Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Taking A Closer Look What Worked • Kicking Game. On a night when the offense didn't take advantage of some crucial opportunities and the defense struggled to stop Michigan, the kicking game showed up to help keep the Irish in the game. Junior Kyle Brindza had an impressive night while handling kicking and punting duties. He was 3 of 3 on field goals, 3 of 3 on extra points and had an impressive 40.0-yard average in the punting game. After struggling in week one, Brindza proved to be a major asset for Notre Dame against the Wolverines. • Pressure From The Defensive Line. Although it didn't register a sack on the night, the Notre Dame defensive line performed much better against Michigan than they did in the season opener against Temple. All-America candidates Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix III consistently got into the backfield and forced Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner out of the pocket. Although Gardner was able to make plays using his speed and athleticism, the initial pressure from the Irish defenders put heat on the Wolverines signal-caller. After an uneven performance the previous week, Tuitt and Nix showed up in week two and looked like the first-round picks they are projected to be. What Didn't Work • The Defense. Allowing the Wolverines to score 41 points puts this loss on the defense, which couldn't make stops when it needed to. The Irish gave up multiple third-down conversions (6 of 12, 50.0 percent) and couldn't get the Michigan offense off the field in key situations. Notre Dame had no answer for Gardner's athleticism at quarterback. • Consistency From The Secondary. The secondary is a strong, experienced group at Notre Dame, but they didn't play up to par against the Wolverines. Throughout the loss, the defensive backs had a handful of blown assignments and some weak tackling. They also couldn't stop Michigan wide receiver Jeremy Gallon. The standout pass catcher caught eight passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns while facing multiple defenders on the night. When senior cornerback Bennett Jackson finally jumped a route and intercepted Gardner late in the fourth quarter, the play was negated by a pass interference call that ended hope for the Irish. — Tom Loy by the numbers 1-7 Notre Dame's record in its last eight trips to Michigan Stadium, dating back to 1997. It ends the series on the road with a four-game losing streak in The Big House. Third-year head coach Brady Hoke's home record with the Wolverines improved to 16-0. 2 Septembers of the 20 since 1994 where Notre Dame came out of the month unscathed without a defeat. One was in 2002 during an 8-0 start, and the second was last season while allowing only 36 points in the four September games. It surrendered 41 alone this year against Michigan. By lou somogyi 3 Touchdown receptions by Michigan wideout Jeremy Gallon, making him only the fifth player in history to snare three scoring passes against the Irish. The others were USC's Dwayne Jarrett (2006), Michigan's Mario Manningham (2006), Texas' Pat Fitzgerald (1995) and LSU's Andy Hamilton (1971). 7-3 Michigan's record against Notre Dame since 1978 in games that were decided by double digits. Four of those victories have come over the last 11 seasons: 2003 (38-0), 2006 (47-21), 2007 (38-0) and now 2013 (41-30).