Since 1942, the University of Michigan football team has played at Notre Dame Stadium during the afternoon 12 times — and actually owns a winning mark of 6-5-1 in such outings.
Ah, but when Michigan plays at night in Notre Dame Stadium, the Fighting Irish boast an “electrifying” 5-0 record, which they will try to boost to 6-0 this weekend.
Long-time college football analyst Beano Cook used to refer to LSU as "the Count Dracula of college football" because they do their greatest damage at home in the night. It's been the same with Notre Dame hosting Michigan in prime time.
Our week-long five-part series chronologically reviews each of those conquests. The series ends today with the 31-0 shutout in 2014.
Sept. 6, 2014: Notre Dame 31, Michigan 0
Back Drop: From a national perspective, this was one of the less attractive Fighting Irish-Wolverine matchups. Notre Dame was ranked only No. 16 after coming off a 9-4 record, while Michigan under fourth-year head coach Brady Hoke had fallen to 7-6 (3-5 in the Big Ten) and came into the game unranked.
The Electricity: Although neither team entered with a high ranking, if any, from a Notre Dame standpoint a huge revenge factor was in play. Not only had Michigan won four of the past five meetings, but the previous year’s 41-30 conquest by the Wolverines added salt to the wound.
Because the Fighting Irish in 2014 would begin their partial football membership in the ACC, in 2013 news began to emerge that the series with Michigan would no longer be part of the schedule as it regularly had been since 1978. Speaking to a Michigan booster club in the summer of 2013 in which Hoke was asked why the Notre Dame series appeared to be ending, Hoke jokingly responded that the Irish might be "chicken.".
Then after Michigan defeated Notre Dame 41-30 in Ann Arbor that September, the sound system in Michigan Stadium had “The Chicken Dance” blaring.
Outcome: Michigan outgained the Fighting Irish 289-280 in total yardage, but Notre Dame posted its greatest margin of victory — 31-0 — in the 42-game history of the series, eclipsing the 35-12 win back in 1943 en route to the national title.
Touchdown marches of 71, 80 and 56 yards gave Notre Dame a 21-0 halftime cushion, with the scores coming on a one-yard run by Cam McDaniel and touchdown passes of 1 and 24 yards by Everett Golson — back from a year’s suspension — to Amir Carlisle and Will Fuller, respectively. In the second half, Michigan committed four turnovers, while the Irish had none for the game.
The last turnover on the final play of the game resulted in an interception return for a touchdown by Elijah Shumate that had the scoreboard temporarily at 37-0, but the score was negated because of a rough — although ostensibly legal — hit by Max Redfield on quarterback Devin Gardner during the runback.
Notre Dame rushed for only 54 yards on 31 carries, but Golson was an efficient 23-for-34 passing for 226 yards and three scores, the final one to Carlisle again.
Above all, first-year Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder instantly became a venerated, folk-hero figure when his troops produced the goose egg — snapping Michigan’s NCAA record 365 consecutive games without enduring a shutout, which last occurred 30 years ago in 1984. A fist-pumping VanGorder video from the game also became viral (see 3:42 mark of embedded video).
After the game, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick handed his Michigan counterpart, David Brandon, a letter that formally announced the stoppage of the series.
“Maybe we can run into one another in a playoff game,” Brandon said afterwards. “That would be great. Or who knows. Things can change over time. But I think for the foreseeable future, we’re going in two different directions.”
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