Michigan Football: Wolverines earn decisive victory over Notre Dame

The weather was no issue for Michigan football as the run game emerged in full force for the Wolverines in their victory over the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish.

A week after Michigan football suffered their second loss of the 2019 season, the Wolverines rebounded with a decisive 45-14 victory over the eighth-ranked team in the country.

It wasn’t pretty by any means. The game was reminiscent of the Wolverines-Spartan matchup from 2017 when Michigan football and Michigan State faced off in The Big House in what has been described by many as a monsoon.

The rain, yet again, set the tone. A tone that Michigan excelled in; running the ball. The Wolverines – in stark contrast to the Irish – figured out how to run the ball, and they figured it out early. Before the end of the half, the maize and blue garnered over 100 yards on the ground to Notre Dame’s 20.

Defensively, Don Brown carried the momentum from the second-half performance in the heartbreaker at Beaver Stadium right through the gates in Ann Arbor by failing to remove his foot from the throat of Ian Book, or whatever brave man that courageously carried the pigskin directly into the arms of the Wolverine looking to decapitate him.

The questions that lingered around campus, mostly targeting head coach Jim Harbaugh, were undeniably answered in the dominating performance on every level by this Michigan team over a top-ten opponent. It was the second win over a top-ten team since Harbaugh’s hiring – the only other one coming in 2016 when Jim managed a 14-7 victory over No. 8 Wisconsin.

The expectations for this season were set on fire as time ran out in the first half of the atrocity in Madison. And the last few optimists turned their backs to Michigan football when they fell to Penn State despite the ‘moral’ victories on the field.

But Saturday night, Michigan looked like the team we all expected them to be. Notre Dame trimmed the lead to 17-7 and after some three-and-outs, it would have been easy to worry.

Yet, a championship drive that ended with a Donovan Peoples-Jones TD catch kept Michigan in control.

Then, a dagger to Nico Collins and a touchdown run by Tru Wilson put the nail in the coffin. The Mike Sainristil touchdown was pretty sweet for the Wolverines too, even though they allowed the late score in the 31-point win.

Now, with a dominating victory over an admirable opponent, the complaints can cease, and the Wolverines can, once again, go forward as a daunting threat to win any game.

Matt’s musings

Shea Patterson couldn’t throw, Ian Book couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, heck, even Tom Brady wouldn’t’ve completed 50% of his passes in the torrential downpour in Ann Arbor. Luckily for Michigan, Shea didn’t need to; however, unluckily for Notre Dame, an accurate passer was everything the Irish needed.

Michigan had its way with Notre Dame, dominating every aspect of the football game as a two-loss team not expected to compete with a top tier opponent. Jim Harbaugh, once again, proved to be worth every penny of that annual fortune paid to him.