This is ordinarily the big game of the weekend. It is a big game of course, but not as big as Ohio State/USC. But Michigans good game vs WMU certainly was a good tonic for what was ailing them. Nothing like a win to silence things around the program. This series is sort of a weird one with the home team not having a big advantage and the underdog winning quite a few games. I don't expect another shutout and certainly don't expect to crush them like we did last year, they are unlikely to make as many mistakes as they did last year either. But they still have inexperience at QB, and facing the Irish blitz could give those young players some problems. At least I hope it does. It's hard to say Weis needs this win, or any win in particular, because he needs a lot of wins including this one. The key to this game is whether or not the Irish defense can force the young UM QB's in to mistakes and interceptions. I think our offense will probably do pretty well, esp if they can run against UM. Terry
Look for Tenuta to test the young QBS with a variety of blitz schemes. Expect Teo to be on the field much more this game. If we can run 125+ yards we will be tough for anyone to beat with this passing game.
I've felt that this is the pivotal game of the season. If the Irish can go into Ann Arbor and win it gives them the mental edge vs. MSU. I don't take last year's victory over M as a plus. Quite frankly, if they'd been able to catch the first 2 kick offs it would have been a much different game. This game like every game on our schedule we should have the better QB which is a very big plus. Poise, if we play with it, we should win. So often the past 2 yrs. we've lost it and paid the price.
This is an interesting game for both programs and both coaches. One team will come out on top of the world, the other with questions. I'll have to plan on watching this one.
Me too if possible... well, with TiVo, anything is possible. What is the scheduled time? Whoa there Bill... don't get too excited. I said TiVo, not Tebow. :twisted: I fly in from Cali with a 14:00 arrival and the Tennessee game starts at 15:00. That Toll Way better not have any traffic! There's always XM for the 1st quarter I guess.
ND/mich <r>From what saw of the um/WM game, WM made too many mistakes to overcome if they were going to beat um at home. Their defense didn't impress me that much either. I know ND has much quicker LBs and DBs too let those frosh QBs run around the way they did and will put a lot of pressure on them hopefully causing some turnovers that translate to points. <br/> <br/> No, ND won't jump out to a quick lead off mistakes like they did last year but unless ND is the one making a boatload of errors out of the gait, they should be able to win. I don't see um getting 31 points either. <E>8)</E></r>
We should be able to throw against the Wolverines, they have a 5'9" CB who is fast but will have to cover 6'3" Floyd who apparently isn't slow. As will be the case all year, if we can protect Jimmy and run the ball we should be pretty darn hard to stop. That is unless Charlie gets too cute with the play calling. Naturally you expect the Irish defense to cause some problems for a freshman QB like Forcier. But it is the 2nd year of this offense and Forcier has been through both the Spring drills and a Fall Camp. So he's not exactly a raw rookie and like Clausen he comes from a family of QB's. That other freshman QB really looks elusive running the ball and will cause us and other teams problems, he doesn't look as comfortable throwing the ball as Forcier. He's much faster and more elusive, right now you can't compare him to Pat White, but White didn't throw the ball all that well as a freshman (at least I don't think he did) but he was dynamic running the ball from the QB position. UM has a DE (Brandon Graham) who is a stud and we'd better figure out how to handle him or Clausen will spend some time on his back side. Terry
A person for whose analysis I have the utmost respect has said for several years that a critical key to ND's return to respectability will be when we have true lockdown corners. He believes that he saw that in yesterday's performance. IMO the coaches must be awfully confident in our man-to-man pass coverage, or they would not be blitzing so aggressively.
I am looking forward to watching this contenst, Always easy to enjoy a game when you have no direct allegiance, just a good college game. Don
I never noticed the resemblance between Custer and Petey, but now that you mention it, it is striking.....! 8) TOK, it's all about self-interest....your loss to them this year in the shoot-out will take on a new dimension now that they are a loser to BYU! :twisted: