Notre Dame holds off Michigan in rivalry reunion

0:00 - Michigan gets the stop they need, but then go nowhere on the final drive. Michigan gets one first down and then the combination of Khalid Kareem and Jerry Tillery snuffs out Michigan drive. Kareem forces Patterson off his spot, then Tillery knocks out the ball. Notre Dame’s defensive line whipped Michigan’s offensive line from start to finish and that is what ends the game. The Irish are 1-0 and look like a good team. The Wolverines are 0-1 and wondering yet again if they can protect a quarterback against a decent line.

2:18 - Michigan scores a touchdown and has three timeouts, so the game isn’t totally over, but their lack of urgency with the ball has reduced their margin of error close to zero. A combination of Patterson and McCaffrey got the ball down the field and Higdon plowed into the end zone from the two. Michigan has won the second half, but missed opportunities mean that they have only a glimmer of hope.

9:00 - Notre Dame gives up and runs on third and long, then punts Michigan inside the ten. Michigan runs for a first down, then Patterson starts limping. In something of a surprise, Dylan McCaffrey (not Brandon Peters) comes into the game and looks like Tom Brady in the sense that he has the same facemask and wears #10. Michigan is huddling and snapping the ball inside of ten seconds, which is a curious strategy when you’re down by 14. Players are cramping left and right. The drive peters out with a failed fourth down attempt at the Irish 44.

It’s also worth pointing out that the worst fears of Michigan fans regarding the tackles have come true:

0:00 - Pro Football Focus recently did research reflecting that, of all NFL running back stats, pass protection grades correlate with success the closest. Michigan just illustrated that conclusion. Te’Von Coney blitzes up the middle. Karan HIgdon is in position to protect. He misses. Coney pushes into Patterson as he throws. Interception. Irish ball near midfield with a 14-point lead.

3:07 - It’s Wimbush’s night. Backed up deep in Notre Dame’s own territory, Wimbush converts a third and 18 with a QB draw. Then, he avoids an unblocked rusher and finds Claypool at the Michigan 25. The drive stalls because of a penalty, but Justin Yoon nails a 49-yard field goal to stretch Notre Dame’s lead to 14. The Irish have been able to convert third and long repeatedly in the game and that’s one of the differences between the teams. Also, their holder can do his job.

8:48 - Both teams go three and out. Michigan gets a lot of pressure on Wimbush to get a stop, but then the offense does nothing with the key play being Patterson making an option pitch too soon. Like Jake Browning earlier in the day, he isn’t going to make anyone forget Darian Hagan.

11:03 - Michigan had 90 yards in the first half. They have 52 on the first play of the second when Patterson hits Nico Collins deep. Then, after another first down, everything goes wrong. Three incomplete passes and then an flubbed hold on the field goal. Michigan’s defense then forces the first turnover of the game when Winovich nails Wimbush and Brandon Watson runs Claypool’s route for him. Michigan then goes four-and-out on a pair of dreadful runs, a complete pass, and then one of Patterson’s few inaccurate passes of the game. Notre Dame ball at their own 45.

0:00 - Notre Dame has won the first half decisively, but it’s fair to ask this question: how different is the game if Brad Hawkins makes two plays? Hawkins was in position to make an interception on Notre Dame’s second touchdown and misjudged the ball, then he has a chance to grab a poor throw on a screen late in the half and can’t hold on, although in fairness, he was hit by a lineman right after the ball arrived. Michigan gets a stop and runs out the clock. 21-10 at halftime. Michigan gets the ball to start the second half, so they can get right back into this game, but they are clearly scared of their offensive line against Notre Dame’s outstanding pass rushers after Hayes (an Ann Arbor native) and Tillery have been in the backfield whenever the ball hasn’t come out fast. It’s also worth mentioning that Michigan had a chance to get Notre Dame off the field earlier and take a last crack at driving for a score, but Chase Claypool roasted David Long and Wimbush found him under pressure. That was both a significant play and also a spur for this gem of a tweet:

3:41 - Notre Dame showed in their first two drives that they could score with big plays. In their fourth drive, they show that they can also score with a long, sustained march. 15 plays, 75 yards, mostly on the ground. The drive produces a touchdown instead of a field goal because Chase Winovich - a fifth-year senior who should know better - puts his helmet into the back of Wimbush when Michigan had gotten a third down stop. Wimbush is playing extremely well and is frustrating Michigan’s rushers, who keep missing him. This game looks over...

