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Rapid Review: Michigan 45, Notre Dame 14

GAME STATISTICS

Any remaining College Football Playoff talk for No. 8 Notre Dame ended with an immense thud, and then some, during a 45-14 debacle at No. 19 Michigan.

The Fighting Irish squandered early opportunities and then were dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage, with Notre Dame not even getting past 100 yards total offense until midway through the fourth quarter. The Wolverines totaled 437 yards total offense to Notre Dame's 180.

Notre Dame (5-2) hosts Virginia Tech (5-2), which is coming off a bye, next weekend.

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Hassan Haskins and the Michigan ground attack dominated the line of scrimmage. (Lon Howedel photo)
Hassan Haskins and the Michigan ground attack dominated the line of scrimmage. (Lon Howedel photo) (Lon Horwedel)

1.TOP 3 STORYLINES

• The victory didn't match the largest ever in the series, which were 38-0 shutouts by Michigan in 2003 and 2007, while the Irish had a 31-0 decision in 2014. It was also the third-largest margin of defeat in the 10-year Brian Kelly era, behind only the 41-8 loss at Miami in 2017 at No. 2 and 49-14 at USC in 2014 as No. 1.

The 45 points also were the second highest total by either team in the series, behind Michigan's 47-21 win at No. 2 Notre Dame in 2006.

• Notre Dame entered the game No. 1 in turnover margin (plus-1.67 per game) while Michigan was No. 84 (minus-0.29) — and No. 109 among 130 FBS teams in turnovers committed with 14. The Wolverines won the turnover battle, 2-0.

• Michigan ended an eight-game losing streak versus top-10 teams, while Notre Dame lost its 10th consecutive game to a top-20 team when playing on the road at the opponent's on-campus site.

2. TURNING POINT

On the game’s first possession, Michigan was called for roughing the punter to give Notre Dame a first down at the Wolverine 40-yard line — but the Irish ended up with minus five yards and punted down to the seven-yard line.

Notre Dame sophomore linebacker Bo Bauer then tipped a Michigan punt that senior linebacker Jonathan Jones tried to pounce on but he never gained control, leading to a Michigan recovery. The Wolverines took advantage by driving 64 yards to set up a 20-yard field goal by Jake Moody at the 5:35 mark after having first-and-goal at the four-yard line.

Those two early opportunities for Notre Dame to draw first blood were wasted, and the momentum quickly shifted toward the Wolverines’ side thereafter.


3. STAT OF THE GAME

Michigan out-rushed Notre Dame 303-47 on a rainy night where establishing a strong ground attack was going to be essential. Wolverines running back Hassan Haskins entered the game with 217 yards rushing this season but paced the attack with 149 yards on 20 attempts.

. While building a 17-0 halftime lead, Michigan out-gained Notre Dame 189-52 in total yards, most notably 167-20 on the ground. The onslaught continued in the second half with a 114 to minus-5 advantage rushing.

4. GAME BALL

It belongs to Michigan's linemen on both sides of the ball with the way they controlled the line of scrimmage. Michigan starting quarterback Shea Patterson attempted only 12 passes, completing six for 100 yards and two scores.


5. HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE

Jim Harbaugh became the sixth head coach, at least to our knowledge, who defeated Notre Dame at two different schools. He won against the Irish in 2009 and 2010 at Stanford. He also was the starting quarterback for Michigan in 1985 and 1986 during two other victories.

The other five were Howard Jones (Iowa and USC), Johnny Majors (Pitt and Tennessee), Dennis Erickson (Miami and Oregon State), Nick Saban (Michigan State and Alabama) and Todd Graham (Tulsa and Arizona State).

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