The Victors

Saturday, 7 September
(№ 17) Michigan 41-30 Notre Dame (№ 14)
2-0, Big Ten 0-0

There's good news & there's bad news. The good news is that valiant Wolverines scored an early-season victory over a ranked opponent & Michigan's third most-important rival, improving our record in that series to 24-16-1. The valiant Wolverines bounced back from self-inflicted adversity, adapted to shifting circumstances, & bested a club that vied for last season's national championship. The bad news is that quarterback Devin Gardner committed once of the worst blunder's I've ever seen, running into his own end zone &, once falling down in the clutch of an opposing player, throwing the ball up for grabs, leading to a vile Fighting irish touchdown that, at the time, narrowed Michigan's advantage to 34-30. Gardner did many good things in the game, performed many impressive feats, but the lack of poise & lack of awareness betrayed by the end zone interception sent chills up & down my spine. I was frustrated by the defense's soft pass coverage & the many short completions this allowed, but this is not to lose sight of the defense's overall success. The most worrying thing going forward is the penalty-prone nature of this year's squad, Team 134. The fouls against Central Michigan were ugly, but potentially excusable as first-game miscues; after a fairly clean first half, in the second half we committed a number of boneheaded infractions. Down the line, especially on the road, such prolific penalties might spell the difference 'twixt victory & defeat.

Next: The epithetless Zips of the University of Akron. This game could well be a trap, if we walk into it overconfident & thinking of the glories of the victory over the vile Fighting Irish.