Michigan Wolverines: Michigan at Notre Dame — Predictions

November 17, 2012; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines fan waves a flag during the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Posted at 4:00pm — 9/5/2014

Michigan Wolverines: Michigan at Notre Dame — Predictions

Alex Dale:

The two offenses duel in another thriller, but Funchess is too much for the small Notre Dame cornerbacks and Michigan’s pass rush makes a big play late to win the game.

Michigan 34
Notre Dame 31

CoachBT:

Didn’t get prediction sent in time of article.

Doc4Blu:

Take a look at the two previous articles on the game talking about the Notre Dame offense and defense. Also tomorrow morning take a look at the final game preview as well.

Michigan 24
Notre Dame 27

Aug 30, 2014; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines cheerleaders on the sideline against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY SportsErocWolverine:

Michigan taught Notre Dame how to play the game of football.
Michigan leads the series 24-16-1.
Michigan has the most wins in college football where Notre Dame is ranked 3rd.
Michigan and Notre Dame are ranked #1 and #2 in winning percentage and whoever wins this game will take over as the #1 team.
Six out of the last eight years Michigan has won this game. Even during the RR era Michigan did well which usually cannot be said to many times.

Well the last game in a very long time from these two rivals will happen Saturday night. I am a Michigan fan that is sad to see this game go away. I realize a lot of Michigan fans cannot stand the Irish and are glad they are off the schedule and use the same language that Bo used when talking Notre Dame ” To Hell with Notre Dame”.

I liked the early season match-up that usually meant a lot this early in the season along with being able to see where your team might stack up for the rest of the season with how this game played out.

Two games I will always remember one in person and one on TV. Of course, the Desmond catch from Elvis. Still cannot believe Coach Mo went with that play and thought when the ball was released no way Desmond would get it, but he did. The other game would have to be the beat down in the Big House 38-0 and wouldn’t mind seeing that type of game again to send the Irish packing to the ACC land.

Sep 7, 2013; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines enter the field for the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY SportsPlaying on the road is always a lot tougher and this being the last game in this series for quite some time will not only drive the ticket prices up, but the emotions of the game, the fans, and the TV audience. It is a shame that this game is going away because it isn’t just a Midwest series, but a national series that usually gets some of the highest TV ratings of the year besides some of the top bowl games.

As for this game did we see a improved offense and defense from Michigan or was App. State that bad? Well I think a little bit of both, but think we will be able to see a lot from our team this Saturday. We need to get started early and try and get the crowd out of it early especially knowing they will be all jacked up for this game.

Our defense should be able to play them pretty well, but my big concern is trying to contain Golson. They should be able to handle the running game and be able to cover their receivers so I am not that worried about somebody going off, but if Golson starts running around that opens up the offense big time for the Irish.

We need to see Devin Gardner 2.0 which means he has improved from last year and taking from what he did last week and keep on improving. We need a running game because we all know they will try and blitz and stack the line with a lot of bodies so we need to be able to not only run, but give Devin enough time to throw the ball as well to back their safeties and linebackers off the line of scrimmage.

Think Michigan gets early lead and wins it early in the 4th quarter to make the Irish cry in their green beer once again after the game.

Michigan 42
Notre Dame 28

MaizeMan:

Didn’t get prediction in time of article.

Aug 30, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; The Notre Dame leprechaun carries a flag following a score during the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Rice Owls at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 48-17. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY SportsMike Fitzpatrick (The Michigan Man Podcast):

Over the last 30 years this has been the best series in college football. My opinion of course, but I’ve seen them all. Twenty of the thirty games have come down to the final series, or the last play. There is no other rivalry in college football that has been even close to that. I hate to see this series end.

That said, I have no clue what to expect Saturday night in South Bend. Will Notre Dame be ready? Yep. Will Michigan be ready? I’m certain of it. To me this boils down to a couple of keys. Do not let Everett Golson extend plays. He is a killer if you let him get out of the pocket. Both with his feet and his arm. Notre Dame doesn’t have one guy that scares me, but they are very talented across the board on offense. The other key is Devin Gardner. Not that he has to win this game by himself, just make good pre snap reads, take what the defense gives you, and don’t force it.

When everything is even talent wise, which I think is the case here, the mistakes usually dictate the outcome of the game. I’m also interested to see “how good” our defense really is. I think we will face better offenses this season, so this will give us a very good idea of how good our defense is.

Before the season started I picked us to end up 9-3. This was one of the losses. Yes, I think we can win in South Bend, but I’m just not sure we will this Saturday. I think this could be a finale to remember! Goodbye ND! It’s been real! Enjoy your ACC cream puffs from here on out! GO BLUE!

Michigan 24
Notre Dame 28

Aug 30, 2014; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines cheerleader celebrate a touchdown against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY SportsSkwdcop:

I am impressed with ND’s offensive weapons and they have a lot of them, I am not however sold on their offensive line and Michigan DL will have to do a better job not only in pressuring the QB, but putting him down – their back-up is also very athletic and his first play as a back-up against Rice was a run of about 70 yards.

ND will score and probably lots, but we were smart with the ball and had decent security against App State. We to will score a bunch and ND’s secondary is suspect and they are starting a walk-on and a wide receiver at linebacker spots which should tell us things are not necessarily right with their D. Our DBs must stick with their guy and not bite on runs because Golson can light it up downfield when afforded time and hi receivers get separation – ask Rice.

Michigan will win by a TD.

Michigan 42
Notre Dame 35

WerlsWolverine:

Michigan 38
Notre Dame 20

Aug 30, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take the field before the game against the Rice Owls at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY SportsYostmeister:

I was pleasantly surprised that Michigan accomplished almost two of the three things they needed to going into the Notre Dame game:

1. Put App St away early
2. Play a fairly clean game with solid offensive balance and sound defense
3. Get out of it healthy

The offense, FWIW, ran the ball sparsely (Hoke’s thoughts, really) until the two big runs by Green and Smith. The defense gave up some ground yards, didn’t have a turnover and had some busted coverages, which resulted in points long after the game was settled. As far as health… many are concerned about Peppers, Kalis and Morgan. We can’t answer that until Saturday.

I don’t think the Wolverines gave too much playbook away either except for the obvious Funchess against boys display.

So, put away the hype about this game. It’s simple: stop their QB and you pretty much stop their offense. We’ll find out about our defensive depth pretty quick and how aggressive Michigan is allowed to get. On offense, control the ball and eat the clock. The rest is cliche’, but don’t turn it over or help the Irish with penalties. I like our offense, but expect ND to take away Funchess and then focus on stopping the run if the offensive line is creating gaps. It with be Gardner v. the Irish defense. Let’s see how much Nuss has influenced his game management skills.

In the end, Michigan may be the unranked team they have been set up to be, but the Irish are not that much more talented. Unfortunately, because of the home field circumstances, a Harry Oliver reset will take place on a last ditch final drive, aided by an errant penalty flag by an unnamed conference’s official which eases the Irish into field goal range.

I won’t miss this game that much, especially when Irish eyes are gloating.

Michigan 26
Notre Dame 27

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