ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Grading all aspects of Michigan football’s 45-14 blowout of Notre Dame Saturday night at The Big House:

We never saw this coming, and neither did Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. He said his team’s lack of physicality up front defensively hasn’t been their identity this year, and he’s right — the Irish entered allowing 154.0 yards per game rushing,. They have athletes and seemed to have improved despite being middle of the pack (64th nationally) in stopping the run.

Michigan’s offensive line took the fight to the Fighting Irish from the get-go. U-M rushed for 96 yards in the first quarter alone and included a couple of explosive plays that had been missing, a 35-yarder by freshman Zach Charbonnet and a 25-yard run by redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins., who would add runs of 20 and 49 yards. Senior quarterback Shea Patterson had a 22-yarder and senior running back Tru Wilson a 27-yarder on a 303-yard rushing day for the Wolverines.

It was a dominant performance from the Wolverines' ground game, which produced three scores and averaged 5.3 yards per carry.

First-half conditions were brutal, and early in the second half wasn’t much better with rain and wind. Getting the running game going was the single most important aspect of this game, but Patterson did make some big throws and his receivers some critical catches.

Freshman Mike Sainristil’s 13-yard, third-down grab in the second quarter kept a drive alive and led to a touchdown three plays later. Junior Donovan Peoples-Jones’ fingertip grab in the end zone came after the receivers drew a pair of pass-interference penalties in the third quarter and answered a Notre Dame touchdown that had cut the lead to 10.

Sainristil’s 34-yard touchdown was one of the plays of the game in the fourth quarter, and junior Nico Collins also hauled one in late when U-M was pulling away, a 16-yarder that made it 31-7.

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In no way, shape or form did the Fighting Irish have any success on the ground. They tested the edges early, but the U-M defensive front reset the line of scrimmage and the linebackers were outstanding getting to the ball on the outside (as were the safeties).

Notre Dame managed only eight yards on eight carries in the first quarter, and Kelly admitted he was worried his group might be in for a long day. They simply couldn’t run the ball — no single Irish player finished with more than 15 total yards on the ground or averaged greater than 3.0 yards per carry.

It didn’t help that senior running back Tony Jones Jr., who had averaged 7.0 yards per carry coming into the game, left in the first half with cartilage damage to his ribs, but he hadn’t had any success, regardless. Notre Dame rushed for only 11 yards on nine designed first-down runs through the first three quarters when the game was still in doubt.

The Wolverines were fortunate that Chase Claypool dropped a ball in the first quarter after getting behind the Michigan defense — a hurry by senior Josh Uche and the wind had something to do with it, but it would have been a big play after quarterback Ian Book escaped heavy pressure.

That, though, was about it other than a couple of outstanding sideline catches by Irish receivers. Five plays accounted for 102 of the Irish’s 133 passing yards, and two of those plays came when the Wolverines had a huge fourth-quarter lead.

Book and backup Phil Jurkovec were harassed all night by the Michigan defense, though sacked only twice. U-M had five quarterback hurries, and the secondary was lockdown in coverage much of the game. The Irish didn't record a passing play that went longer than 28 yards, and that didn't happen until Notre Dame's final offensive drive.

Junior receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones’ 16-yard punt return was the highlight of the return game. He’s still misjudging when (and when not) to field punts, and it cost the Wolverines a lot of field position Saturday.

The kick return game, too, isn’t as explosive as it should be. Frosh Giles Jackson returned only one for 23 yards Saturday night.

Redshirt junior Will Hart kicked another into the end zone on a punt, though frosh Dax Hill could have played it better, and the coverage teams were strong. Notre Dame ran back one punt for zero yards and three kickoffs for 46 with a long of 20.

Sophomore kicker Jake Moody made his only field goal attempt (21 yards).

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