Screw_Michigan wrote:i'll rack scU-M for absolutely blowing up the fighting micks and taking a shit in ND Stadium before leaving, and i never rack scU-M. the local papers were WAY too nice to the domers today. headlines like "out of reach" and "irish drop the ball." uh no, dropping the ball is losing by a field goal or blowing an opportunity for a win. ND was absolutely humiliated on saturday.
This guy did a nice job....
http://www.nbcsports.com/cfb/93450/detail.html
When the levee breaks
By John Walters
NBCSports.comThe University of Michigan marching band performed songs from Led Zeppelin during its halftime show at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. While the Wolverine band did not have time to alter its set list, "Trampled Under Foot" would have been a timely addition.
The Michigan Wolverines -- the school that had not won a game in South Bend since 1994; the school who had a six-game losing streak in road openers this millennium; the school without a single returning All-American player or magazine cover (not even regionally) -- went from being a Midwest afterthought to a national front-runner in this House of the Holy this afternoon. The Wolverines won 47-21 in a game that was not even that close.
One week after Ohio State appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and on the same weekend that publication was in town working on a Jeff Samardzija-Tom Zbikowski feature, the Wolverines reminded everyone that, uh, they just happen to still be the winningest program in college football history.
"I want to make sure that I give proper credit to Michigan," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said afterward. "I think it's really only right to give just due to your opponent who just kicked your butt."
The Wolverines so thoroughly dominated the Irish that, if I may invoke a song title from another iconic band, the words "the last time" were constantly reverberating throughout the press box. As in …
• The last time Notre Dame gave up 34 points in the first half was in 2002 at Michigan State.
• The last time Notre Dame allowed 34 first-half points at home was on October 1, 1960, versus Purdue (which was also the last time the Irish allowed 47 points at home, as the Boilermakers won 51-19
Jonathan Daniels/Getty Images
At one point in the game Prescott Burgess seemed to be Brady Quinn's favorite target. • The last time an opponent scored as early against the Irish as Wolverine linebacker Prescott Burgess did (41 seconds into the game) on his interception return was 1979.
•The last time the Irish were held to 4 net yards rushing was ... well, give the Notre Dame sports information staff time, they're unscrolling the papyrus as we speak.
So thorough was the Michigan butt-whipping that the Irish did not even gain a first down in either the first or third quarter. As the 4th quarter began, Michigan's Burgess had caught as many of Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn's passes as had first team All-American Jeff Samardzija.
Which is why this could be the last time anyone mentions the Irish as national championship contenders this season.
No Quarter ... in the First Quarter
Early on, it looked as if this could be a classic. Burgess intercepted Quinn's pass that tipped off the shoulder pad of tight end John Carlson and ran it in 31 yards to the end zone untouched for a 7-0 Michigan lead. But then, on the third play of the Wolverines' first series, Irish linebacker Travis Thomas blitzed up the middle. Michigan quarterback Chad Henne was forced to rush his throw and thus, like Quinn, had his first pass attempt of the day intercepted. Irish safety Chinedum Ndukwe made the pick and ran it back 51 yards before pressure by Henne forced him to step out of bounds at the Michigan four.
Two plays later Quinn found fullback Ashley McConnell (filling in for an injured Asaph Schwapp) in the left corner for a touchdown. The reception was the first of the senior's career, but it made the score 7-7.
And that is when the Wolverines took command. Unleashing a defensive front seven that was BFS (Bigger Faster Stronger), Michigan scored four unanswered touchdowns against the Irish. With just over one minute to play in the first half, Michigan led 34-7.
Ramble on
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Mario Manningham burnt the Irish secondary all afternoon and caught three touchdowns. Three of Michigan's four unanswered scores came on pass plays to sophomore Mario Manningham, the most lethal M.M. from eastern Michigan since Marshall Mathers. Manningham, whose previous fame had come via a game-winning touchdown catch after the clock had expired against Penn State last Oct. 15, only caught three passes in the first half. But not one of those receptions ended in a tackle.
The sophomore from Warren, Ohio, scored on touchdown catches of 69, 20 and 22 yards in the first half, leaving no doubt as to whom the best receiver in this game was.
"We've got some guys who can run," said Michigan coach Lloyd Carr afterward. " Mario Manningham, I think the sky's the limit for him. Mario is a guy that we feel is going to be very difficult for one guy to cover."
Notre Dame corners Ambrose Wooden and Mike Richardson would likely reluctantly agree. On Manningham's first touchdown, Henne lofted a gorgeous spiral up the right hashmark to him that Manningham caught 40 yards downfield on a dead run. When the ball fell into his arms, he was already 7 yards behind a badly burned Wooden.
"We had a call, 'Alert: take a shot'," said Weis in the news conference following the debacle. In other words, and this is almost more depressing if you're an Irish fan, Manningham did not fool the defense. He just sped by them.
