Michigan @ Notre Dame preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2009 ) Notre Dame 34, Michigan 38

Notre Dame and Michigan meet Saturday for the 38th time. The two winningest programs in major college history (by percentage) will square off in South Bend, with both teams coming off opening victories. The Irish defeated Purdue, 23-12, in new coach Brian Kelly’s debut, while the Wolverines blasted Connecticut, 30-10, in an important win for beleaguered coach Rich Rodriguez.

Quarterback Dayne Crist led the Irish over Purdue by completing 19 of 26 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. Running back Armando Allen ran for 93 yards and made an electrifying 38-yard punt return in the second half. While the Irish defense gave up 220 yards of passing offense, they limited Purdue’s ground game to only 102 yards. Boilermaker quarterback Robert Marve was picked off twice.

After back-to-back seasons of 3-9 and 5-7, Rodriguez and the Wolverines are off to an auspicious start and may finally have the dual-threat quarterback they've been missing. In renovated Michigan Stadium, before a crowd of 113, 090, the Wolverines rolled last week over the Huskies. Sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson had 383 yards of total offense, 197 on the ground and 186 in the air. The 197 yards of rushing was the most ever by a Michigan quarterback. Robinson also completed 19 of 22 passes.

The play of both defenses will have a major impact in Saturday’s winner. Last year the Irish run defense ranked 89th among all FBS teams. After switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 alignment this fall, the Notre Dame defense contained the Boilermakers running game and also had four sacks. Michigan limited Connecticut to one touchdown but gave up 205 passing yards to Huskies quarterback Zach Frazier.

The Notre Dame-Michigan series goes back to 1887 when the Wolverines won the first contest, 8-0. The two schools have played some memorable games over the years with five games in the 80’s and 90’s decided by three points or less. In the 1989 contest the Irish were ranked No. 1 and Michigan was No. 2. The Irish prevailed, 24-19. Last fall, the Wolverines hung on to win in Ann Arbor, 38-34. Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier threw a five-yard pass to Greg Mathews to win the game with only 11 seconds remaining.

Michigan leads the series, 21-15-1 and are one of 10 teams to have a winning record against the Irish.