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Give credit to Tate Forcier, Rich Rodriguez and the whole Michigan squad or pin the blame on Charlie Weis' strategy, but the Wolverines' 38-34 victory over Notre Dame was a page-turner of a college football game. The CFN writers give their thoughts on a big win in the Big House for Michigan.
Irish look green
Fine, I'll be the one who says it: Notre Dame played a stupid game.
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This was supposed to be the team of mature veterans who kept the mistakes to a minimum while being unfazed at every turn. On the flip side, Michigan, which was supposed to be too young, too inexperienced and not jelled enough made almost all the right plays at the right time (it must have been all the extra practice).
It wasn't just the nine penalties. It was the nine penalties on top of the special teams breakdown to allow a 94-yard kickoff return for a score. It was the coaching decision to not throw to Michael Floyd, who was dominating the Michigan corners, finishing with seven catches for 131 yards. (It's rule No. 1 in the NFL: If you have a weakling out there to exploit, you hammer him over and over and over again. Charlie Weis should know that.) It was unnecessarily going for two with 9:46 to play when your offense is humming and appearing certain to score later, necessitating a two-point conversion attempt (which was successful) four minutes later. It was throwing the ball late, when Armando Allen was averaging almost 7 yards per carry and wasn't being stopped all game long. It was Golden Tate not being able to get down on the second-to-last play of the game while letting the time run out. And it was letting a true freshman complete 23 of 33 passes along with a game-winning touchdown drive. Tate Forcier might be special, but a veteran coaching staff should figure out how to disguise the coverages just enough and be able to come up with enough pressure and adjustments to screw him up.
Meanwhile, Forcier played like a grizzled, stone-cold veteran. Greg Mathews, after putting Michigan ahead for good with his 5-yard touchdown grab, took a quick break and handed the ball to the official instead of risking any sort of a celebration call. The Michigan sideline, after the biggest touchdown play in the young lives of most of the players, didn't set one foot on the field and celebrated on the sideline. It was a mature, smart, tough performance by the team that was supposed to screw up when pushed. And the other team is going to be kicking itself for the rest of the season.
-- Pete Fiutak
Forcier: Pat White 2.0
