Michigan Football: 5 predictions for Wolverines against Notre Dame

Michigan’s defense will allow some big plays in the passing game

Defending the pass has been an issue in big games for the Wolverines and last season, big plays down the field killed the Michigan defense as Notre Dame built a big lead early on its way to a win.

While I wish I could say that Don Brown’s defense has learned its lesson on allowing big plays, that’s not true. Multiple times last week, Brown lined up Josh Metellus against KJ Hamler and big shock, it led to a touchdown.

As much as Brown says he has adjusted, he still plays too much man coverage and has a tendency to allow players to be put in bad positions. Hamler should have never been covered by a safety one-on-one. But you can just about guarantee that Notre Dame’s receivers such as Chase Claypool and Chris Finke will be one-on-one and that’s why the Irish will hit on a few big plays.

If Michigan can grab an early lead, stop the run and force Book to win the game with his arm, that could be successful. But the Wolverines offense will need to score somewhere between 20-30 because it’s unlikely that UM holds down the Irish all game long, especially throwing the ball.