4:27 AM – Here I am again, up and at ‘em well before the sun has come up to watch the Irish take on one of their mortal rivals. My dedication is starting to push the limits of sanity.
4:43 AM – Kickoff finally arrives. Is that the ghost of Lou Holtz stalking the Irish sideline?
4:48 AM – The rain plays its part in helping along a Michigan turnover on a muffed backward pass. Irish take over at the Michigan 12. Let’s see how the Irish blow this golden opportunity…
4:51 AM – Touchdown, Irish! And even the PAT was good. Asaph Scwhapp paved the way for Hughes to rumble in from the 2. Did I actually write that Schwapp finished a block?
4:55 AM – Michigan fumbles the kickoff again and super Rudy Mike Anello dives in like a heat-seeking missile to recover for the Irish.
4:57 AM – Clausen to Kumara for another Irish TD! They connect on the same fade route that they failed at last week, ya know when Kumara was apparently drunk. This one looked much, much better. The Michigan defensive back named Trent is getting abused so far this game.
It’s 5 AM and I’m actually happy to be up. Amazing.
5:05 – The Wolverines are marching. Irish still unable to get any pressure on the QB. McGuffie just got stuffed on a 3rd and 2. Nice! What a strange punt formation Michigan has. Now the Irish waste a timeout because they couldn’t figure out how many people they had on the field. Weak.
5:08 AM – ND calls a timeout and still gets tricked on the fake punt? Come on!
5:10 AM – Wow. Michigan just had a great throw and catch for a TD called back because the ball hit the ground. Still, that was a great play. The Irish lucked out on that one.
5:12 AM – Crum just read that screen perfectly. I must say that the Irish D looks pretty good so far. Solid tackling and everyone seems to be in the right place. I’m sure as I write this something bad will happen.
5:18 AM – Fantastic deep ball from Clausen to Tate, who totally smoked the Wolverine secondary. Irish up 21-0. Wow.
5:24 AM – Great drive by the Wolverines, topped off by a great screen pass for a touch to McGuffie. The Irish D looked totally lost on that play.
5:29 AM – Clausen finally makes a bad throw and decision, which Michigan makes him pay for. Now McGuffie scampers 28 yards and Ian Williams gets flagged for unnecessary roughness. Uh oh. Momentum shift clearly underway. I’m slowly deflating.
5:38 AM – The Irish D holds and the Wolverines settle for a FG. Now 21-10 after ten unanswered points by Michigan. Let’s hope the Irish can put a real drive together. Sam McGuffie is one heckuva player. He just looks so stubborn and cocky. Definitely one of those guys you hate to play against but love to have on your squad. And he’s only a freshman.
5:46 AM – Thanks to another big play by Golden Tate, the Irish are on the march. Now Aldridge is pounding it. And Hughes barrels in for another TD. Dare I say this offensive line looks great? 28-10. And to think the pundits pegged this one for a sleeper. I believe it was CNNSi that predicted a 10-9 Irish victory.
5:50 AM – You’re a D-I kicker. How do you still kick the ball out of bounds on a kickoff? Unbelievable.
5:52 AM – The Wolverines are marching again and making it look too easy. Nice to see freshman Darius Fleming get in on a good tackle, though. Those quick slants are killing us. And now we’ve got a facemask on Brian Smith. Not good. If this ends up being an up-and-down shootout, the Irish lose. You heard it here first.
5:54 AM – Kevin Brady just carried Brian Smith five yards into the endzone. Smith’s jock later found somewhere near the six yard line. We need bigger linebackers.
6:00 AM – David Grimes is incapable of gaining any positive yardage post-contact. He’s just not that good. Three-and-out for the Irish, which we haven’t seen yet from Michigan.
6:04 AM – I must admit that it was kind of funny watching Weis get rolled on the sideline. I wish we could see that as a closeup in slow motion. That actually looked pretty nasty. His knee/ankle could be in bad shape.
6:05 AM – McGuffie is unstoppable.
6:06 AM – Great coverage by Raeshon McNeil on that 3rd and 10. Michigan is finally forced to punt.
6:13 AM – Halftime arrives as the rain gets heavier. ND leads 28-17. This is going to be a doozy of a second half.
6:34 AM – Weis tore both his ACL and MCL on that collision in the first half. Doh! Given his close relationship with Tom Brady, one could call this a sympathy injury.
6:36 AM – The Irish open with a three-and-out. I have no confidence in the Irish ability to convert on third downs.
6:38 AM – If I were Michigan, I would just hand off to McGuffie on every play. He is slippery and runs very hard. He is schooling the Irish D.
6:40 AM – Maurice Crum just went off with an injury and was replaced by Steve Quinn? Whatever happened to Toryan Smith?
6:43 AM – The rain is really coming down now and this game is about to resemble a meal of chili crab in Singapore – a sloppy mess.
6:46 AM – Great stiff arm by Robert Hughes. Big body and quick feet. Gotta love him. However, he’s gotta stop trying to scoot outside and try hitting the hole harder.
6:48 AM – Clausen gets chased from the pocket again and wisely throws it away. He would’ve taken a sack on that play a year ago. Michigan is doing a way better job of getting pressure on the QB than is ND.
6:48 AM – Great recovery by Maust on the bounced snap. Good thing we’ve got a baseball player who doubles as a punter back there.
6:50 AM – I’m tired of the Reggie Bush practice pop-in commercial. Seriously, does Dick’s Sporting Goods own exclusive commercial rights to this broadcast?
6:52 AM – Perfect throw from Threet for a big gain. And now McGuffie shows us the splits on yet another big run. Michigan knocking on the door yet again.
6:57 AM – Always expecting the worst, here’s what I wrote before the Irish forced that fumble: “Michigan hits paydirt again. The Irish are going to lose this game.” Nothing like a turnover to change one’s view! It seems Sergio Brown and Kyle McArthy are always involved in big plays.
7:00 AM – The Irish now lead the turnover battle 3-1. Here’s hoping that differential sticks.
7:04 AM – Maust just barely gets a punt off. Michigan has great field position to end the third quarter.
7:10 AM – Brian Smith deftly scoops up a fumble by Threet and takes it thirty yards to the house. Irish lead 35-17 with about a quarter left to play. That’s a game-changer folks!
7:12 AM – That little rascal Mike Anello just forced another fumble on a kickoff, which Michigan recovered. I love that kid.
7:15 AM – Is that the first three-and-out that we’ve seen from Michigan today?
7:30 AM – After a drive by the Irish to eat the clock, Michigan changes QBs to mix things up, which appears to be working.
7:32 AM – Bruton with the pick followed by a great return! Plus a horse-collar tackle for an extra 15 yards. Woo hoo!
7:34 AM – The Irish appear content to just run the clock out, going with hand-off after hand-off. Clausen’s pass on 4th-and-2 goes right through the hands of Armando Allen, who has had a totally lackluster game. Michigan ball at their own 35 with about five minutes left to go.
7:38 AM – Gary Gray with his first career pick!
7:42 AM – Floyd fails to bring down a toss from Clausen in the endzone and Trent finds a pick has fallen into his lap. The Irish have tried to get Floyd the ball all game with throws designed to take advantage of his size and athleticism but he simply hasn’t been able to bring anything down.
7:45 AM – Victory formation for the Irish to wind down the clock. Irish win, 35-17. And Weis is all smiles despite what I’m sure is excruciating pain in his battered left knee. Now Weis is hobbling to midfield to shake hands with Rodriguez, who greets Weis in a lame and dismissive fashion. What a class act that Rodirguez is. Now Charlie is off to his post-game conference, which most normal people would skip given his condition. Not this Jersey boy!
GO IRISH!
