ND 31
MICHIGAN 0
HISTORY MADE; HISTORY ENDS
So much has been written in post-mortem of the fabulous Irish victory over the Michigan Wolverines (an animal in the weasel family).
It was a sensory-filled day from the sounds and smells of huge tailgating crowds on an absolutely gorgeous sun splashed day in South Bend…with the patriotic sights of four U.S. Navy SEALS gliding so smoothly into the ND Stadium to deliver the U.S. and the ND flags and the official game ball…to the stadium music blaring for a rockin’ crowd…to the unexpected appreciation for the bright new field turf… with the surprise entrance of the ND team through the tunnel and the first-ever smoke display…sporting the crisp new Under Armour uniforms…to our ND band and Irish Guard inspiring the crowd with “America the Beautiful”, the “National Anthem” and the ND “Fight song”.
Navy SEALS glide into the Stadium with the game ball
WOW! What a day and evening!
We will always remember the last game in this storied rivalry and series with the 31-0 pasting of Michigan by Your Fighting Irish.
In the 127-year history of the two teams, this was the first time ND ever shutout the Wolverines. This was also the first time UM had been shut-out in 356 games—back to 1984 (30 years ago!)
The victory gave the Irish an all-time winning percentage of .7334 compared to Michigan’s record of .7321. Further, ND and Texas are now tied for all-time #2 in victories with 876.
Since September 23, 1978 through last Saturday, the Universities of Notre Dame and Michigan have played 31 games. Do you know the record during that span?
ND with 15 wins; UM with 15 wins; and a lone tie in 1992. Remarkable.
“Good bye, Brady. Hate to see you go!”
Adios. See you later Michigan.
It was great to know you.
SOME GAME DAY PHOTOS
Tailgating was exceptional. Consumption was off the charts. The spirit and camaraderie were great. It was the ideal prelude to a most anticipated game.
Father- Daughter Dance
Mo and Mini-Mo
We are family…
Fr. (“Broadway”) Joe Carey
The “Marrying Priest”…100’s of couples happily served!
Let’s feed this crowd!
“Hey…it is a home game and this is what we do!”
Junior year is the best. Way to go, Maddie!
“OH NO…This is not going very well, is it?”
Editor’s (Abe’s) Note:
This is the debut for Guest Columnist Michael Burke, most universally known as “Pro” Burke.
Even his lovely 88-year old Mom Miss Jane calls him “Pro”. As a little boy, young Mike Burke was an expert and “professional” for virtually any topic—but especially sports.
Arriving at Notre Dame and Dillon Hall as a Freshman in 1977, he was already known as “Pro” to many upperclassmen through brother Willie (“Wilfred, Fredo”) Burke.
While the “Pro” moniker continued to stick and was most common, no one collected additional nicknames like Michael “Pro” Burke. He also responds to: “Ebony Messiah”, “Black Jesus”, “Link” (as in Cro-Magmon Period– “Missing”), “Linkster” and “Miiikke!”—for the most truly outrageous assertions.
For those who are curious, our Ebony Messiah happens to be Caucasian. But on the interhall football fields where he starred for the undefeated campus Champions Big Red, he dressed the part and delivered salvation.
This Editor does not carry “Errors & Ommissions” insurance, nor does Abe have the budget for a full-time fact-checker. The views of “Pro” are his—usually very accurate, insightful and provocative.
JUST MY VIEW FROM THE STANDS… –“Pro” Burke
Wolverines Go Down. Irish come up Big.
Even though it didn’t count, the long interception run to close the game was one of the coolest endings I can ever imagine. Much like Harrison going 100-yards with a pick on the last play before the half of the last Steelers Super Bowl. I love defense, I love a running game to enhance a stout defense.
Here’s your answer. Stephan Tuitt and Louis Nix were big and plugged the middle, but they were slow and had poor endurance. Manti Teo’s was quick, but not fast. He just-missed a whole bunch of plays.
Jaylon Smith is a different beast all together. Very, very fast, smaller– arrives earlier and blows stuff up. Te’o is to Mike Singletary as Smith is to Derrick Brooks. He is not as big as LT but he is incredible at getting in the way quickly and causing a play to break down.
