9/10: (0-1) Notre Dame @ (1-0) Michigan...1st night game ever at The Big House

• killer_ewok

  

  Notre Dame is coming off a crushing 23-20 loss to South Florida in a game that saw ND turn the ball over 5 times. Michigan dominated Western Michigan to the tune of 34-10 in a game called because of weather. Notre Dame dealt with weather issues in the loss to USF. The Brady Hoke era is off to a good start while Brian Kelly's 2nd season didn't exactly start out how ND fans had envisioned. I don't usually make predictions on games but I think ND responds and gets the win in Ann Arbor. I just can't see them turning the ball over 3 times inside the 5-yard line again. Michigan has won 4 of the last 5 in the series.
  
  GO IRISH!!!
• karen lotz

  

  go team
• robj55

  

  1st night game ever at the big house? Hard to believe.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  Absolutely impossible to call this game.
  
  I didn't watch the Michigan game, as I was pulling my hair out watching a game myself. But Western Michigan clearly moved the ball pretty well. Michigan only had nine more yards than Western Michigan. That probably isn't a good thing.
  
  I could be wrong, but I still don't trust Michigan's defense. The difference now is that I don't trust Notre Dame's offense.
  
  I don't expect pro style offenses to have a lot of success against Notre Dame's defense. Clearly though, Robinson is a tough cookie.
  
  My assumption is that Michigan is still a work in progress, and Notre Dame needs to shake the dust off and start rolling. The atmosphere will be quite the hurdle though.
  
  I can't bear to think what would happen if Notre Dame went to 0-2; 0-3 would be dreadful.
• killer_ewok

  

  The mistakes that ND made are correctable and an entire game of Tommy Rees should help as well. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am in Crist. Also, can we find someone who can actually punt the ball more than 20 fucking yards?
• vball10set

  Pulling for ND, but tsun wins by seven---38-31
• Hamp89

  killer_ewok;882811 wrote:The mistakes that ND made are correctable and an entire game of Tommy Rees should help as well. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am in Crist. Also, can we find someone who can actually punt the ball more than 20 ****ing yards?

  
  Exactly my thoughts. Crist is a major disappointment. Rees will play well in this game an I'll be happy to see him play for 4 full quarters.
  
  The USF game could not have gone any worse, but ND was a different team and in sync with Rees in there. They looked like the team at the end of last season with him in there.
  
  I still think ND wins this game with a back and forth scoring shootout. I think ND's defense makes the difference at the end of the day and they win by 7.
  
  ND - 34
  UM - 27
• dat dude

  Definitely looking forward to this one. I expected much more out of Crist. I really thought he would play well this year. On Friday, I would have said ND by 14-17 points. Now, I'm not so sure. If I had to pick, I'd take ND by a slim margin. Rees doesn't seem like the type of QB who will be rattled.
• Laley23

  

  Will be interesting as USF only moved the ball with check downs and bubbles. They had no success with a true offense. Im not sure UofM will go that route which will be in NDs favor...but I also expect them to be good enough to move it more than USF with their normal offense.
  
  I would love to pick ND, and I think its a last possession game. But I just dont know about playing UofM on the road at night. Something just scream L to me.
• merv

  

  Michigan got the win against Western, without showing anything to ND. Michigan looked like they made in game adjustments on defense. ( Rich Rod couldn't do that). As much as Michigan has to worry about Floyd,(double him all game long) ND has to worry about Denard. Both teams need help with special teams. I wouldn't be suprised if the game is decided by special teams play. Before yesterday I picked ND to beat Michigan. Now it's anyone ball game. We'll all fine out Saturday. GO BLUE!!!
  
  Notre Dame - 24
  Michigan - 27
• stroups

  

  Floyd will go crazy on Michigans D. Notre Dame will correct their mistakes and win this game easily.
• Mr. 300

  

  The Toilet Bowl game will be a snoozefest. Neither team brings much to the table, other than their fans and living in the past. If I had to pick a winner after watching ND suck against USF, I'll go with the home field advantage.
• karen lotz

  

  NDatRivals Irish Illustrated

  No decision on next week's starting quarterback, per #NotreDame head coach Brian Kelly. Decision by Monday.

• Trueblue23

  

  This should be a hell of a game.
  
  Keys for Michigan

  • Pressure ND's QB, whoever that may be.
  • Establish the run game.. sets up play action, gets Denard free.
  • Protect the football, cut down on kick off returns
  • SHOELACE
• dat dude

  ND opened at -1.5
• WebFire

  stroups;882908 wrote:Floyd will go crazy on Michigans D. Notre Dame will correct their mistakes and win this game easily.

  Like he did last year?
• Crimson streak

  

  Floyd always has big games against Michigan. The team definitely has more confidence in Rees than crist. Should be a he'll of a game
• lhslep134

  

  Should be an entertaining game to watch. Not sure who I predict to win, just rooting for Fitz to score more touchdowns.
• dave

  Avery needs to learn how to play the ball. I don't think Michigan can afford to double Floyd most of the game, they need that extra linebacker blitzing. They will give up some big plays, just have to hope Rees misses a few and throws a couple picks to offset the big ones.
  
  Personally I wasn't that impressed with Fitz, I actually thought the couple times Smith touched the ball he had the best vision. Other than those 2 huge running plays back to back they didn't get going like they will need to against ND.
• WebFire

  dave;883288 wrote:
  Personally I wasn't that impressed with Fitz, I actually thought the couple times Smith touched the ball he had the best vision.

  Really? I was impressed with Fitz's ability to find and hit the open hole.
• ytownfootball

  

  I thought Fitz did just fine. His best attribute in high school was hitting the opening and getting free.
• dave

  He had no problem getting 3-4yds a touch, but anyone should be able to get that against WMU. He usually found the initial hole, but then put his head down and went down at initial contact. He struggled to make people miss and break tackles. His numbers look good, but Chad Henne could have ran 40 yards on that run up the middle when the seas parted.
  
  This week will show more, hard to tell much from that crazy game yesterday. Fine is not going to be good enough.
• ytownfootball

  

  It's not like the dude has 14 starts under his belt, you seem to be a little impatient for someone who has watched a lot of losing the past few years. I'd be willing to give him a few more starts before throwing him out with the bathwater just yet.
• Hamp89

  karen lotz;883052 wrote:NDatRivals Irish Illustrated

  
  I'll be fucking pissed if Crist starts. Enough is enough.
• dave

  ytownfootball;883302 wrote:It's not like the dude has 14 starts under his belt, you seem to be a little impatient for someone who has watched a lot of losing the past few years. I'd be willing to give him a few more starts before throwing him out with the bathwater just yet.

  What does the past few years have to do with anything? It's not like the offense was the big problem anyway.
  
  All I'm saying was I expected him to be able to break a few tackles against WMU, if that is expecting too much than so be it. If you are from Youngstown you are obviously biased in this discussion. I never said it was time to give up on him, just that he needs to be better if they want to succeed against ND.