ND +3 1/2
Under 50
Here's why.......
Tonight’s game will be the last visit to The Big House by Notre Dame for a while. After next years game between these two rivals in South Bend, they will not be playing their annual battle as Notre Dame begins their commitment to the ACC. The fact that Notre Dame chose to drop the Wolverines, yet keep playing Michigan State, is not lost on the Maize and Blue. Wolverine coach Brady Hoke says the Irish are “chickening out” of their series. Good bulletin board material. Let’s look at the matchup.
Notre Dame (13) and Michigan (17) are both coming in at 1-0 with easy wins last week. The Irish beat Temple 28-6 and the Wolverines hammered Central Michigan 59-9.
Notre Dame QB Tommy Rees was efficient in the win against Temple going 16-23, 346 yards and 3 TD’s. A performance like this tonight will certainly make the Irish faithful forget about the suspension of QB Everett Golson, who was expected to be behind center this season. Rees may not duplicate the passing numbers he put up against Temple, but if he commits no turnovers, as was also the case, ND should be in good shape.
A player for ND that could make a difference tonight is junior TE Troy Niklas. Niklas had a 66 yd TD reception last week (his only catch of the game) but he is an imposing 6-7, 270 lbs. and blocks well. Having a big target like this against a tough Michigan defense should be a nice safety net for Rees. Look for Niklas to be more involved tonight.
For Michigan, QB Devin Gardner was a modest 10-15 for 162 yards and a TD against CMU last week. However, he threw 2 interceptions, too. Collectively, the offense produced 463 yards, so you can see they can run the ball.
At this point, I think the 13 and 17 rankings for these teams are generous. The winning team tonight will justify their number, but whoever loses this game is in for a long season in my opinion. Michigan is favored by 3 1/2 and I believe that 1/2 point is important here. The last 4 meetings between these two teams have been decided by 7 points or less and I expect another close outcome tonight.
The over/under total is 50 and if I had to choose, I would take the under simply because I don’t see either offense being able to light up the opposing defense.
Ultimately, that 1/2 point intrigues me in what figures to be a close game. Therefore, I’ll take the points.
The pick: Notre Dame +3 1/2
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