The Wolverine Now

BY JOHN BORTON N otre Dame not only left this storied se- ries on the run, the Irish slammed the door on the way out. In a shocker of a beat-down at Notre Dame Stadium, Brian Kelly's crew stiff-armed Michigan into the Irish's new FieldTurf, 31- 0. They shut out the Wolverines for the first time in series history and hung the first goose egg on U-M since 1984. The Irish won the turnover battle, 4-0, the war of opportunism, and — in a game where they were actually out-gained, 289-280 — left absolutely no doubt about who was go- ing to walk away a winner. "Obviously Notre Dame played a very good football game, and we didn't," U-M head coach Brady Hoke said. "You've got to give them a lot of credit, a lot of credit to what they did in third downs, either defend- ing us or their third-down opportunities they converted on." In a battle of mobile quarterbacks, this one developed as lopsidedly as the score. Notre Dame's Everett Golson carved up the Wol- verines in a 23-of-34 passing effort, throwing for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Mich- igan fifth-year senior QB Devin Gardner went 19-of-32 passing for 189 yards, while throwing three interceptions and coughing up a fumble. In short, it quickly became a lost night for the visitors as the curtain fell on the series. In fact, it felt like an iron curtain dropping on winged helmets, and Gardner admitted this one hurt a little worse than the normal loss. "No doubt," he said. "It's Notre Dame. It's the last game of the rivalry. We wanted to come out on top, but obviously that didn't happen." In almost the same breath, he noted it's not even a league game, and that Michigan's mis- sion remains winning the Big Ten champion- ship. With a goose egg on the scoreboard and on his team's collective forehead, that goal seemed far off. Michigan actually looked like it would draw first blood, but senior placekicker Matt Wile slid a 46-yard field goal attempt wide right with 5:35 remaining in the first quar- ter. Instead, the Irish marched back 71 yards in eight plays, running back Cam McDaniel punching it in from one yard out to put Notre Dame on top, 7-0, at the 1:50 mark of that opening period. A pair of pass interference calls on Mich- igan sophomore defensive back Jourdan Lewis — in for injured senior cornerback Raymon Taylor — fueled the drive. When the back-pocket laundry wasn't moving the chains, Golson connected on crisp throws of 18 and 12 yards. "We didn't play well in man coverage," Hoke said. "When you get called for two in- terference calls … we've got to play smarter early. The guys get a little bit worried about playing press." The Wolverines drove back down the field, only to see Wile badly shank a 48-yard field 31 0

• Cover