Michigan fell to Notre Dame Dame tonight, 24-17, in South Bend.
First Half
The game started off rough for the Wolverines, as they watched the Irish string together a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive to grab a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game.
Michigan moved the ball on its first offensive possession of the year, going 22 yards on six plays. It stalled, though, and redshirt sophomore Will Hart pinned the Irish at their own four-yard line with an impressive punt.
ND grabbed a 14-0 lead, though, at the 7:09 mark of the first quarter on a 43-yard touchdown pass from redshirt junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush.
Michigan junior safety Josh Metellus was ejected for targeting on the possession, and sophomore Brad Hawkins was his replacement.
Michigan finally posted points when redshirt sophomore kicker Quinn Nordin connected on a 28-yard field goal at the 11:32 mark of the second quarter, trimming the Irish's lead to 14-3.
The momentum was short-lived, though.
Notre Dame responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive to take a 21-3 advantage with just 3:55 to go in the second quarter, and that's when the action really picked up.
Sophomore cornerback Ambry Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a score, slicing ND's lead to 21-10, and finally giving the Maize and Blue some momentum.
The kickoff return was Michigan's first against the Irish since Darryl Stonum ran one back in 2009 at the Big House.
21-10 is where we stood at halftime, and the Wolverines were outgained in the first half, 233-90.
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson completed nine of his 12 passes prior to the break for 62 yards.
Second Half
The best pass of the contest for Michigan came on the first play of the second half, when Patterson completed a 52-yard deep ball to sophomore wideout Nico Collins.
However, a 34-yard field goal attempt was botched by the holder Hart, and Michigan came away with nothing, and the Irish maintained their 21-10 lead.
Fifth-year senior cornerback Brandon Watson gave U-M some momentum when he picked off Wimbush and ran it back 19 yards to give the Wolverines the ball at their own 49-yard line, but a failed fourth down attempt once again left the offense empty handed.
The teams then traded three and outs, but ND extended its lead to 24-10 on a 48-yard field goal by kicker Justin Yoon with 3:07 left in the third quarter.
Patterson made one of his few mistakes of the night when he was picked off on U-M's next drive at ND's 36-yard line. The Irish weren't able to capitalize though.
The fourth quarter was when things got interesting at the quarterback spot.
Patterson left with injury, and redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey entered for the first time in his U-M career.
Patterson re-entered, but left again with injury, allowing McCaffrey to come back into the game.
Michigan scored its first offensive touchdown of the year on a three-yard run by senior Karan Higdon with 2:18 left in the game, trimming Notre Dame's lead to 24-17.
The U-M defense forced a three and out, and Michigan got the ball back at its own 25-yard line with 1:48 left.
A Patterson fumble at their own 37-yard line with 46 seconds left was recovered by ND, ending the game.
Michigan actually outgained the Irish, 307-302, but were only able to rack up 58 yards on the ground.
Patterson was 20-30 on the night for 227 yards, with no touchdowns and a pick, while McCaffrey completed four of his six passes for 22 yards.
Sophomore Donovan Peoples-Jones led the pass-catchers with six receptions, while sophomore Nico Collins led in receiving yards with 66.
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