The Wolverines and Fighting Irish have met sporadicaly since 1887, but Saturday the rivalry came to an end for the forseeable future. Notre Dame commanded a 21-point lead at halftir --and Michigan r threatened in t
Devin Gardner accounted for four turnovers in the Fighting Irish's shutout win.
A nightmare in
South Bend
A tell house at Notre Dame Stadium celebrated the Fighting Irish's 31-0 win over Michigan, the firt time the Wolverines haoe hes shut out in the series
Notre Shame: Good, bad and ugl
It wasn't all bad.
But there were far
more negatives
than positives
By GREG GARNO
ManagingSports Editor
We could have titled this "The
not as bad, the bad and the ugly,"
after the Michigan football team
was shut out by Notre Dame
on Saturday, 31-0. We didn't,
but there was plenty that went
wrong in the Wolverines' first
shutout since 1984.
The Daily football beat picks
out the good, the bad and the
ugly from this week.
The Good
The weather was nice.
A comfortable 70 degrees
Fahrenheit on Saturday night
with a perfect sunset and not
a cloud in the sky. It looked
good on TV and was great for
tailgating.
Aside from that, there wasn't
much to be positive about.
The Wolverines' run
defense shined as it limited the
Fighting Irish to 54 yards and
one touchdown on 31 carries.
That number includes minus-
14 rushing from quarterback
Everett Golson, though.
And most of those carries
came in the fourth quarter,
when Notre Dame had the game
safely in hand.
Junior wide receiver Devin
Funchess was the lone bright
spot for the offense, finishing
with 107 yards on 11 receptions,
but he wasn't always given the
chance to jump up for the ball.
The Bad
Michigan's rush offense still
posted a 100-yard game, but it
failed to geta single runner over
30 yards and, most importantly,
failed to score a touchdown.
The combination of
sophomore running backs
Derrick Green and De'Veon
Smith wasn't bruising enough
to barrel over defenders, and
the offensive line didn't open up
holes.
And the offensive line didn't
do much to protect fifth-year
senior quarterback Devin
Gardner, who was sacked just
twice but forced to run away
even more. He fumbled the ball
after the protection broke down
and didn't have the time to sit in
the pocket to pass to Funchess.
The Ugly
Senior kicker Matt Wile had
a forgettable game in a season
that isn't looking optimistic.
Wile finished 0-for-2 on field
goal attempts, making him
1-for-4 on the season.
He couldn't manage to get the
ball close to the goalpost on his
second attempt, slipping on his
plant foot.
Michigan coach Brady
Hoke said Wile's job wasn't in
jeopardy, but backup kicker
Kenny Allen was warming up on
the sideline at times.
Gardner didn't do much to
help Wile out, though. Gardner
and the rest of the offense failed
to make it to the red zone and
put him within a safe range.
Gardner finished 19-of-
32 with 189 yards and four
turnovers on the night. He
started the game 6-for-6, but
struggled for the remainder of
See UGLY, Page 2B
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - I've
always been told you're
supposed to start columns
with a
scene. But
sometimes
there is
no scene.
There's a
nightmare
that lasts
three and a
half hours. MAX
It was COHEN
supposed
to liveup
to its billing as the last game
between two behemoths of
college football, Michigan and
Notre Dame, two teams that
have provided fans the moments
they won't forget. Someone
was supposed to provide the
moments that Denard Robinson,
Desmond Howard and Raghib
Ismail did, the ones you can
relive as if they were yesterday.
Not all endings are fairytales,
though. Sometimes endings
have three interceptions and
a fumble from your starting
quarterback, a secondary with
more sieves than all of the
opposinggoalies to ever play
at Yost and an offensive line
that has no answers in sight.
Sometimes, endings are 31-0
drubbings.
The beginning of the end was
innocent enough. The Wolverine
offensive line looked capable
and Notre Dame used two
timeouts in the first two and a
half minutes of the game. Devin
Gardner completed his first six
passes and the game resembled
nothing close to a blowout.
Toward the end of the
beginning of the end, there were
two pass interference calls and
they led to Notre Dame's first
touchdown.
The end cane quickly. With
See NIGHTMARE, Page 2B
SOUND OF SILENCE
In 2011, Brady Hoke's bold answers
inspired a fanbase. Now, the arrogance
falls on deaf ears.
SportsMonday Column, Page 2B
A WELCOME HOME
Playing for the first time at a renovated
Phyllis Ocker Field, the Michigan field
hockey team went undefeated.
Page 3B