Or is it? Ambry Thomas takes the ensuing back to the house. 21-10. This is Michigan’s first touchdown in South Bend since Denard Robinson scored in the final minute of the 2010 game. This was Brian Kelly’s first season at Notre Dame and Rich Rodriguez’s last in Ann Arbor. Game on?

11:32 - Michigan drives to the two, then the pass protection issue raises its ugly head again. Jerry Tillery gets a sack; he and Daelin Hayes have been living in the Michigan backfield. On third down, Patterson does not put the ball high enough to let Zach Gentry use his height and Alohi Gilman knocks it out. Michigan kicks a field goal and trails 14-3.

0:00 - Michigan finally gets a stop as Miles Boykin is unable to pull in a third-and-long pass, the first instance in which an Irish receiver failed to make a play. Notre Dame’s punt is bad and Michigan has excellent field position. We end the quarter with Michigan on the 26. Notre Dame’s receivers have made a series of great catches down the field. Michigan has taken only one shot downfield (presumably because of concern that the tackles cannot pass protect) and Patterson’s throw was inaccurate.

2:23 - Michigan’s offensive line was terrible in 2017 at picking up stunts. Both Wilton Speight and Brandon Peters were hurt when opponents brought four and still got a free rusher. That trait rears its head again to end a drive, as Notre Dame rushes four and gets a free man in on Patterson, pushing Michigan out of field goal range. Michigan then punts the ball into the end zone. We’re officially on blowout alert.

7:09 - Notre Dame’s receivers are winning this game. Michigan’s decision to punt was looking good after two stuffed wrong, then Wimbush puts a long throw into tight end Alize Mack’s hands and he makes an outstanding catch while being drilled by Josh Metellus. (One might ask why Noah Furbush - not Michigan’s fastest linebacker - is in coverage.) Metellus is ejected on a no doubt targeting call. Then, after Wimbush converts a third and long with a scramble, he finds Chris Finke deep. Brad Hawkins - Metellus’ substitute - misjudges the ball and the Irish are up by two touchdowns.

10:16 - One first down and punt for Michigan. The play-calling is conservative: all runs and one WR screen, then Harbaugh chooses to punt on fourth and two from the Notre Dame 43. Some tight-to-the-vest decisions from Michigan, although the punt is downed at the four. If the defense plays like it did on the first series, then the field position won’t matter.

13:35 - Notre Dame picks up right where they left off four years ago, cutting through the Michigan defense in seven plays for a touchdown. The key play was a beautiful throw from Wimbush to Chase Claypool on third and ten with an unblocked Chase Winovich right in his face to covert. Right after that, it was repeated success, ending with an easy run into the end zone. Michigan’s defense came into the game with a sterling reputation, but their start is awful.

Michigan and Notre Dame meet tonight for the first time in four years. Notre Dame briefly terminated the rivalry in a fashion that has led to various recriminations from their friends in Ann Arbor, but the break was short and the teams meet again in the same venue where Notre Dame ended Michigan’s 30-year streak of not being shut out in 2014. (The longest active streak now belongs to Florida.)

The contentious circumstances surrounding the interruption of the rivalry are nothing new for Michigan-Notre Dame, which has been described as “gloriously petty.” This is a rivalry marked by accusations of anti-Catholic bias on the part of Michigan, a desire to blackball conference mates from playing Notre Dame, playing of ineligible players, the breaching of a gentleman’s agreement that the game would be the opener for both teams, and coaches of the programs telling the others to go to hell. Michigan-Notre Dame is a pettifogging homeowner’s association dispute brought to life, right down to a zoning dispute regarding the Michigan band.

This year’s edition adds something new: a pair of teams ranked in the top 15, a first for the rivalry since 2006. Both teams have high expectations borne out of good recruiting and returning experience (17 starters for Michigan; 15 for Notre Dame). That said, the teams both have perceived weaknesses heading into the year, which lead us into the two key questions for the game: