Join the forum discussion on this postYou have got to be kidding me. In a scene all too familiar to Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans, it was déjà vu all over again. For the third straight time, the Irish fell to the Wolverines in the waning minutes of the game behind Herculean efforts from the Michigan QB. Last year, it was this years hero that helped do them in, Denard Robinson. Prior to that it was Tate Forcier that rallied the troops versus the Irish.
In the latest version of “the game” between the two winningest football programs in NCAA history, Michigan drove 80 yards in three plays in less than 30 seconds. They scored the final TD with but two seconds left on the clock. That’s right, let me repeat that – 80 yards in three plays in under 30 seconds! Denard Robinson is a great football player, but simply put, he is not Superman. That being said, the Irish do everything in their power to make him look the role. This cannot happen. It simply cannot happen. Yet it does, over and over again. It does not matter who the opponent is, Notre Dame finds a way to help the other team win the game.
For three-quarters of this football game, Notre Dame looked like they were going to steamroll the Wolverines. Then in the fourth quarter, except for a rallying touchdown series by the Irish, they simply looked like they had no semblance of what football is about or how it is played. For the second consecutive game this season, the Irish made mistakes galore. Three lost fumbles, two interceptions, and nine penalties. Again, these errors are made by veteran players and not rookies. Defensive breakdowns in coverage allowed players to make catches, even when they were basically being covered.
If coach Brian Kelly isn’t cursing these guys out this week in practice, then I say get rid of him. For those that are worried about him doing this, then may I suggest you go watch the chess match of the week instead of football. These are mental mistakes, not coaching break-downs. At some point in time, under any coach the players must be held accountable. Don’t get me wrong here, there are coaching mistakes here as well.
During the course of a football game, an offense has to be able to control the clock and be able to burn time. It has to happen, the defense needs to be able to rest at junctures throughout the game. Kelly has the penchant to pass, pass, pass. I too would be thinking that way, if my running game just wasn’t producing, it happens sometimes. However, the Irish running game has been clicking so far this season, just not in 3rd and short (mainly one yard to go ) situations. Here I blame the coaching staff. It would behoove the offense to run for short yardage with an extra blocker in the backfield, just once in awhile.
ND won the battle of statistics, not by an overwhelming amount, but enough to have controlled the game. They controlled for 3 quarters, but in that fourth quarter, Michigan looked more like The Flash than Superman. I think if there had been two seconds to go and facing 80 yards for the score, that they still would have found a way to score.
ND:
- 28 first downs to 16
- 198 rushing yards to 114
- 513 total yards to 452
- Time of possession 37:01 to 22:59
Michigan
- 338 passing yards to 315
After holding Michigan on downs in its initial possession, the Irish started off on their own 43 yard line. The Irish drive went 57 yards in 7 plays covering 3 minutes and 46 seconds. Theo Riddick caught a 7 yard pass from Tommy Rees for the score. David Ruffer added the extra point 7-0 Irish. The big play was a 21 yard pass from Rees to Michael Floyd.
Michigan failed to move the ball and the Fighting Irish then drove 83 yards in 10 plays taking up 5 minutes and 35 seconds. Cierre Wood ran it in from 4 yards out. Ruffer’s extra point made the score 14-0 Notre Dame. Rees had the Irish clicking on all cylinders. Passing and rushing, the Irish looked good on the drive.
Michigan then started a short drive at the Notre Dame 45 yard line after an interception thrown by Tommy Rees. A first down run went for 2 yards. Robinson then hit Junior Hemingway for a 43 yard TD pass. The extra point made the score 14-7 Notre Dame.
Notre Dame closed out the first half scoring on a David Ruffer 38 yard FG. The drive covered 29 yards on 8 plays in 2 minutes and 53 seconds. Half time score was Notre Dame 17 Michigan 7. Tommy Rees had thrown an interception near the goal line on one drive after the Irish had driven to the Michigan 18 yard line. The Irish defense held Michigan to just three first downs for the half.
The only scoring in the third quarter was a TD by the Irish; but the old turnover bugaboo prevented the Irish from cementing this game away for good. At one juncture, the Irish had driven to the Michigan 30 yard line and had a first down. Cierre Wood then lost a fumble to the Wolverines at the 29. The Michigan offense remained bottled up; however, two things showed that just maybe Michigan was beginning to figure out the Notre Dame defense. One was that Robinson was starting to run for big yardage plays. The other item was that the announcers clearly showed the wheel route was wide open for the Wolverines every time that they ran it. It was just that Denard Robinson was not looking for the receiver.
Tommy Rees then marched the Fighting Irish 71 yards in 7 plays covering 3 minutes and 55 seconds. Behind the running of Wood and the receiving of Floyd, Rees hit TJ Jones from 15 yards out for the score with 2:13 left in the quarter. The third quarter ended with Notre Dame leading comfortably 24-7.
The fourth quarter was the Denard Robinson show. Game wise, he rushed for 122 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Denard hit 11 of 24 passes for 338 yards and 4 more scores. Poor Gary Gray looked like he had never covered a man in pass defense ever when the last few years had played somewhat commendably.
Michigan began the fourth quarter by scoring a TD at the 14:54 mark on a one yard run by Robinson. The Irish had stuffed a running play on third down but the ball was fumbled and was just laying there for Denard to pick up and run unscathed into the end zone. Gibbons added the extra point and it was now 24-14 in favor of the Irish.
The Irish went 3 and out and the Michigan Wolverines were the recipients of a terrible 26 yard punt by Ben Turk. Michigan began the march at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 40 yard line. When the hell is the coaching staff going to realize there is a problem here? The Michigan drive went 40 yards in 5 plays covering 2 minutes and 35 seconds. Jeremy Gallon scored on a 14 pass reception from Robinson. Score ND 24 Michigan 21.
On the ensuing drive by Notre Dame, once again the Fighting Irish had a chance to cement this game away. The drive started gratuitously on a 20 yard kickoff return by Theo Riddick to the Irish 40 yard line. With Rees again clicking on passes to Floyd, Eifert, and TJ Jones, Notre Dame drove to the Michigan 7 yard line. They were aided by a pass interference penalty in the end zone. Rees went back to pass and dropped the ball while cocking his passing arm with Michigan recovering. Are you kidding me? Damn Kelly, run the fricking football and maybe run some clock time off! So much for first and goal at the Michigan seven yard line!
The Irish got a reprieve when Robert Blanton picked off a pass from Robinson in the Notre Dame end zone. There was now only 4:23 left in the game and Notre Dame had first and ten at its own 20 yard line. Three and out and Gallon returned the punt 22 yards to the Michigan 42 yard line with 2:16 left.
The Wolverines marched 58 yards in 5 plays taking up only 1:04 of playing time and scoring at the 1:12 mark. The two big plays were a 27 yard pass to Brady, and then the TD screen pass to Vincent Smith for 21 yards. The extra point gave Michigan the lead at 28-24.
The kickoff went to Riddick and he had a nice return for 36 yards setting up the Irish at their own 39 yard line. The drive went 61 yards in 4 plays covering 42 seconds. Riddick scored a TD on a 29 pass from Rees. Theo was wide open when receiving the ball. Ruffer’s extra point and the score was now ND 31 Michigan 28.
Kyle Brindza booted the kickoff deep into the end zone and Michigan was looking at first and ten from its own 20 yard line with only 30 seconds left in the game. First down, incomplete pass, and only 23 seconds remaining. On second down the wheel route that the announcers had mentioned earlier was once again wide open. Jeremy Gallon, running on the right side caught it and went across the middle to the left for 64 yards to the Irish 16 yard line. Only 8 seconds remained. Time enough for one try at the end zone and then a game tying FG attempt by the Wolverines. Denard Robinson then found Roy Roundtree open in the right end zone for the game clinching touchdown with but two seconds left. The extra point and the final score, Michigan 35 Notre Dame 31. Unbelievable, improbable, impossible, call it what you want but Gary Gray was lost in space, and so was this game that just maybe Notre Dame should have run away with. Déjà vu all over again!
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