4B — Tuesday, September 4, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsTuesday

A different kind of pain

S

OUTH BEND, Ind. — 

The gift-
wrapping 
was pretty 
on the 
Michigan 
football 
team.
Through 
talk of 
renewed 
confidence, 
heightened athleticism 
and, finally, a serviceable 
quarterback, the 14th-ranked 
Wolverines were supposed 
to have a fighting chance 
against No. 12 Notre Dame in 
South Bend.
But right at kickoff of 
Saturday night’s season 
opener, the grandeur of it all 
had faded without return. 
That gift-
wrapping was 
a photocopy of 
the rhythmless, 
frustrating 
Michigan 
team from last 
year. The only 
difference 
was that the 
2018 team had 
everything 
it needed to 
succeed, and it still didn’t in 
its 24-17 loss to the Fighting 
Irish (1-0 overall).
“Just a few (big plays), not 
enough,” said a stone-faced 
Jim Harbaugh in the post-
game press conference. “We 
didn’t make enough explosive 
plays, we didn’t run the ball 
as well as we would like.
“I don’t really have all the 
biggest takeaways. I thought 
on defense our guys played 
fast, competed hard. There’s 
improvements to be made, 
mistakes were made but I 
thought they fought hard.”
With 1:48 remaining, 
down by a touchdown, the 
Wolverines (0-1) looked to 
put that narrative to bed and 
place the pieces for another 
rivalry classic. But on the 
fourth play of the drive, the 
offensive line collapsed and 
the football was knocked out 
of Shea Patterson’s hands into 
those of Notre Dame’s Khalid 
Kareem to seal the game. 
Throughout the contest, the 
Wolverines wore the mental 
anguish of an early 14-0 
deficit on their sleeve in a 
loss it could have avoided.
“It’s one of those things 

where you come off the 
sideline like ‘where did we 
go wrong?’ ” said fifth-year 
senior defensive end Chase 
Winovich. “ I didn’t feel 
like they were dominating. I 
didn’t feel like their presence 
was overwhelming.”
It’s the same result. A 
different kind of pain. One 
rooted in its potential to be 
everything that the 2017 team 
wasn’t.
Last year’s Michigan team 
carried few expectations, 
excepting the rabid fan 
pacing in front of their 
television. A quarterback 
carousel behind a porous 
offensive line made the 
Wolverines’ offense an 
eyesore.
When Michigan’s defense 
could no longer carry the 
rest of the team’s water 
and it lost, 
exasperation 
trumped 
anger. The 
offense was 
that bad — 
Michigan had 
no business 
winning in 
any of its 
defeats and 
that sobering 
feeling of 
acceptable pain persisted.
Flash forward to Sept. 1 
at Notre Dame Stadium, and 
the loss was still deserved, 
yet more unsettling than 
it would have 
been 365 days 
ago. In junior 
Shea Patterson 
looked a capable 
offensive 
torchbearer 
while 
sophomore 
wide receivers 
Donovan 
Peoples-Jones 
and Nico Collins 
— who hauled a 52-yard 
bomb thanks to solid pass 
protection — took the next 
step to be viable receiving 
options. The whole defense 
showed spurts of why they 
belonged in the discussion as 
the nation’s best defense.
But none of it mattered. 
On Saturday, it was one step 
forward, two steps back.
“The first game is always 
the toughest because no 
matter how hard your camp 
is, that first game is always 
tougher,” Winovich said. 
“I feel like they maybe did 

a better job adapting to it 
and took advantage of our 
lack of whatever - not being 
prepared enough.”
On three different 
occasions after a third down 
stand, Michigan’s defense 
was penalized to extend 
the Fighting Irish’s drives. 
All three of Notre Dame’s 
touchdowns came from those 
instances. The ejection of 
junior safety Josh Metellus 
from an early targeting call 
exacerbated the defensive 
deficiencies.
The Wolverines made it 
into the red zone just twice 
in the first three quarters, 
converting only one field goal 
and botching the attempt on 
the other.
Sophomore Ambry Thomas 
had a 99-yard kickoff 
return touchdown to bring 
the halftime deficit to a 
manageable 21-10 margin. 
Michigan didn’t find paydirt 
again until it was too little, 
too late.
“Nobody really wants to 
start off like that,” Patterson 
said. “Our defense put us in 
situations to make something 
happen. Early on, I took a 
sack that put us out of field 
goal range, I threw a careless 
pick. And at the end of the 
game, ball security.”
Added Winovich: “I’m not 
really sure where they beat 
us, I’m still confused in the 
locker room. I’m just kinda 
confused how 
we lost that 
game. I didn’t 
feel like they 
dominated us, 
but ultimately 
they made 
plays when 
they needed 
to.”
In a game 
where the 
Fighting Irish 
were doing everything in 
their power to let Michigan 
come back, it never came. 
Of course, it is only the first 
game and that potential may 
still emanate down the road. 
But Saturday night’s miscues 
were expected to happen in 
the 2017 season. It wasn’t 
supposed to happen in 2018.
But both are losses. This 
one just stings the Wolverines 
a little bit more.

Wolfe can be reached at 

eewolfe@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @ethanewolfe

Defense suffers untimely mistakes 
against Fighting Irish in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. 
— As 
the 43-yard rainbow heave 
approached 
the 
endzone, 
Brad Hawkins sensed an 
interception. But just as the 
sophomore 
safety 
lurched 
his hands above his head 
to make the play, receiver 
Chris 
Finke 
snatched the 
pass away for 
Notre Dame’s 
second 
touchdown of 
the evening.
It 
was 
emblematic of 
the mistakes 
that 
cost 
Michigan’s 
defense 
on 
Saturday 
in 
South Bend: not glaring in 
nature but made in moments 
that proved costly.
Just take what happened 
earlier in that drive. On 
third-and-nine 
deep 
in 
Fighting 
Irish 
territory, 
safety 
Josh 
Metellus 
led 
with his head trying to knock 
down a pass, adding 15-yards 
to the Notre Dame reception 
and forcing an early exit for 
the junior.
Four snaps later, Brandon 
Wimbush 
underthrew 
Finke, but — inexperienced 
and fresh onto the field to 
replace Metellus — Hawkins 
couldn’t 
complete 
the 
interception. And just like 
that, the Wolverines found 
themselves down 14-0.
“(Wimbush) 
made 
plays, 
and 
ultimately 
we 
didn’t,” 
said 
fifth-year 
senior defensive end Chase 
Winovich. 
“That’s 
what 
football’s all about — making 
plays when you need to.”
And 
all 
too 
often, 
especially in the first half, 
the 
Wolverines’ 
defense 
couldn’t stop Notre Dame 
from making those plays.
Despite previous accuracy 
concerns, Wimbush stared 
down Michigan’s pressure, 

completing 
crossing 
patterns over the middle or 
deep seam routes for clutch 
conversions. His legs helped, 
too, 
extending 
plays 
and 
evading defenders for extra 
yards.
This 
combination 
was 
especially 
effective 
in 
continuing drives, as the 
Fighting Irish went 5-for-8 
on third down 
during 
the 
first 
half. 
No 
matter 
what 
the Wolverines 
threw 
at 
Wimbush, 
he 
answered 
the 
bell.
And 
sometimes, 
Michigan 
just gave it to 
Notre 
Dame, 
too. 
Including 
Metellus’ 
ejection, five penalties (42 
yards) were accepted against 
Wolverines’ 
defense 
on 
Saturday.
None was more detrimental 
than a roughing-the-passer 
call 
late 
in 
the 
second 
quarter against Winovitch. 
After 
momentarily 
getting a stop 
on 
third-
and-goal, the 
penalty 
gave 
the 
Fighting 
Irish a fresh 
set of downs 
and, 
later, 
four 
points 
on 
a 
Jafar 
Armstrong 
touchdown run.
“I didn’t necessarily agree 
with this call because I 
was rushing from the left 
side — he’s a right-handed 
quarterback — (the referee) 
told me I hit him in the back, 
and that’s why they called 
it,” Winovich said. “Not sure 
how that makes any sense.”
It 
all 
culminated 
in 
defensive shredding in the 
first half — Notre Dame 
racked up 233 total yards 
and 21 points — far from the 

norm for Michigan’s defense.
Still, things quieted down 
in the second half, when 
the Wolverines allowed less 
than 70 yards and a lone 
field goal. Winovich already 
recognizes this as a change 
from last year’s team.
“I think last year, things 
went 
(astray),” 
Winovich 
said. “You see it in the South 
Carolina game. I think if we 
had that mindset, I think 
they could’ve really done 
some damage on us.”
Michigan’s 
defense 
was 
supposed to be its greatest 
strength. It has been the 
last four seasons, finishing 
inside the top ten in yards 
allowed 
from 
2014-2017. 
And nine returning starters 
from last year’s defense 
— including potential first 
round picks Rashan Gary, 
Devin Bush, Khaleke Hudson 
and Lavert Hill — made for 
lofty preseason expectations 
around an offense with a 
new identity. 
“I 
definitely 
feel 
that 
pressure,” 
Winovich 
said. 
“That’s just the way it’s been 
(from a) factual standpoint. 
It’s 
been 
a 
defensive-led 
group the last 
couple years.”
But 
the 
Wolverines’ 
defense 
— 
between 
penalties 
and 
third 
downs 
— 
certainly 
had its share 
of 
lapses 
on 
Saturday. And when those 
mistakes are compounded 
with plays like that of Finke 
and Wimbush, it makes for a 
losing formula.
“It’s one of those things 
where you come off the 
sideline, and for me, I didn’t 
know 
where 
we 
(went) 
wrong,” Winovich said. “I 
didn’t feel like they were 
dominating, I didn’t feel like 
they were overwhelming us. 
They made plays and beat 
us.”

EVAN AARON/Daily
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson went 20-for-30 for 227 yards in Michigan’s loss to Notre Dame on Thursday.

ETHAN 
WOLFE

“We didn’t 
make enough 
explosive 
plays.”

“I’m just kinda 
confused how 
we lost that 
game.”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan defense struggled in the first half against Notre Dame, putting the Wolverines in a hole. 

“(Wimbush) 
made plays, and 
ultimately, we 
didn’t.”

MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor

“That’s just the 
way it’s been 
(from a) factual 
standpoint.”

The Wolverines gave up 21 points and 233 yards in the 1st 
half against Brandon Wimbush and Notre Dame offense