In fact, the only person able to stop Manningham this afternoon was an anonymous member of the Michigan band whom the speedy sophomore ran into after catching his third touchdown pass, another pinpoint spiral from Henne, in the deep left corner of the south end zone. Manningham hurt his wrist on the play, and missed parts of the third quarter.
Good times, bad times
Quinn, who finished the first quarter with three yards passing, did not put together a real touchdown drive until the final two minutes of the first half. Starting on its own 28, Quinn took the Irish on an eight-play drive that included seven completions in as many attempts. Sophomore David Grimes made an amazing effort to stay inbounds on one 20-yard reception and on the following play Samardzija caught a 4-yard TD pass to close the gap to 34-14.
Suddenly Irish fans were doing the seven-times table in their heads, working the math on what would have to be an improbable second-half comeback. The Wolverine defense never withered, though, holding the Irish to just two of 14 on third-down conversions.
By the fourth quarter, when the Wolverines were not only repelling the Irish comeback but actually building upon their halftime edge, it was all any fan in a blue "Tradition" T-shirt could do to stay optimistic.
"I gotta be honest," said Weis, a class of '78 alum. "When I was here in school, I might have been in the parking lot tailgating already."
Trampled under foot
As ethereal as Henne (13-for-22 for 220 yards and 3 TDs) played, and as awesome as the Manningham Steamroller looked in front of 80,795 fans today, Michigan simply outsocked the Irish at the line of scrimmage. Notre Dame finished with just four yards rushing to the Wolverines' 120. Quinn was sacked three times but hurried many others and hit many others. His second interception, returned by Burgess 35 yards to the Irish 4, was caused when 6-6, 331 pound Michigan defensive tackle Alan Branch hit his arm as he threw.
Jonathan Daniels/Getty Images
Charlie Weis was left to wonder what went wrong all afternoon against Michigan.After the game Quinn was asked what Michigan's defense had done to confuse him. "Nothing," replied Quinn, who threw three interceptions and three touchdown passes today. "They made the plays that they needed to."
Michigan was simply more aggressive, more physical, and more mean. On Notre Dame's final serious offensive drive, as Michigan fans in the south end zone seats taunted them with cheers of "Rudy!" and "Overrated", the Wolverines were flagged twice for late hits. On the second, Burgess hit Irish running back Darius Walker out of bounds on the Irish sideline and into the kicker's net.
As Walker sprawled into the net, Irish kicker Carl Gioia, who stands 5-10, 170 pounds yelled something that begins with the letter F at Burgess, who is an imposing 6-3, 225. Burgess just stared for a long moment at Gioia as if to say, "You don't seriously want a piece of this fight."
It was an attitude the Wolverines had all afternoon, up until the very last snap. On that play Henne, who was 0-2 as a starter against the Irish before today, took a knee and then held the ball aloft in the palm of his hand for everyone to see.
Hail Mary. No, on this day, Hail to the Victors.
Over the hills and far away
Entering today's game the Irish had faced back-to-back ranked opponents a dozen times since 1992. In that span Notre Dame had failed to sweep the two-game set ten times out of twelve. One of those two exceptions occurred last year, when the Weis era opened with consecutive wins at No. 23 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Michigan. Those victories seemed to usher in a new epoch in South Bend, a time when the Irish would at least be competitive in every game. Even in last January's Fiesta Bowl loss against Ohio State, it was only in the secondary where the Irish looked truly outclassed.
Until today. This afternoon in South Bend gave voice to all those old rumblings about the Irish not having the same class of athlete as the big-time powers. Michigan's wide receivers were faster. Their linemen outmuscled the Irish trench workers, and their linebackers eliminated any angles that Darius Walker attempted to gain on the outside. Their secondary frustrated Samardzija all afternoon. The only Irish player who really racked up the yardage was kickoff returner David Grimes ... but then again, he had oh so many chances.
Weis was asked if he was surprised that the Wolverines had "out-physicaled" his team so badly. "I was surprised that we collectively, from me on down, laid an egg," said Weis.
The Irish are 2-1 for the third consecutive season (and 2-1, if we may extrapolate from the sign that hangs in the Notre Dame weight room, "is not good enough"). After three games Darius Walker still has yet to gain 100 yards and, despite that mirage you may have witnessed against Penn State, the offense has yet to truly find its rhythm.
The national championship is not worth discussing at this point. Neither is a Heisman for Quinn, whose timing with his receivers, especially, and surprisingly, Samardzija, is not in sync. Those preseason dreams have disappeared over the hills and far away. There is no doubt that the Irish have not yet had a breather game this season, but still it is shocking how easily Michigan manhandled them today. It is a day that rendered Weis, his players, and even their admirably loyal student body, dazed and confused.
