By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It was over quickly, but it was hardly painless.
Michigan rolled past the No. 2 ranked Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon before a stunned capacity crowd at Notre Dame Stadium.
The Wolverines, who entered the game ranked No. 11, scored early and often in a 47-21 rout of the Fighting Irish.
Michigan (3-0) used a powerful inside running game and a vertical passing game to expose some serious flaws in the Notre Dame (2-1) defense.
"I think they did a nice job of tweaking their running game because to date they hadn't spent a whole heck of a lot of time on inside run," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "It's been almost all stretch. It's been almost all outside zone with an occasional cut back.
"Today especially, you know, they intertwined those backs, they got them both going," he continued. "Hart really had a big day. Rushed for 125 yards or whatever it was. I think, you know, they got that inside run game going, a nice complement to the outside zone stretch play they've been running."
While the offense put up some big numbers, it was the Michigan defense that set the tone on Saturday.
The Wolverines scored their first and last touchdowns on defense with an interception and a fumble recovery.
Preston Burgess picked off a Brady Quinn pass on the Heisman Trophy candidate's second attempt and returned it 31-yards for a touchdown.
Michigan scored its final touchdown on a LaMarr Woodley 54-yard fumble return when the ball slipped out of Brady's hand on a pass attempt.
"We went in with the idea if we were going to have a chance to win, we had to pressure Brady Quinn," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "We felt we could do that because we have an excellent front. I mean, we've got some depth and we've got some guys that are very athletic. It's the best front we've had probably since I've been at Michigan. Secondly, we felt we had to do a great job on Walker because in all the games I've seen, you know, when it really gets down to it, they hand him the ball or they throw him the ball."
Michigan running back Mike Hart, who was injured the previous two Notre Dame games, went the distance for the Wolverines and provided Michigan with a much-needed inside running attack.
Hart finished with 124 yards on 31 carries and scored a touchdown.
Wolverines' quarterback Chad Henne was equally impressive.
Henne was 13-of-22 for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
He hit Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham with all three passes.
Manningham's 69-yard touchdown came on the heals of Notre Dame tying the score at 7-7 in the first quarter after Henne threw his only interception.
Manningham also caught touchdown passes of 20- and 22-yards.
Quinn finished the game 24-of-48 for 234 yards and three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Quinn's 3-yard pass in the opening quarter tied the score for the Fighting Irish.
Quinn hit Jeff Samardzija with a 4-yard touchdown pass to end the first half, and then connected with Rhema McKnight on a 28-yard toss.
"I tried just about everything in this game," Weis commented about the offensive side of the football. "They were stuffing us pretty good. We went through few drives. We were fortunate on Ndu's (Chinedum Ndukwe) interception to even be in the game. Realistically, we weren't moving the ball at all. Ndu gets the interception, brings the ball down to the four, we go down and score. At least it stayed a game. We tried just about every little thing going. "
The Wolverines jump into Big Ten Conference play on Saturday when they host Wisconsin at the "Big House."
Notre Dame will travel to East Lansing to face Michigan State.
Michigan 20 14 6 7 – 47
Notre Dame 7 7 0 7 – 21
UM – Burgess, Preston 31 yd interception return (Rivas, Garrett kick)
UND – McConnell, Ashley 3 yd pass from Quinn, Brady (Gioia, Carl kick)
UM – Manningham, Mario 69 yd pass from Henne, Chad (kick blocked)
UM – Hart, Mike 2 yd run (Rivas kick)
UM – Manningham 20 yd pass from Henne (Rivas kick)
Manningham 22 yd pass from Henne (Rivas kick)
UND – Samardzija, Jeff 4 yd pass from Quinn (Gioia kick)
UM – Rivas 20 yd field goal
UM – Rivas 33 yd field goal
UND – McKnight, Rhema 28 yd pass from Quinn (Gioia kick)
UM – Woodley, LaMarr 54 yd fumble recovery (Rivas kick)