2019 Michigan Gameday #8: vs. Notre Dame

It's a rainy one as I sit here in Ann Arbor awaiting a second straight big prime time for Michigan.  Well, rainy's a bit of an understatement--we've been getting soaked all day, and that's before the real downpour starts this evening, threatening to bring an inch of precipitation or more.  So yeah, conditions out there are gonna be slick as the already cool temperature feels even less comfortable thanks to the precipitation.

But there's zero chance that will dim everyone's excitement for the return of the Under the Lights night game series with Notre Dame, the team led by the guy above.  Human storm cloud Brian Kelly is the kind of embodiment of unbridled anger Lewis Black could only dream of achieving.

This is a series that has been going on since the 19th century, though this evening's game will be just the 43rd meeting between two of the sport's blue bloods.  The Wolverines won the first eight, and things have been pretty even since then, though memorable games abound...

...such as 1991, when eventual Heisman winner Desmond Howard caught a surprise 4th and 1 pass from Elvis Grbac thanks to an amazing diving effort in the end zone for a 35-yard score to give Michigan some valuable insurance.

Moving ahead a bit in history, the Wolverines ran a three-win streak starting 10 years ago, a trio of games they won by exactly four points.  In 2009 Michigan saw a 31-20 lead turn into a 34-31 deficit until QB Tate Forcier hit WR Greg Mathews in the endzone with just 11 seconds left.  The following year in South Bend QB Denard Robinson was helming the offense when they were down 24-21 late, but he used his speed and magic to cap off a 72-yard drive with a two yard run with under 30 seconds to go.

And yet, those crazy finishes pale in comparison to 2011.  The scene:  Under the Lights I, back in Ann Arbor.  The Wolverines trailed 24-7 in the third quarter and things looked dire, but Robinson got his team within three points thanks to a one yard run and a TD pass.  He then temporarily gave Michigan the lead on a pass to RB Vincent Smith the last of 21 unanswered points, with 1:12 left.  But Notre Dame needed just 42 seconds to regain a three point lead after QB Tommy Rees hooked up with eventual Lion Theo Riddick.

The Wolverines had just 30 seconds and two timeouts to try to tie it up after a touchback.  An incompletion on first down made it look like pretty much all hope was lost.  And then!  And then, with the clock ticking, Denard took the snap, scrambled away from a little pressure and, on the run, flipped a pass to the previously invisible diminutive WR Jeremy Gallon, all alone along the right sideline thanks to a great wheel route.  Gallon grabbed the pass around the Irish 45, then crossed the field entirely while scampering to the opposition 16 with eight seconds to play.  Six seconds later Michigan WR Roy Roundtree came down with Denard's pass in the end zone (despite defensive pass interference), and the Wolverines had shocked the Irish for the third straight season.

The teams met up the next three years and alternated wins, with Michigan victorious in 2013, and then the rivalry was suddenly halted until last year, a 24-17 Wolverines loss that didn't get that close until it was too late.  And now they're meeting again tonight, under the lights and rain, until another hiatus breaks things up until 2033-34.  The Irish have lost just one game, while visiting previous #3 Georgia, and they handled now-unranked Virginia, so after Michigan their usual not-in-a-conference-so-whatever schedule looks fairly meh.

Meanwhile the #19 Wolverines are coming off a loss at Penn State in which they stumbled early but showed lots of heart in the second half, almost enough to tie it up.  Will Michigan carry that over to a strong start that could lead to positive things as the toughest part of their schedule looms?  If they play like the last two quarters last week, hold onto the ball, and aren't negatively impacted by the deluge taking up residence here tonight, that could certainly happen.  And why not?  To hell with Notre Dame!

LET'S GO BLUE!