The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2007 131 'M' stuns No. 2 Notre Dame By MATT SINGER Riding sophomore wide receiver Daily Sports Editor Mario Manningham's three-touch- down day and a rock-solid defensive Sept. 18, 2006 - SOUTH BEND performance, Michigan closed its - At the end, there was no cheering pre-Big Ten schedule with a 47-21 for Ol' Notre Dame. demolition of Notre Dame - its larg- Only the stunned silence of Irish est margin of victory ever in South fans as Chad Henne took a knee and Bend. The win exorcised a whole raised the ball triumphantly over host of demons for the Wolverines. his head. Finally, after three unsuccessful The echoes were awake, all right tries, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr - but not the ones mentioned in earned his first victory in South Notre Dame's famous fight song. Bend. Finally, after six consecutive These were the echoes of "It's losses, the Wolverines came away Great to be a Michigan Wolverine" with a victory in their road opener. reverberating through Notre Dame And finally, after a miserable 2005 Stadium's tunnel, as the Wolver- season, Michigan put itself right ines jogged off the field with their back in the middle of the college winged helmets raised to the sky. football landscape. And No. 2 Notre Dame was "Notre Dame is a great institu- marching. tion, with a great tradition," Carr Just not onward to victory. said. "And Michigan is the same. Instead, the Fighting Irish (2-1) So as a coach, when you can win were marching to a humiliating, against a rival like that, believe me, shocking and total defeat at the it's specialbecause it's hard. I mean, hands of the 11th-ranked Wolver- the credit, it sure as hell doesn't go ines (3-0). to me. Those guys out on the field, "I think it's really important to they played the game." understand that that team just came Tied 7-7 late in the first quarter, and just whooped us pretty good," the game appeared to have all the Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis makings of a classic, tight Michi- said. gan-Notre Dame battle. But then the Manningham show started. It began with a cut, and then another. Manningham ran a com- plex route down the right sideline, blowing by Notre Dame corner Ambrose Wooden's man-to-man coverage. Michigan quarterback Chad Henne stepped up in the pocket amid a heavy rush and lofted a perfect lob, hitting Manningham in stride. The sophomore cradled the ball and sprinted the rest of the way for a 69-yard touchdown. The scenario would repeat itself twice over the next 16 minutes, with Manningham smoking man-cover- age for virtually identical 29-yard and 20-yard touchdowns in the cor- ner of Notre Dame's slash-marked end zone. By late in the second quar- ter, Manningham had amassed 111 yards receiving on three touchdown grabs, leading the Wolverines to a commanding 34-7 lead. "Mario was excellent," Henne said., "We practiced deep balls all spring and summer with him and one-on-one routes. And he showed his talent and speed today." The Wolverines' stellar defense made sure that advantage wsould stick. Weis's offense - led by pre- Darnell Hood (4)and Leon Hall (29) celebrate during Michigan's 47- in South Bend. r Notre Da season Heisman hopeful Brady Quinn - came into the game with the national hype machine singing its praises. But Michigan's defense had an answer for every wrinkle Weis threw at it. The Wolverine defense may have dealt an irreparable blow to Quinn's Heisman dreams. With Michigan's front four getting in his face on nearly every pass play and the sec- ondary blanketing Notre Dame's receivers, Quinn never found his rhythm. Senior linebacker Prescott Burgess, in particular, had a field day with Quinn, picking up the first two interceptions of his career and returning one for a touchdown. After losing 17-10 to Notre Dame in the Big House last year as the. third-ranked team in the nation, the Wolverines flipped the script on the Irish in a monumental way. "I think (we won this way) because we were under the radar," Hart said. "We knew they were coming here No. 2 in the country, Heisman candidates, expecting to go to the national championship. So we knew we had to come out here and prove ourselves, and that's what made us play a lot harder. Whereas last year they were hunting us, we were hunting them this time." UMS Student Ticket Programs Your chance to get CHEAP TICKETS to see the world's best music, dance and theater! 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