It’s the midway point of the week and we are half way to game number 2 for the Michigan Wolverines. While the rest of my home state worries about this weekends traffic in Iowa City for some game that is between a couple of instate teams.(only one of them I have actually even heard of since they are also in the Big 10), I am reading about the hate between the Irish and the Wolverines. That means this weekend I will get the TV. to myself and will be watching the game on NBC with just myself and my friendly 30 pack of stones while everyone else around here watches PBS or whatever that instate game will be on, as I get to watch one of the best rivalries in football between the winged helmets of the Michigan Wolverines vs. the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
This is another huge game that could really pole vault the Wolverines forward this year and be a huge boost in team moral as they look for that winning season that escaped them last year. How will the youngsters respond on the road as many of them will be playing for the first time on the road is the question? 12 true freshmen will be playing in their first road game ever and many of the others will be playing in Notre Dame for the first time also. I expect to see some young nerves and a bend but don’t break defense on Saturday.
This week has seen another Safety leave the school as Vlad Emilien has decided to go elsewhere as he is transferring from the university. This and other departures has led to an open tryout on Friday for anyone wanting to try and walk on to the team, this isn’t a joke as it is posted on the Michigan website. So if you know the next walk on star like Jordan Kovacs, make sure he gets to the open tryout Friday, and also please make sure he is more talented then Rudy. This departure is really bad timing as the secondary is already going to be without starting spur/safety Carvin Johnson who is out due to a knee injury suffered against UCONN. Vlad would have got minutes against the golden domers this week and it now it looks as if Thomas Gordon will have to step up and play the bulk of the game without a back up.
The defense will be trying to stop better receivers this week and a better quarterback from what they went up against last week, so I do expect more points on the board from the opponent. The defense has to limit big plays down the field to Michael Floyd, and stop the running back at first impact. On third downs they need to keep the quarterback Frazier from looking around and keeping the drives moving, if they can do this they should be in good shape. This is nothing that the defense can’t overcome as Craig Roh and Mike Martin will once again be the leaders of the D and the solid ground for the youngsters to lean on. Look also for the D to blitz more and drop back up to 7 guys sometimes, they will really look to keep Notre Dame on their toes. They should throw alot of looks at Frazier on Saturday.
The offense will look to keep the high paced scoring action and rack up the yards against a defense that should be a lot bigger and slower then them. Last year Tate Forcier got to lead the Michigan to a great win that landed him on Sports Illustrated, this year he gets to watch from the sidelines as it is now Denard Robinsons time to do the same. The line should be able to make the space needed for the backs to get through and make plays. I expect the offense to put up the points again this week for sure. They will be without Roy Roundtree the sure handed receiver who got blown up last week and had some internal bruising that will keep him out this week. This will be the time for ex point guard Kelvin Grady to take over and show he can hold onto the ball and make the plays necessary. Terrance Robinson who made a big catch last week to finally get the playing time some people had been expecting him to get the last two years. I also expect up to 4 running backs this week to give the guys a break. Stephen Hopkins could get some reps in the backfield and so should Mike Cox who would add a better blocker in the backfield for Denard. The offense has to do a better job blocking down field as Coach Rodriguez was very critical of it after week 1. This could lead to a few two back sets in the backfield, with Shaw and Cox, or even a tight end in the backfield. Hopefully this better blocking will lead to us getting to see another display of quickness and smoothness by the offense. The offense should score another 30 points this weekend.
This game will come down to if the bend but don’t break defense can keep Notre Dame to less than thirty and if the offense can secure the ball and Michigan wins the turn over battle. This means special teams have to do a better job and hold onto the ball and make all the field goals and extra points when needed to do so to give Michigan the edge.
I like that the people in Vegas feel this is more of a winnable game for Michigan more now then they did at this time last week. The betting line has changed from a 7 point in favor of Notre down to 3.5 spread still in favor of Notre Dame. I do still disagree with Vegas as this Michigan team is better then Notre Dame again this year and will outscore them 37 – 31 as Michigan will be rated going back home for a week 3 game against UMASS.
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