Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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None of those mental hiccups showed against Michigan. Carlisle collected seven catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns, including a 12-yard screen pass in the third quarter that put Notre Dame up 28-0 and really took away any remaining hopes the Wolverines had. "Amir has definitely come a long way," Golson said. "This is his first year playing wide receiver. He had to learn a lot of new things, but he's done a great job." Carlisle had all offseason to learn his new position. Junior Elijah Shumate had only one week to improve his communication skills as the starting safety, following senior Austin Collin- sworth's injury in practice Aug. 28. In the season opener, Shumate struggled in the role, but the full week of practice paid off against Michigan. Along with sophomore safety Max Redfield, the two directed the secondary without any major mistakes, prompting dis- tinct praise from Kelly and Schmidt afterward. "Every day they get better," Schmidt said. "Obviously there is still a lot more that they've got to get done. "I think together we can really bring this to a whole new level. Right now we're doing well, but there's really a lot more. We're still scratching the surface, so it's pretty cool." Those communications in the sec- ondary led to an interception for each of the safeties, including Shumate's shutout-sealing pick. With only sec- onds left on the clock, Shumate inter- cepted Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner and returned it 66 yards for what appeared to be a stadium- shaking touchdown and a 37-0 lead. The referee, however flagged Redfield for roughing the passer, negating the touchdown but not the interception. "I knew that no one was catching [Shumate]," Schmidt said. "That guy was moving. I was in the middle of the field running just trying to find some- one to hit. Then he got to the end zone and he starts getting mauled. I took off my helmet and took in the scene." Schmidt added a forced fumble to the defense's turnover haul — recov- ered by sophomore defensive lineman Isaac Rochell — and senior cornerback Cody Riggs chipped in a third inter- ception. Gardner finished the night with 189 passing yards, 107 of which went to junior Devin Funchess on nine receptions. The Wolverines actually outgained Notre Dame 289-280 in total yards and held the ball for six more min- utes. Initially, Michigan appeared to have control of the contest, driving down the field on its first two possessions, each of which ended with a missed field goal — the first wide right and the second booted so low it went off an Irish facemask. Each drive stalled about 10 yards short of the red zone. In fact, the Wol- verines did not take a single snap in- side Notre Dame's 20-yard line, while the Irish turned four trips into the red zone into three touchdowns and a Kyle Brindza field goal. "Notre Dame played a very good football game, and we didn't," Michi- gan head coach Brady Hoke said bluntly. "You have to give them a lot of credit to what they did on third