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BGI Staff Predictions: Notre Dame At Michigan

TODD BURLAGE, STAFF WRITER

Notre Dame 21, Michigan 20

The toughest game remaining on the Fighting Irish schedule, Notre Dame has lost four straight at Michigan Stadium from 2007-13 and seven of eight dating back to 1997.

Meanwhile, Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh is 29-4 at home (.879 winning percentage) since he took over the Michigan program in 2015 — with those four losses coming only to Big Ten rivals Ohio State (2) and Michigan State (2). The Irish join the list in another white-knuckle game that will be more limited in scoring.


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VINCE DEDARIO, FOOTBALL ANALYST

Notre Dame 31 Michigan 24

Watching Michigan play, I see so many places where Notre Dame can take advantage of its tendencies. If Michigan insists on going man to man all day in the secondary, the Irish receivers will have a field day. If the Notre Dame line continues to play at the level it did against USC, then both Tony Jones, Jr. and Jafar Armstrong will have big days.

But then there is the bitten-by-the-dog effect that Lou always talks about when referring to USC. When you are a little kid and you get bitten by a dog, it can scar you for life whenever you see a dog. That is what Michigan is like for me. Too many times they have bitten me as a fan and too many times I have seen Notre Dame go up to Ann Arbor and wet the bed in the end.

No matter how the Irish look on paper against Michigan, it is going to be a one-score game and probably come down to the final series on either side of the ball — and that scares me. Seeing what Ian Book did to USC on the final drive gives me great hope that the offense has now found itself along with their quarterback, but it is a little too close to Halloween for me not to believe in the ghosts of Michigan and Notre Dame past.


Notre Dame will be seeking its third straight win versus Michigan since 2014.
Notre Dame will be seeking its third straight win versus Michigan since 2014. (Michigan Football/Facebook)

ANDREW MENTOCK, STAFF WRITER

Notre Dame 35, Michigan 20

Notre Dame visits Ann Arbor and plays a Michigan team that played its best football of the year against Penn State in the second half. The Irish get off to an early lead running the ball, but it stays close for much of the game.

A raucous Wolverine crowd stays active for most of the game, but Notre Dame has learned from the mistakes against Georgia and responds well. Michigan, on the other hand, continues to struggle to move the ball on offense due to an inconsistent run game and quarterback pressure. The Irish pull-ahead in the fourth quarter and end up with a fairly large victory.

MIKE SINGER, RECRUITING INSIDER

Notre Dame 19, Michigan 17

The Wolverines present Notre Dame’s toughest remaining test of the 2019 regular season, and beating U-M would give the Irish a ton of confidence to run the table. While the Georgia game was the “big one” on the road, this contest with Michigan is huge in terms of what it means for this season, bragging rights, and recruiting implications as well, with the two Midwest powers involved in so many battles with top prospects.

I’m expecting a low-scoring contest that will come down to the last possession. Michigan was the early favorite because they’re at home, but I like Notre Dame quarterback Book to create enough plays late and the Irish defense to make a big fourth quarter stop when it's needed most.

LOU SOMOGYI, SENIOR EDITOR

Notre Dame 24, Michigan 23

This is strictly a homer pick because deep down I have a bad vibe and gut feeling about this one. Since the regular renewal of the series in 1978, Notre Dame has a 16-15-1 edge, and there are no games on the horizon between the two we know of now. Michigan wants this game badly to fittingly “even up” the series, the same way the Fighting Irish did in 2014 when they trailed 15-14-1 and went out on a winning note at home (before the two-game renewal in 2018-19).

Plus, the Wolverines and Harbaugh desperately need this contest to temporarily quell the mocking of their 1-10 record versus the top 10 since Harbaugh took over (and 1-15 dating back to 2012). Michigan is “due” for one of these type of wins — but the good news is I’ve been saying for years (decades?) that the Irish are “due” to win against a higher-ranked, top-5 team in which they are a double-digit underdog (i.e., Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama…).

My pre-season prediction was a 10-2 regular season, with the losses at Georgia and either USC/Michigan, and then win a Big Six bowl for the first time in 26 years for a first-ever 11-2 mark at Notre Dame. It’s hypocritical, but now I can’t publicly bring myself to pick the Wolverines.

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