better, I’m comfortable with the passing attack being able to pick them apart if there’s time for Clausen to make any sort of read. If the line starts breaking down and chaos reigns, cover your eyes, as it’s going to be a long, drunk afternoon for the Irish faithful.On the other side of the hate-fest, Michigan blogger Brian Cook thinks the Wolverines front four present the kind of test Jimmy Clausen and his line haven’t yet mastered:

Before the season I was seriously down on this matchup but after watching four different members of Michigan’s defensive line tear through the Western offensive line—a veteran unit extremely well-versed in pass blocking—and Donovan Warren try to get a grip on his new super powers, I actually think this tilts more towards neutral.The main concern is when Notre Dame does something like, oh, I don’t know, keep nine guys in to block and run a one-man route with Golden Tate. Everything was going swimmingly in the Western game until they pulled a similar stunt and though the burned corner doesn’t figure to play on Saturday unless disaster befalls the secondary, free safety Troy Woolfolk also picked up an ugly –3 in UFR for his part in the play.

Michigan need pressure from the front four against regular (non max-pro) sets, and eventual pressure against the max pro. All of Michigan’s guys this year are high motor sorts who will get after the ball; no Terrance Taylors or Will Johnsons who aren’t much use against the pass. When the starters are in, Michigan should get pressure, and Clausen still hasn’t proven he can deal with pressure.