Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Michigan Wolverines Handicapping Preview
One can hardly think about early-season college football without this classic rivalry coming to mind. A rivalry bitter, yet as old-school and respectful as they come, the Notre Dame-Michigan game is always cherished by the fan bases and the TV networks.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor MI
Saturday, Sept. 10, 8:05 pm EST
NCAA Odds from Sportsbook.com:
MoneyLine: Notre Dame -155, Michigan +135
Spread: Notre Dame -3, Michigan +3
Over/Under: 55.5
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This season could bring us a great contest, thanks to Irish head coach Brian Kelly’s prevarication at QB and Michigan’s gradual rise back to Big Ten importance.
Kelly has decided to bench QB Dayne Crist, the starter for the season-opening loss to South Florida, in favor of sophomore Tommy Rees. Rees hasn’t shown a ton in his collegiate career yet, but has shown that he can step in and win. He has also developed a strong chemistry with elite WR Michael Floyd, who truly is the most important piece in the Notre Dame attack. After Crist took a seat in the opening game, Rees chucked for an impressive 296 yards, 154 of them to Floyd to go with two scores. Kelly is banking on that production (along with an expanded role for TE Tyler Eifert and others) to get the Irish back in the win column in the hostile confines of the Big House.
For Michigan’s part, coach Brady Hoke’s debut went well, as the Maize and Blue cruised to an easy 34-10 win versus Western Michigan. Facing Notre Dame’s prolific offense and defense led by imposing LB Manti Te’o will be a far cry from the WMU Broncos, however. The Wolverines can take solace in the fact they have the electric Denard Robinson under center. There was talk about Robinson throwing the ball more this season, but “Shoelace” is at his most effective when he is making things happen with his feet, and using that to set up wide-open targets through the air. Sophomore RB Fitzgerald Toussaint had a nice game the first week, scampering for 80 yards on just 11 carries and a couple majors.
The unquestioned concern with Michigan over the past couple years has been the defense. The unit did a nice job holding Western Michigan to just ten points, but that is a MAC opponent and the Irish are known for their quick-strike capability. This game will be a really nice litmus test for the defense, to see whether they have progressed since last year, when the unit often resembled a high school team rather than a prestigious Big Ten program. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
A lot is being made of these two cherished programs playing a night game in Ann Arbor this season. The players are grumpy because they will stew for an extra six to eight hours in a hotel room instead of getting on the field. It is a ploy that increases ticket prices and the bravado for this traditional match-up, but what should interest the most is the battle of dual-threat Robinson vs. pocket passer Rees, the potential psychological damage caused to Crist with the Irish QB shuffle and the question of two potentially talented yet slightly pockmarked defenses.
If Rees can step in and play like he did in the second half vs. USF and in the last four games of 2010 he started (all victories) the Irish look to be in decent shape. Especially if secondary passing targets can step up if/when Floyd gets doubled, the Irish should ride the aerial attack and the supporting running game – under the purview of RB Cierre Wood – to a slim victory in Michigan Stadium.
Trends:
Under is 15-7 in NOTRE last 22 road games.
MICH are 11-27 ATS in their last 38 games overall.
Score Prediction: Notre Dame 35, Michigan 24
Over/Under Prediction: 59
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