Here is the thing, we played a defense we were not capable of playing last year. We had too many big bodies on the field. But Michigan was unranked before so the experts saw something (besides Gardner) with them. It could be we won’t get a true gauge until Stanford, but the Irish “D” looked awfully good Saturday.
Additionally, we had a ton of problems in the Rice game, and they fixed them all in a week- with no help for Brian Kelly ‘cuz he is not a defense guru. So Van Gorder knows his stuff.
USC is friggin’ stacked and Pat Haden is on board with all of the “we don’t care if you are even going to class” stuff. Leaning toward expert cover up.
Stanford is still good, just not Andrew Luck good. Graduated the entire O-line and 3 tight ends in the past two years, so piecing it together and will be stronger later in the season. But as good as SC is, they needed a 53-yard field goal to get a 3-point win, so they have an impaired offense. My take: each team only got 1 touchdown, leading me to think they will be about 20 pts shy of us when the dust settles.
BK committed to the run, because he finally realizes that an offense has to A) score points B) create field position, C) Eat clock so your defense gets a rest. Plus, he has guys running downhill, with a forward lean. Theo Riddick & Ceirre Wood ran like dancers, trying to avoid people and mostly straight up and down. Forward leaners finish their runs and get an extra yard or two out of every contact. That converts to moving the chains. Net result, you have to move a safety into the box to stop it.
William Fuller’s TD was 3rd and 1 right in front of us. They hit the line, I screamed fade to Fuller. Michigan was in man-to- man press coverage with a single safety all the way across the field. Fuller was wide right and only had to run by a guy 4 yards from him who missed the jam off the line, then had to turn and chase. But there was no safety on that side of the field because we had run the ball effectively and were in a short yardage (likely a blast run for the first down) situation. Bart Starr’s best passes to his array of slow, white wide-outs were on 3rd and 1.
I have officially flipped on the field turf issue. It was not about running faster, we had noone slipping just before contact cause the turf gave out. Guys got hit, wrapped, and tackled better than they have in the BK era. Partly better footing, mostly Van Gorder coaching.
Big and exciting plays impress the laymen. But the trick to being a good Defense is getting off the field before you get damaged – either by points or field position. Work it to 3rd down and close them out with a good tackle or a turnover on a 3rd and long.
It is the first time a BK defense really looked good, ever. Last year there were so many drives where we let people convert 3rd and 9; 3rd and 12 etc. We got off the field Saturday. That is huge because your keep fresh legs on your D.
Cliff Note answers to make you smarter:
— Jaylon Smith will make more plays than Teo did-every game
— Field turf is the greatest!
— Stanford is good, so is SC, but both have trouble scoring points. So do not allow them a 75-yard TD and they will not get many others.
— Running the ball is a function of want to: in the line, in the backs and in the coaches
— Defensive personnel play as well as the game plan allows. This one was simple pressure the QB up the gut and he will fold (secret behind the “46” the Bears ran). The fact that they were able to do that with multiple stunts and loops speaks to the film recognition of the DC and the agility the D line has, without the plodding behemoths we graduated. That will stay all season.
— We were also faster at corner, than they were at receiver – we will not get that in every game.
Onward to Indianapolis and the Boilermakers.
“Pro” Burke—at you and out.
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One final Michigan note. When ND and Michigan renewed its rivalry in 1978, the Game Day Program cover was a very special one for two of our pals–stalwarts on Offense and Defense.
In the game that day, All-American linebacker Bob Golic played our of his mind and had 26 tackles! (Can you re-picture that?!)
And Dave Huffman was our All-American Center for three years, leading the charge up the middle for a rotation of QB’s, including Joe Montana.
Abe was at O’Rourke’s Publick House just last night and he pulled up a chair with legendary Offensive Line Coach Brian Boulac (“Coach Bou”) and his lovely wife.
We talked about some of those glory years and huge games. Mrs. Bou said that Dave Huffman was one of her favorite “boys” and Coach Bou said that #56 was one of his all-time best players.
Who doesn’t remember the red elbow pads…”So my Mama can spot me on the bottom of the pile.”
