Week 2 - Game Report
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-0) at Michigan Wolverines (1-0)
A Game Saving Gangtackle Seals The Game For Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI - A classic rivalry with an exciting new "twist" on it as it is the first night game at The Big House, Michigan Stadium. The 1-0 #21 Fighting Irish came into Ann Arbor to face off against the 1-0 Wolverines on a beautiful night.
Notre Dame won the toss and elected to kick the ball allowing the exciting Michigan offense lead by the Junior QB they call "Shoelace" Denard Robinson who's recently coming off a game where he dislocated his middle finger on his throwing hand. On the very first play though, it looks like they may not even need his arm as he simply handed the ball off to redshirt Senior HB Michael Shaw who ran through the hole up the middle, brushing away an arm tackle for a 70 yard scamper for a VERY quick touchdown giving the Wolverines a 7-0 lead with the fans going nuts!
After a touchback, Notre Dame's offense trotted on to the field lead by their exceptional redshirt Junior QB Dayne Crist. After a nice deep 25 yard pass, Notre Dame's offense stalled and ended up punting a beauty that gave the Wolverines offense the ball on their own 6. From sheer to joy to stillness the Big House went as after a playaction, Denard was sacked in the endzone for a safety on his very first dropback. An issue Coach Kleinbauer was concerned after a 6 sack allowed performance last week from his offensive line.
Notre Dame's offense rebounded and fed off it's defensive momentum driving straight down the field until hitting a wall in Michigan's redzone being forced to kick a 36 yard field goal to make it a 7-5 game, Michigan. Following the horrendus safety play on the previous drive, Michigan countered with a 12 play, 84 yard drive in 3:32 topped off by a 3 yard rushing touchdown by Shaw, but lead mostly by Denard. 14-5 Wolverines.
The Wolverines defense appeared to be running a, "Bend, Don't Break" type of defense though as they allowed Notre Dame to pass the ball right down into their territory before halting them once more. However, this time redshirt Senior K David Ruffer couldn't connect on the 35 yard field goal. A few drives later, Michigan would miss a field goal as well. After both teams going back and forth for awhile, right before halftime Notre Dame booted in a 30 yard field goal to bring the score to 14-8 Michigan at halftime. Not without a cost though as this time it was the opposing teams QB who would leave for the rest of the game as Dayne Crist left with a bruised thigh.
After a quick 3 and out from Notre Dame's offense, Michigan would drive and tack on 3 points this time as Freshman K Matt wile connected on a 40 yarder to make it 17-8 Wolverines. The Wolverines defense came out strong and stayed strong throughout the 3rd quarter as they forced another 3 and out as Denard Robinson and Co took advantage of that going on a 9 play, 97 yard drive with 57 of those yards being the scoring play as Shoelace found redshirt Senior WR Junior Hemingway deep on a fade route after buring the defender for an easy score. 24-8 Michigan late in the 3rd.
Notre Dame lived up to their name though as the Irish fought back scoring a late touchdown on a 4th and 10 on a 66 yard bomb with 1:55 remaining in the game, making the Wolverines pay for their aggressive blitzing. To keep their hopes alive though, they would need to convert on the 2 point conversion to bring them within 8. They seemingly caught the Wolverines off guard with a draw play as they converted. 24-16 Michigan.
Even with 3 timeouts left, Notre Dame attempted the onside kick, but failed to recover it. Coach Kleinbauer decided to play it conservative running on 3 straight plays leading to a punt that would end up being a touchback.
