In their annual rivalry game, the Fighting Irish from Notre Dame defeat the Michigan Wolverines 29-28 in an overtime thriller.
The home field advantage paid off big for the Wolverines to start the game as the Irish were unable to sustain their drives long enough to put any points on the board. Redshirt freshman Kellen Merrill had a rough start, "It was tough. They've got a good defense and are very fast. You know, the atmosphere was intense. We practiced with noisemakers and loud yelling over the speakers all week, but you really don't know what it's like 'til you get here; it just can't be simulated." Merrill finished the game 18-40 for 304 yards, one touchdown, and two picks.
While the Irish couldn't find the end zone on the offensive side of the ball, the Wolverines weren't taking advantage of their opportunities early either, as the first quarter ended scoreless. The Irish were the first team to score, with Merrill finding senior wide receiver Chuck Gaither on an 11-yard pass. "They were blitzing me hard. I had almost no time, every play. I read the defense and saw that no one was on Chuck. The only one out there was the outside linebacker and he was showing blitz. When he blitzed, it left the safety to cover Chuck who was 15 yards back. I just threw up it there and let Chuck make the catch. It was a little bit high, but I didn't want the safety to be able to make a play on the ball. It was just a great play by Chuck."
The Irish had finally gotten something going, but Michigan would strike right back. On the very next play, quarterback Denard Robinson found his wide open running back Vincent Smith, who had been split out in the slot. Robinson, seeing an under smoke blitz from the Irish, found Smith right over the middle, and from there no one was going to catch him. 81 yards later and the score was right back where it was 15 seconds earlier; tied.
Notre Dame would drive back down the field, but would be unable to punch it in from inside the 10, and would be forced to settle for a Turk 25-yard field goal. The Wolverines, with almost 3 minutes left before halftime, were determined to take the lead. Driving down the field with a playbook made famous by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Robinson lead his team to get a 4-point lead, as he took an option in himself from 10 yards out.
The Irish defense knew they had to play well in the second half if they wanted to emerge victorious, and they did just that. They held the Wolverines to a three-and-out to start the second half, but the offense couldn't get anything going either. Later on in the third quarter, the Irish would again get inside the Michigan 20, but were unable to capitalize, settling for another field goal.
Starting the fourth quarter trailing the Wolverines 13-14, the Irish knew they needed another big defensive stop to give their offense the chance to take the lead. After forcing a Robinson out of the game with a torn pectoral (out 3 weeks), the Irish defense was able to get more pressure on the less agile backup quarterback Gardner and forced him into a bad throw. That was all the Irish needed as redshirt freshman linebacker LaRon McGill came up with a big interception. With a short field, starting inside the Michigan 40, the Irish would drive down and this time punch it in on a 5-yard run from back up running back Cameron Roberson. The Irish, needed the two-point conversion to increase their lead to 7, gave the ball to redshirt freshman running back Marcus Williams, who got the 3 yards he needed.
Trailing by 7, with over 5 minutes left, there was plenty of time for the Wolverines to mount tie the game up. They would do just that, as they drove the length of the field (90 yards) and tied up the game on a 1 yard run from full back Taylor Murphy.
The Irish, getting the ball back with just over 3 minutes left, had to be careful to move the ball downfield, and try to get in scoring range, but not leave enough time left for the Wolverines to mount a drive of their own, regardless of what happened. After getting to the Michigan 46, the Irish drive stalled and coach J. Hawk decided it was best to punt the ball and play for overtime, than risk giving the Wolverines the ball back on a 4th and long. Coach D. Hova decided it was best to play for overtime as well, as he ran two draw plays to finish out the 4th quarter.
Winning the toss in overtime is generally regarded as much more important than the game opening toss, and boy did that prove correct on this night. The Irish won the toss and chose to play defense first. After a big 1st down stop, the Irish were feeling confident that they could hold the Wolverines to just a field goal. Gardner had other ideas however as he would take an option keeper 25 yards to put the Wolverines up by 7.
With the game on the line, rather than pass the ball as they had been all day, the Irish elected to pound the ball, giving it to their redshirt freshman and #1 rated running back from the 2011 class, Marcus Williams. Williams would prove to be a force, consistently running the ball for at least 3 yards a play, and got down to the 3. Williams, being the workhorse of the drive, took it in from 3 yards out to score the touchdown. Now trailing by 1, and facing a hot Michigan offense, coach J. Hawk decided to risk it all and go for two. Marcus Williams would again come up huge, as he would carry in the game winning two-point conversion.
Coach J. Hawk said after the game that they were surprised by Hova's switch to the option offense. "We played them last year and won pretty handily. While we knew they would be better, and that we would face a much tougher game this go-around, we were completely surprised by the option offense. They definitely have the personnel to run it, and are a very dangerous team. It is regrettable that Denard got hurt. He has such great talent. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him."
