Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1022027
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 10, 2018 27 2 On the heels of the 31-0 whitewash of Michi- gan in 2014, the 24-17 victory this season marked the first time since 2004-05 that Notre Dame defeated the Wolverines in consecutive meetings. The Fighting Irish toppled No. 8 Michigan at home in 2004 under head coach Tyrone Willing- ham (28-20) and stunned the No. 3-ranked Wolver- ines in The Big House in 2005 (17-10) with rookie head coach Charlie Weis at the Notre Dame helm. 6-0 Record Notre Dame has against Michi- gan when it hosts the Wolverines at night, with four of them occurring in openers (1982, 1988, 1990 and now 2018). The other two were in 2012 and 2014. Meanwhile, Michigan ac- tually has a winning record at Notre Dame (6-5-1) when the games are played in the afternoon. 16-15-1 Edge Notre Dame has on Michigan since the renewal of the series 40 years ago in 1978. The two teams meet again in Ann Arbor on Oct. 26, 2019. The Irish will have a bye the week prior (Oct. 19) after hosting USC Oct. 12, and then the series with the Wolver- ines is not on the docket in the foreseeable future. 17 Games in a row Michigan has lost on the home field of a ranked team, with three of them coming against Notre Dame. It's last such triumph occurred in September 2006 at No. 2 Notre Dame (47-21). The Wolverines now have also lost four straight games overall after finish- ing 2017 with setbacks against Wisconsin (24-10), Ohio State (31-20) and South Carolina (26-19) in the Outback Bowl. Michigan hadn't lost four contests in a row since 2009, when they fell in the final five games that season under head coach Rich Rodriguez. 30 Years ago that Notre Dame began its run to its most recent national title with a 19-17 victory in a home night game versus Michi- gan with a new and first-time defensive coordi- nator (Barry Alvarez) and a quarterback whose passing accuracy was often questioned (Tony Rice). The members of that team had their reunion for this opener, which also saw new and first-time defensive coordinator Clark Lea and oft questioned passer Brandon Wimbush shine in the opener. Good karma? 59 Rushing yards by Notre Dame senior quar- terback Brandon Wimbush on 19 carries. It marked the third time in his career he led the Irish in rushing despite amassing 803 yards on the ground in 2017. He also paced the team in rushing last season in the win over Wake Forest (12 carries for 110 yards) and the loss at Stanford (17 carries for 61 yards). The 19 carries against the Wolverines represented the second most he has had in a game, behind only the 21 in the win at Boston College last season when his 207 yards rushing shattered the single game Irish record by a quarterback. 178:09 Minutes and seconds the Michigan offense had gone in Notre Dame Stadium without scoring a touchdown before doing so with 2:18 remaining in this game to cut the score to the final 24-17 margin. The Wolverines tallied the game winning touchdown at Notre Dame with 27 seconds left in 2010, but managed only two field goals in the 60 minutes of a 13-6 loss in 2012 and in 2014 were shut out (31-0) in 60 minutes for the first time in an NCAA- record 365 consecutive games. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI 3 Straight home wins by head coach BRIAN KELLY versus Michigan — the first Notre Dame coach to achieve the feat. Lou Holtz (1988 and 1990) and Tyrone Willingham (2002 and 2004) both did it twice, but Kelly achieved the trifecta in his ninth season with the Fighting Irish. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA