Michigan doesn't have another game scheduled with Notre Dame until 2033. The Wolverines will remember this one until then and far beyond.
Jim Harbaugh’s crew made its last crack at the Irish its best. U-M washed Notre Dame right out of the stadium in a 45-14 tsunami of dominance over the No. 8 Irish, before a delightedly stunned crowd of 111,909 rain-soaked fans at Michigan Stadium.
The Wolverines simply dismantled Brian Kelly’s crew, piling up 437 yards to Notre Dame’s 180 — the last 75 against U-M reserves when the game was long over.
Offensively, the Wolverines operated like speedboats in the slog, through a night-long downpour. They rushed for 303 yards, led by redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins’ 149 on 20 carries.
Freshman Zach Charbonnet added 74 and a pair of touchdowns on 15 tries, while senior quarterback Shea Patterson delivered an efficient 6-of-12 passing effort with 100 yards and two TDs on a night when passing wasn’t recommended.
“It was tough,” Patterson said. “It was fun. It was a little tough to throw the ball and also to hold onto the ball. So credit to Hassan and all our backs, really all our skill players, for doing a heck of a job tonight.”
Notre Dame starting quarterback Ian Book made it look plenty tough against Michigan’s defense, going 8-of-25 passing for 73 yards and one touchdown against the Wolverines.
Combine that with 47 rushing yards on 31 carries (1.5-yard average), and Notre Dame looked as ineffective as a balsa wood support beam.
“I just have so much respect for the players,” Harbaugh offered afterward. “Some of the recent tests, and the growth that’s come from that, their mindset to work and improve, it led to a great victory.
“Defensively, it was a great performance. We were just so fast, running so good, and the knock-back in the defensive line was outstanding. We had really good coverage, and the linebackers were running. [Defensive coordinator] Don Brown called a really good game. He had it wired.”
Notre Dame had it short-circuited, all night long.
The effort boosted Michigan to 6-2 on the year, while the Irish fell to 5-2. From the start, the Wolverines left no doubt.
Michigan got on the scoreboard first, following a near disaster. Backed inside their own 10, the Wolverines saw Notre Dame’s Bo Bauer partially block a Will Hart punt. The ball squirted out to the Notre Dame 33, where Jonathan Jones touched the ball but didn’t cover it, allowing U-M freshman safety Daxton Hill to dive on it.
Given new life, the Wolverines marched 65 yards in nine plays, spurred by Charbonnet’s 35-yard run. The rookie got knocked out of bounds two yards short of paydirt, and — thanks in part to a fumbled snap that lost two yards — wound up settling for sophomore placekicker Jake Moody’s 21-yard field goal.
Still, on a saturated Saturday, a 3-0 lead at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter wasn’t to be dismissed.
With Michigan’s defense locking down the Irish (24 yards in the opening 16 minutes), the Wolverines soon cashed in for more. Patterson steered the ship without once putting it in the air on an eight-play, 59-yard touchdown drive.
Haskins carried the load early, carrying six straight times for 46 yards. Charbonnet finished the job, charging up the middle for a seven-yard touchdown to put U-M in command, 10-0, with 13:51 left in the half.
At that point, Michigan’s numbers reflected the soggy setting — none through the air, but a notable 115 on the ground. The Wolverines were knocking back a usually formidable Irish front.
When Patterson did complete a pass, it proved bigger than the green blob on the weather forecast. Haskins' 20-yard run — complete with a finishing hurdle — put Michigan in Notre Dame territory. But the Wolverines faced third-and-seven at the Irish 37.
Flushed from the pocket, Patterson scrambled to his right, firing a 13-yard completion to freshman wideout Mike Sainristil. Patterson then bolted 22 yards on a keeper sweep to his left, down to the Irish 2, and Charbonnet bashed in from a yard out.
Down 17-0 with 9:52 left in the half, the Irish appeared as shocked as if Michigan had shaken down lighting from the sky.
“I saw it coming,” Harbaugh said. “Just watching them prepare, watching them practice, watching the detail in the meetings and just how important it was to them. Day in, day out, work in practice, the growth — you could see it.”
The half ended 17-0, Michigan’s defense putting the spin cycle to the washing machine in which the Irish found themselves. The Wolverines surrendered a grand total of 52 first-half yards, swamping Book and his bookends at every turn.
When Notre Dame did score, the Irish needed a massive boost to reach the end zone. Junior safety Brad Hawkins picked off a Book pass in Michigan territory, but officials waved it off, calling interference on senior viper Khaleke Hudson.
When replays revealed Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool clubbed Hudson to get separation, Michigan fans spent the rest of the third quarter booing furiously. They couldn’t stop the gift touchdown that ensued, three plays later, on a Book throwback to Claypool.
With the rain slackening and Notre Dame pulling to 17-7 with 5:27 left in the third quarter, the Irish put the damper on Michigan’s momentum — but not for long.
The Wolverines attacked back immediately, Hawkins breaking off a 49-yard run and the Irish getting flagged for a pair of pass interference penalties. Patterson then gunned an eight-yard touchdown pass to junior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones, boosting the pad back to 17, at 24-7, at the 2:37 mark.
Notre Dame — limited to 98 total yards through three quarters — needed Irish luck and then some to come back in this one.
“We got after the quarterback,” senior safety Josh Metellus assured. “We knew once we hit him a couple of times, he was going to get a little jumpy in the pocket, not wanting to throw the football down the field. I feel like our D-line did a great job of pressuring him.”
The Wolverines made sure to pummel that notion into nothingness early in the fourth.
Patterson gunned a 34-yard strike to Sainristil before hitting junior wideout Nico Collins on a 16-yard TD strike, making it 31-7 with 11:29 left. All that remained involved seeing whether or not the Irish — with or without help — could score again.
Michigan did, getting a 27-yard touchdown run out of senior back Tru Wilson with 8:46 remaining, pushing the gaudy total to 38-7.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey then fired a 26-yard TD toss to Sainristil, who bounced off a pair of would-be tacklers to score with 4:23 remaining.
Notre Dame backup QB Phil Jurkovec threw a 14-yard TD pass to Javon McKinley against Michigan’s defensive backups with 3:45 to play. But by then, it didn’t matter.
“It’s good to come out on this side,” Patterson said. “It’s a feeling I know I’ll remember forever, and I’m sure everybody in that locker room will. I was just so happy to be a part of that.”
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