The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW shows where they stand. It's their own version of a playoff." Not all agree that such schedule rigor is mandatory, he noted. "So many Notre Dame fans object to it and say, 'Why?'" Somogyi observed. "Ala- bama schedules three body bag games a year, whether it's The Citadel, Middle Tennessee State or whoever, just to take a bit of a break. "The schedule is good enough, and it be- comes suicidal when you add Michigan to the mix, especially in a year like 2019, when you're already facing Georgia, Stanford and Louisville on the road. Now you play Michi- gan on the road, too. It seems to be a split decision there, very much." For Michigan's part, head coach Jim Har- baugh wanted the Irish back on the Wolver- ines' schedule and director of athletics Warde Manuel made it happen. That didn't come without fan beefs. Some didn't like restarting the series in South Bend, after it ended there in inglorious fashion in 2014. Others decried the 2019 matchup, which falls in the middle of the Big Ten sea- son, between road games at Penn State and Maryland. Jansen waves off the downside to a Michi- gan-Notre Dame matchup. "We've got Notre Dame on the road, Ohio on the road, Michigan State on the road," he said of the 2018 slate. "It's a tough road schedule. But again, Michigan has never shied away from playing high-profile op- ponents. "We've never looked at a schedule and said, 'Oh, that looks too hard. We're going to make an excuse.' No, we're excited about it. I'm excited for this 2018 team to go out there and make a statement that says, put the nation on notice. Put every team in the Big Ten on notice. "Put everybody in the country on notice that Michigan is a badass this year." The bottom line for Jansen? If you have a chance to play the Irish, you do it. "I grew up as a fan," he explained. "When you think about Michigan, you think about playing Notre Dame. You think about playing Ohio State, Michigan State. "It would be awful if a kid turns 18, he's a senior in high school, he chooses to come to Michigan and then for four years, he doesn't get to play against Notre Dame. That's a crime. That's one of the games you dream about, ever since you've been dreaming. "For them to be back on the schedule, I think it's great for the kids. The kids that haven't played and are new to Michigan? They're going to get to go to South Bend. They're going to get to see Touchdown Jesus. "They're going to hear all about Rudy. They'll hear all about Notre Dame — Ara Parseghian and all these other coaches that have been there. And they get a chance to put their stamp on not just Michigan football his- tory, but the history in this game." "This is a game, no matter what happens, that gets talked about for years. For kids to be able to come to Michigan and have that op- portunity is, in my opinion, critical." A Powerful Memory Maker Michigan-Notre Dame remains thick with thrilling wins and devastating losses on both sides. No fewer than half the games in the se- ries have been decided by seven points or less. From Harry Oliver's game-winning field goal in 1980 to Remy Hamilton's answer with a game-winner in South Bend in 1994, and far beyond, the series is rife with cliffhangers. Every longtime Michigan fan can instantly reel off the greatest win, most crushing loss and probably the biggest away-field rip-off. Notre Dame fans can answer in kind. Somo- gyi and Jansen each offered up some memo- ries, both sweet and bitter from the two sides. Oliver's game-winner in the 29-27 con- test at South Bend — when a strong wind famously stopped to allow it — immediately came to Somogyi's mind. "Notre Dame was supposed to be not very strong that year," he recalled. "They were coming off a 7-4 season. "And I thought at the end of the year, that 1980 Michigan team was the best team in the country. They had Anthony Carter, and the way they played their defense was phenom- enal. That was an electrifying win." Notre Dame went undefeated and won the national championship in 1988. They nearly didn't win their opener, holding on to a 19-17 win on a narrow miss of a 48-yard field goal attempt by Michigan's Mike Gillette. "That opener against Michigan? My gosh, that was one of the most underrated games in school history," Somogyi said. "Mike Gillette came out for the 48-yarder on the last play of the game. About five or six minutes earlier, he hit one from the same distance, easily. He was such a clutch kicker. "Notre Dame was coming off a three-game losing streak from the previous year. There were so many doubts about Tony Rice as quarterback. When that kick went wide … you didn't realize it at the time, but that was the national title. That would easily be my No. 1." Quarterback Denard Robinson rushed for 258 yards and two touchdowns, including the game- winner with 27 seconds left, and threw for 244 yards and another score while leading the Wolverines past the Irish in 2010. That was the last U-M victory in South Bend, although there have been only two chances since. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN