Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 NOV. 2, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI S omeone forgot to tell Notre Dame that it had only one bye week in October. Fresh off an Oct. 19 bye following a hard-fought 30-27 vic- tory versus archrival USC, the No. 8-ranked Fighting Irish appeared to take off a second straight Satur- day during a 45-14 pasting at No. 19 Michigan. The Wolverines dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball while out-rushing Notre Dame 303-47 in rainy conditions (437-180 in total yardage) and asserting control after a couple of missed opportuni- ties early by head coach Brian Kelly's troops. Michigan built a 17-0 lead by half- time, and after Notre Dame closed to within 17-7 in the third quarter, the Maize and Blue answered with 28 straight points to end its eight- game losing streak versus opponents ranked in the top 10. The defeat was the third worst in point differential during the 10-year Kelly era, behind only the 49-14 de- bacle at USC in 2014 and the 41-8 slaughter at Miami in 2017. "Clearly a very disappointing night for Notre Dame," Kelly summarized. "Congratulations to Michigan, they were the better team tonight in all phases. We certainly didn't coach well enough tonight and didn't play well enough. "That's not our identity, but that's what we showed tonight, and we own what we showed this evening … that's not the team that I have seen play for the last few years and we've got to figure out why." FIRST QUARTER: MICHIGAN, 3-0 Top Moment: On the game's first possession, the Wolverines were called for roughing the punter to give Notre Dame a first down at the Michigan 40-yard line — but the Irish ended up with minus-five yards and punted down to the 7-yard line. Notre Dame sophomore linebacker Bo Bauer then tipped a Michigan punt that senior linebacker Jonathan Jones tried to pounce on but fum- bled, leading to a Michigan recovery. The Wolverines drove 64 yards to set up a 20-yard field goal by Jake Moody at the 5:35 mark after having first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Standout Performance: Michigan's running game in the rain had 14 car- ries for 96 yards, with freshman Zach Charbonnet's six carries for 52 yards (with a 35-yard run) and redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins' seven at- tempts gaining 46 yards with a long jaunt of 26. Stats: Michigan attempted only two passes (neither complete) and finished the quarter with 11 straight running plays. Notre Dame pro- duced 35 total yards — eight carries for eight yards and senior quarter- back Ian Book was 3-of-7 passing for 27 yards. Notes: Michigan's second posses- sion saw it drive to the Notre Dame 19-yard line before the quarter ended. SECOND QUARTER: MICHIGAN, 17-0 Top Moment: On the third play of the quarter, Charbonnet burst through the middle for a seven-yard touchdown to give Michigan a 10-0 advantage at the 13:51 mark. With the inclement weather, the two-score lead provided a greater cushion than normal. Standout Performance: Both Mich- igan lines dominated the trenches. Notre Dame's 13 plays in the quar- ter (three three-and-outs and also stopped on fourth-and-two on a fourth drive) netted 17 yards. On offense, the Wolverines went 18 straight plays without attempting a pass and scored two touchdowns in the quarter. Stats: Notre Dame finished with 52 total yards in the first half: 15 car- ries for 20 yards and 4-of-13 passing for 32 yards. Michigan garnered 189 first-half yards, carrying 34 times for 167 yards while quarterback Shea Patterson completed 2 of 4 passes for 22 yards. Notes: Michigan's second touch- down came on a drive that covered 61 yards in seven plays in 3:05, and concluded with a one-yard run by Charbonnet … The pivotal play was Patterson escaping a Notre Dame rush on third-and-seven from the Irish 37-yard line and completing a 13-yard pass to freshman Mike Sain- ristil … Patterson followed with a 22- yard keeper off the zone read to the two-yard line … Trailing 17-0, Notre Dame took over at the Michigan 42- yard line with 6:20 left after a punt, but a fourth-and-four pass from the 36-yard line fell incomplete to end the scoring threat. THIRD QUARTER: MICHIGAN, 24-7 Top Moments: After a controver- sial pass interference call on Michi- gan on a third-and-10 Notre Dame pass that was intercepted, the Fight- ing Irish had a first down at the Michigan 42-yard line. A sensational, leaping 24-yard back-shoulder catch by senior wideout Chase Claypool took the Irish to the 7-yard line, where Book then found a wide open junior tight end Cole Kmet in the end zone on the next play with 5:23 left to narrow the deficit to 17-7. Michigan then answered with a 75-yard touchdown march that fea- tured a 49-yard run by Haskins, two pass interference calls on Irish cor- nerbacks Troy Pride Jr. and Shaun Crawford, and an eight-yard scoring pass from Patterson to a diving ju- nior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones in the end zone to build the lead back up to 24-7. On the score, Patterson hung in well in the pocket and was hit by fifth-year senior linebacker As- mar Bilal just as he threw the ball, but the wobbly pass found its way into Peoples-Jones' hands. Standout Performance: The Irish touchdown aside, Michigan's de- fense overcame good field position by Notre Dame throughout the quar- ter, limiting Notre Dame to 98 total yards through three quarters. Stats: After 45 minutes, the Irish had 21 rushing attempts netting 31 yards and Book connected on just 7 of 23 throws for 67 yards. Michigan No-Show No. 8 Notre Dame suffers humiliating 45-14 beatdown at No. 19 Michigan Redshir t freshman Hassan Haskins rushed for 149 yards on 20 attempts to spearhead a Michigan ground attack that racked up 303 yards and three touchdowns against the Fighting Irish. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL