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Location: Big House
Weather: 49 and 90% rain
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN App
Line: Michigan -1
Growing up the two biggest games of the year was ND and OSU. Loved the early match-up with the Fighting Irish. If Michigan won, the Wolverines were on their way to a great year. If Michigan lost, who cares? they aren't in the Big Ten.
This season it feels different, maybe like Harbaugh I'm nothing but burnt dead wood inside. Even Vegas doesn't know what to do with this game. ND is clearly the more complete team but they are on the road and it looks the weather is going to be terrible. A special thank you goes out to Warde Manuel who got negotiated under the table by Jack Swarbrick at ND and the reason this game is being played in late October. Like a verse from Rod Stewart's Maggie May this game should be played in, "it's late September and I really should be back at school"
Tale of the Tape
ND O vs. Michigan D = Push
Michigan O vs. ND D = ND
Intangibles = Michigan
Weather = favors ND's 41st ranked rushing offense
Confidence = ND
Rest = ND
ND is coming off a bye and Michigan is coming off a road loss to Penn State. ND is ranked in the top 10 and Michigan is barely hanging on at #19. Blah, Blah Jimmy can't beat a top 10 team and ND hasn't won in Ann Arbor since 2005.
I would love to give you some deep insights but this game is weird, because football is weird. ND lost to a Georgia team that looked like a playoff contender early and the last two weeks like a very average football team. Michigan has looked pretty poor for the first half of the season but "woke up" after finding itself down 21 points in Happy Valley. Is confident Shea back or is it scared Shea that couldn't snap the ball to start the game? Michigan lost this game last year in South Bend to a ND QB that can't start at UCF right now. Thanks Don Brown! I mean, what the hell is going on?
Yell, thank goodness I bought this Gore-Tex rain suit if...…………..
- Confident Shea is back
- Michigan can hold on to a slippery football
- Michigan has home field advantage
- Don Brown has a game plan that covers Irish WR's
- Michigan can get some pass rush and sacks
Think maybe Jimmy should go to the NFL if...……………………
- ND looks like they have game planned against Michigan for 2 weeks
- ND is clearly the better team
- Michigan is fumbling
- Don Brown can't get his guys lined up
- The rain favors ND
This game is a coin flip and even a bigger one if the hard rain does come. At 10:00 the chance of rain is 100%. This is going to be an ugly football game against two teams that continue to search for their identity this year. Whichever team can hold on to the ball and get yards on the ground will win. Ian Book will run and has 188 yards and 3 TD's, if the weather is bad, look for Book to keep the ball to try to keep drives alive. If ND is going to be considered for the playoffs this is a must win, as this is the last ranked team they play. (where is that ACC relationship with a Clemson game?)
This game comes down to Patterson vs. Book and which one can make the most plays and stay out of negative ones. Both Jimmy and Brian Kelly will go into a play calling shell if the weather is as bad as expected. The one team that makes the biggest mistake loses. Michigan's punter Will Hart might be the difference in this game. Hold on to the damn ball!
ND 12 Michigan 10
from The BIG HOUSE Blog http://mbighouse.blogspot.com/2019/10/notre-dame-preview.html
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