Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: MICHIGAN BY LOU SOMOGYI THE TONE‑SETTER Over the past 30‑plus years, the out‑ come of the Michigan game generally has determined the trajectory of Notre Dame's season. Defeat the Wolverines and the Irish set themselves up for major bowl as‑ pirations and a top‑10 finish, or more, the majority of time. Lose the game and Notre Dame likely will finish the campaign with a minimum of four defeats and irrel‑ evance in college football's upper‑tier discussions. Since the renewal of the series in 1978, Michigan holds a 15‑14‑1 edge. The 15 times that Notre Dame did not lose the game, it finished 137‑42‑3, a .761 winning percentage, which ri‑ vals the career winning percentages of 1986‑96 Irish head coach Lou Holtz (.765) and 1975‑80 boss Dan Devine (.764). On seven of those 15 occasions, the Fighting Irish finished in the As‑ sociated Press top 10. In the 15 years Notre Dame failed to defeat Michigan, the final record was 101‑81‑1 for a .555 winning per‑ centage — which is right about where the combined 10‑year records (.551) of former Irish head coaches Gerry Faust (1981‑85) and Charlie Weis (2005‑09) were. Six of those 15 losses to Michigan were followed by losing seasons, and 11 of the 15 saw a minimum of five defeats. The only time Notre Dame finished a season in the AP top 10 af‑ ter losing to Michigan was in the first meeting (1978), a 28‑14 loss that left Notre Dame 0‑2 before the Joe Mon‑ tana‑led Irish won nine of their last 10 contests to finish No. 7 in the AP poll. TOP STOrylineS W ith a victory against Brady Hoke and the Wolverines, Brian Kelly and the Irish could be set‑ ting themselves up for a successful season. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND