Irish Eyes are smiling this Sunday morning. There could be a Rudy marathon playing from now until the end of eternity and a Notre Dame fan couldn’t be happier, that soaring, sentimental, goose bump-inducing Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack playing into my headphones as I write this.
What began as a nerve-rattling day which saw the Michigan-Notre Dame finale hype leaping to new expanses, ended not as dramatically as either side expected or as GameDay analysts had predicted. If you would have told me 24 hours ago that the Fighting Irish would have handed the Wolverines their first shutout loss since 1984, I would have had to have slipped on a pair of hip waders to muck through the blarney (blarney, for all of you who are unfamiliar is that trusty old Irish synonym for a good, but untrue story).
As I prepared for a third consecutive Notre Dame-Michigan watch party at the in-law’s home, I figured the best case scenario would be a close, back and forth, low-scoring game, in which, hopefully, my Irish would come out on top. Fortunately, I was wrong. And if wrong expectations make for a stunning game in South Bend, I don’t ever want to be right again.
Starting Quarterback Everett Golson came into the game riding high on the successes of a week ago versus Rice. In the opening drives, however, Golson appeared to anything but confident, forcing Head Coach Brian to burn all three of Notre Dame’s first half timeouts early in the first quarter because of ill-attention paid to the play clock by the returning QB. You could literally see Golson’s uneasiness, his eyes widening to the size of apropos Kennedy half dollars as Kelly demanded he pay attention to the clock.
For all of the Irish pensiveness in the opening quarter, however, the Wolverines failed to exploit the errors and miscues of their rivals. It was a sign of dramatic things to come.
As the first quarter digits passed like sands through an hourglass, Golson was suddenly resuscitated, connecting with running back Cam McDaniel for a touchdown, enabling the Fighting Irish to strike first and bringing the score to 7-0 with the aid of steady and reliable Kyle Brindza’s extra point.
Both Michigan and Notre Dame would endure another stalemate throughout much of the second quarter, before Golson tossed to Amir Carlisle to add another seven points to the scoreboard. Lengthening the lead further, Golson drilled a 24 yard pass to Will Fuller for another touchdown in the remaining moments of the first half.
“That’s alright, Michigan will come back in the second half”, my brother-in-law and uber-Wolverine fan said as our gathering finished pizza, ribs and beer. I was so worried things were going too well for Notre Dame, that I really did prepare for a come-from-behind blowout from the maize and blue in the final foreseen two quarters of the epic rivalry. Fortunately, I was wrong…again.
Notre Dame impressively shut down both Michigan’s offense and defense in the second half, which counted another Golson-Carlisle touchdown, as well as Brindza’s three point field goal, tacked on for good measure.
As Michigan failed to capitalize on early Notre Dame mistakes, the Irish took that mantle and ran with it, benefiting from two pass interference penalties, forcing a costly Michigan fumble and latching onto three Devin Garner-thrown interceptions before all was said and done. These were not the same Wolverines who smashed revenge on Appalachian State just seven days ago.
Speaking of revenge, last year’s game at Michigan’s Big House was difficult to watch, to say the least, making this year’s game much more sweet, but I digress.
Though I was on opposition turf and couldn’t regale like I wanted to at the time (it’s awkward to revel in another team’s loss while you’re a guest in one of their fan’s homes), I can now give shout outs to a few of the competent Notre Dame offensive standouts: Everett Golson, who went 23-34, managed 226 passing yards and zero interceptions for the season, Cam McDaniel, who logged 25 yards on 8 attempts, Greg Bryant, who went 19 yards on 8 attempts, Will Fuller, who amassed 89 yards on 9 receptions and Amir Carlisle, who gained 61 yards on 7 receptions. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also spotlight the Irish defense, whose performances thus far have been much-augmented over last season with the assists of Elijah Shumate, Jaylon Smith and Sheldon Day. Their abilities in last night’s hotly anticipated matchup have shown the Irish defense, as well as offense, belong in the national conversation.
There remain more than a couple of difficult tests on Notre Dame’s itinerary, defending national champion Florida State seeming like the most intimidating. However, with the efforts exerted upon the Michigan-Notre Dame farewell game, the Fighting Irish stand to be worthy of even the toughest opponents.
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