So with 1:34 left on the clock, backup Sophomore QB Tommy Rees headed out onto the field looking to make a name for himself. First play, 10 yards over the middle. First down. A spike lead to a 2nd and 10 on Michigan's 30. A 6 yard pass over the middle made it 3rd and 4, then a dreaded sack made it 4th and 8 with time ticking under a minute now. A deep corner route 30 yards down the field is...CAUGHT...out of bounds! The Big House goes crazy, but wait, a booth review leads to an overturned call as it turns out his foot was IN bounds! First down, Notre Dame on the Wolverines 41 yard line with 33 seconds remaining! First play Reese went deep into the endzone, but it was swatted down. 26 seconds remain now. A quick slant is swatted away perfectly by Senior CB Troy Woolfolk to make it 3rd down now with 23 seconds. A deep 26 yard fade route is CAUGHT by the standout Senior WR Michael Floyd as Notre Dame's offense sprints down the field to spike the ball. 15...14...13..the ball is spiked with 12 seconds remaining and Notre Dame on the Wolverines 15 yard line. The Big House gets eerily queit as both teams are in the huddle. Michigan's defense starts waving it's hands in the air to get louder as Reese walks up to the line, adjusts his chin strap before shouting his cadences. Ball is snapped and thrown quickly to a WIDE OPEN redshirt Senior TE Mike Ragone as there was a busted assignment somewhere! Notre Dame's sideline erupts with 9 seconds left as Coach Kleinbauer calls a tiemout to regroup his defense.
For what seemed like an eternity to Michigan fans around the country, both teams trotted back onto the field as the Irish needed one more miracle, 3 yards for the 2 point conversion to tie the game up. From the offset-shotgun formation, WR Michael Floyd comes in motion before sprinting into the backfield as redshirt Junior MLB Kenny Demens shouted out, "RUN! RUN!" before the ball was snapped as the Michigan defense swarmed to the left side with Reese handing the ball off to Floyd and he was met immediately in the backfield by Demens and fellow redshirt Junior CB J.T. Floyd for the game saving tackle!
Wolverines recovered the onside kick and kneeled the ball for the victory as Coach Kleinbauer and the rest of the Big House took a huge sigh of relief.
Michigan edges out the #21 Fighting Irish in another classic chapter to this bitter rivalry, 24-22.
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Box Score
- 5 - 3 - 0 - 14 -
22
- 14 - 0 - 10 - 0 -
24
Players Of The Game
- QB #11
Tommy Rees - 150.0 QB Rating, 15/27, 225 Yds, 2 TD, 3 ATT, 15 Yds, 5.0 AVG
- HB #20
Michael Shaw - 18 ATT, 119 Yds, 2 TD, 6.6 AVG, 1 REC, 15 Yds, 9 YAC
Player Stats
QB#11 Tommy Rees - 150.0 QB Rating, 15/27, 225 Yds, 2 TD, 3 ATT, 15 Yds, 5.0 AVG
QB#10 Dayne Crist - 113.3 QB Rating, 12/22, 154 Yds
HB#20 Cierre Wood - 17 ATT, 64 Yds, 3.7 AVG, 2 REC, 4 Yds, 2.0 AVG, 11 YAC
WR#3 Michael Floyd - 7 REC, 96 Yds, 13.7 AVG, 47 YAC, 1 KR, 22 Yds
WR#81 John Goodman - 1 REC, 66 Yds, 1 TD, 43 YAC
TE#80 Tyler Eifert - 8 REC, 106 Yds, 13.2 AVG, 48 YAC
TE#83 Mike Ragone - 1 REC, 15 Yds, 1 TD
DE#90 Ethan Johnson - 7 TAK, 5 TFL, 2 Sacks, Safety, 1 DEF
DE#89 Kapron Lewis Moore - 2 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
K#17 John Potter - 2/3 FG, 36 Long
QB#16 Denard Robinson - 98.3 QB Rating, 10/26, 146 Yds, 1 TD, 10 ATT, 43 Yds, 4.3 AVG
HB#20 Michael Shaw - 18 ATT, 119 Yds, 2 TD, 6.6 AVG, 1 REC, 15 Yds, 9 YAC
WR#21 Junior Hemingway - 2 REC, 69 Yds, 1 TD, 34.5 AVG, 25 YAC
DE#88 Craig Roh - 2 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
DT#68 Mike Martin - 1 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 Sack
K#45 Matt Wile - 1/2 FG, 3/3 XP, 40 Long
