It’s Friday, so that means yet another classic Michigan Wolverines football fave from me. I’ve skewed with some “older” games lately. I will go back to that when I get closer to the end of the college football season, whenever that may be this year. But today I’m going back to last year.

Last season Michigan was supposed to be great. They were supposed to be a playoff contender. They were supposed to be the team to beat in the Big Ten. They had everyone back and they hired Josh Gattis to get the offense to play fast and loose. Well, that didn’t happen, at least until this game. Michigan started slow. They trailed in their first game against Middle Tennessee, before pulling away late. They needed trick plays and overtime to beat Army. They got crushed when they went up to Madison to play Wisconsin, and before making it a game late, Penn State dominated most of that game on their way to a 7 point win. Michigan struggled coming into this game.

The date was October 27th, it was last year and their opponent was Notre Dame. Notre Dame was higher ranked, their one loss was to a very good Georgia team, they had a more explosive offense, and they had all the momentum. Michigan, as I mentioned before, was struggling. They definitely showed signs of life late in the PSU game, and I hoped it was a sign of things to come. But still, they hadn’t looked right on offense, the defense was on the field too much and Shea Patterson was not playing well. Notre Dame was even favored in this game, and it was in Ann Arbor. Pretty much every show and publication and website picked Notre Dame to win. I remember vividly the guys on CBS laughing at the thought that Michigan could win this game. And right as the game was going to start, a night game mind you, rain started to pour down. This made me even more nervous than normal. This meant Michigan was going to have to run, and not fumble chances away, which was a problem. It also meant that any of the confidence Patterson gained at the end of the PSU game throwing the ball was all but gone. The rain was so heavy that I’m sure the ball felt like a greased pig. I was left to myself to watch the game as well. My wife doesn’t like watching Michigan games with me, and my dad was on a plane flying home from California with my mom. So it was just me.

I sat down for kickoff, and what I watched was so surprising, but in a good way. Michigan came out like a house on fire on offense, and it was all the run game. The O line was making humongous holes, and Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins were gouging Notre Dame’s defense with long runs. The score was only 3-0 going into the second quarter, but Michigan seemed so damn determined to prove everyone wrong. They scored two TD’s in the second quarter, both on the ground. The run game couldn’t be stopped. As for Michigan’s defense, they came to play as well. They were forcing so many three and outs. They pressured the QB all half. They would not let them run the ball. It was glorious. But, I was still a little leery because it was such a dominant half, but they only led by 17. Notre Dame was then gifted a TD when it appeared the QB was intercepted, but the refs called a phantom pass interference to overturn the pick. This was the only time I was really worried. Notre Dame cut the lead to 10, the rain was letting up, and to this point, Michigan had trouble keeping leads. I was also yelling at the TV loud enough that my wife has to tell me to calm down. That all went away pretty quick. Michigan got the ball back and went right down the field to push the lead back to 17. The defense and run game totally took over from here. Notre Dame did score one more useless TD, but not before Michigan scored 21 more points. Michigan totally took over. Hassan Haskins ripped his way through the Notre Dame defense for 149 yards on 20 carries, 7 yards a carry. Charbonnet had 74 yards on 15 carries and 2 TD’s. Tru Wilson went for 40 plus rush yards and a TD. Even Christian Turner got some run in, gaining 31 yards on 4 carries. All told, Michigan gained 303 yards on 53 carries. That’s exactly what I want in a game with weather like they had. They controlled the ball and ran for a ton of yards. Michigan did throw two TD’s, but they only attempted fourteen total passes. As a team they were 8 of 14 for 134 passing yards. Not great, but needed in bad weather. On the other side, Michigan’s defense dominated. Notre Dame attempted 29 passes, completing 11 of them for 133 yards. One less than Michigan on more than double the attempts. On the ground, Notre Dame ran for 47 net yards on 31 attempts. Michigan ran for nearly 8 times as many yards. But the most important thing, and crucial thing in bad weather games, Notre Dame lost 2 fumbles, where Michigan had 0 turnovers. They protected the ball all night in heavy rain and wind. That was nice.

At the end of the night, after Michigan won 45-14, it was great for me to see all these “experts” have to eat crow. Michigan dominated this game and proved that Notre Dame was not a top 10 team, and not the playoff contender many thought they were. This was a great watch for me because Michigan won, won big and beat a big time rival. It was one of those cleansing games I’ve mentioned before. This was a nice recent memory of a great, and big, Michigan win for me. This one was nice for many reasons, but mainly because it reminded me that Michigan, and Jim Harbaugh, can win big games from time to time, and they can do it in an old school way if the weather makes it necessary. This was a good one.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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