Coach Hova after the game was upbeat, "Next year," was all he said.
The home field advantage paid off big for the Wolverines to start the game as the Irish were unable to sustain their drives long enough to put any points on the board. Redshirt freshman Kellen Merrill had a rough start, "It was tough. They've got a good defense and are very fast. You know, the atmosphere was intense. We practiced with noisemakers and loud yelling over the speakers all week, but you really don't know what it's like 'til you get here; it just can't be simulated." Merrill finished the game 18-40 for 304 yards, one touchdown, and two picks.
While the Irish couldn't find the end zone on the offensive side of the ball, the Wolverines weren't taking advantage of their opportunities early either, as the first quarter ended scoreless. The Irish were the first team to score, with Merrill finding senior wide receiver Chuck Gaither on an 11-yard pass. "They were blitzing me hard. I had almost no time, every play. I read the defense and saw that no one was on Chuck. The only one out there was the outside linebacker and he was showing blitz. When he blitzed, it left the safety to cover Chuck who was 15 yards back. I just threw up it there and let Chuck make the catch. It was a little bit high, but I didn't want the safety to be able to make a play on the ball. It was just a great play by Chuck."
The Irish had finally gotten something going, but Michigan would strike right back. On the very next play, quarterback Denard Robinson found his wide open running back Vincent Smith, who had been split out in the slot. Robinson, seeing an under smoke blitz from the Irish, found Smith right over the middle, and from there no one was going to catch him. 81 yards later and the score was right back where it was 15 seconds earlier; tied.
Notre Dame would drive back down the field, but would be unable to punch it in from inside the 10, and would be forced to settle for a Turk 25-yard field goal. The Wolverines, with almost 3 minutes left before halftime, were determined to take the lead. Driving down the field with a playbook made famous by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Robinson lead his team to get a 4-point lead, as he took an option in himself from 10 yards out.
The Irish defense knew they had to play well in the second half if they wanted to emerge victorious, and they did just that. They held the Wolverines to a three-and-out to start the second half, but the offense couldn't get anything going either. Later on in the third quarter, the Irish would again get inside the Michigan 20, but were unable to capitalize, settling for another field goal.
Starting the fourth quarter trailing the Wolverines 13-14, the Irish knew they needed another big defensive stop to give their offense the chance to take the lead. After forcing a Robinson out of the game with a torn pectoral (out 3 weeks), the Irish defense was able to get more pressure on the less agile backup quarterback Gardner and forced him into a bad throw. That was all the Irish needed as redshirt freshman linebacker LaRon McGill came up with a big interception. With a short field, starting inside the Michigan 40, the Irish would drive down and this time punch it in on a 5-yard run from back up running back Cameron Roberson. The Irish, needed the two-point conversion to increase their lead to 7, gave the ball to redshirt freshman running back Marcus Williams, who got the 3 yards he needed.
Trailing by 7, with over 5 minutes left, there was plenty of time for the Wolverines to mount tie the game up. They would do just that, as they drove the length of the field (90 yards) and tied up the game on a 1 yard run from full back Taylor Murphy.
The Irish, getting the ball back with just over 3 minutes left, had to be careful to move the ball downfield, and try to get in scoring range, but not leave enough time left for the Wolverines to mount a drive of their own, regardless of what happened. After getting to the Michigan 46, the Irish drive stalled and coach J. Hawk decided it was best to punt the ball and play for overtime, than risk giving the Wolverines the ball back on a 4th and long. Coach D. Hova decided it was best to play for overtime as well, as he ran two draw plays to finish out the 4th quarter.
Winning the toss in overtime is generally regarded as much more important than the game opening toss, and boy did that prove correct on this night. The Irish won the toss and chose to play defense first. After a big 1st down stop, the Irish were feeling confident that they could hold the Wolverines to just a field goal. Gardner had other ideas however as he would take an option keeper 25 yards to put the Wolverines up by 7.
With the game on the line, rather than pass the ball as they had been all day, the Irish elected to pound the ball, giving it to their redshirt freshman and #1 rated running back from the 2011 class, Marcus Williams. Williams would prove to be a force, consistently running the ball for at least 3 yards a play, and got down to the 3. Williams, being the workhorse of the drive, took it in from 3 yards out to score the touchdown. Now trailing by 1, and facing a hot Michigan offense, coach J. Hawk decided to risk it all and go for two. Marcus Williams would again come up huge, as he would carry in the game winning two-point conversion.
Coach J. Hawk said after the game that they were surprised by Hova's switch to the option offense. "We played them last year and won pretty handily. While we knew they would be better, and that we would face a much tougher game this go-around, we were completely surprised by the option offense. They definitely have the personnel to run it, and are a very dangerous team. It is regrettable that Denard got hurt. He has such great talent. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him."
Coach Hova after the game was upbeat, "Next year," was all he said.
