Notre Dame vs. Michigan

In 1909, Notre Dame was on the brink of breaking through as a major power in college football. In the midst of a 13-game winning streak, the boys of Notre Dame traveled to Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines of Michigan. Led by the inimitable Fielding "Hurry Up" Yost, Michigan boasted (emphasis on the word "boasted") some of the great teams of that era, as Yost's teams routinely defeated their opponents by 60 points or more. Notre Dame was a team that always gave Michigan fits, however.

The plucky bunch of middle-class Irish kids from the small Catholic school always played the Wolverines tougher than expected. In 1908, Michigan had barely escaped losing to N.D. at home (Michigan never deigned to come to South Bend in those days), winning 12-6. In that 1909 contest Notre Dame was ready for the Wolverines. Michigan had won all eight of the previous contests in the series, dating back to N.D.'s very first game in 1887, but there had been a number of near misses. N.D. was led by coach Frank "Shorty" Longman, a graduate of Michigan and one of Yost's former players. In a game that may have given birth to the "Fighting Irish" nickname (various sources disagree to the exact etymology), Notre Dame came to Ann Arbor in early November and proceeded to run over the Wolverines. Harry "Red" Miller, whose son Creighton played for Frank Leahy in the 1940s, scored the game's only touchdown and gave Notre Dame its first-ever victory over Michigan, 11-3. For Longman, he was "bereft of his senses" at becoming the first Yost pupil to beat his teacher.

By all accounts this turn in the series should have marked the start of a new era in the rivalry. The teams were on an even keel now. Always a proud man, however, Yost was deeply upset by the loss. His anger undoubtedly was exacerbated by the sight of Longman, having returned to his home in Ann Arbor in the off-season, walking around town with his pet bulldog, while his dog wore a jacket trumpeting the 11-3 win over Michigan. Always looking to belittle Notre Dame, Yost later claimed that the game was merely a "scrimmage," and that it did not count.

The following season, Notre Dame, still unable to get Michigan to play in South Bend, returned to Ann Arbor. There, the night before the teams were to play, Yost said that the game had been canceled. Never giving an adequate reason for the cancellation, Yost left the N.D. players to return home to South Bend. The schools would not play again for another 32 years.

As if not scheduling Notre Dame was not enough, Yost used his considerable clout to implement a conference-wide boycott of N.D. shortly after this bizarre episode. The freeze-out could have spelled doom had the N.D. administration not acted quickly. Ironically, Michigan and the Big Ten, in trying to stifle Notre Dame, actually set the school down a path toward unparalleled popularity in the American psyche.

As Yost aged, his bitter feelings toward Notre Dame eased, and, thanks to some sweet-talking from N.D. coach and athletic director Elmer Layden in the mid-1930s, Michigan and N.D. scheduled a home-and-home series for 1942 and 1943. The teams split that series, but Notre Dame beat Michigan so badly in 1943 that Michigan coach Fritz Crisler refused to schedule the Irish again, claiming that they were a dirty team. The schools would not play again for another 35 years.

Once Crisler retired in the late 1960s, the schools finally scheduled a resumption of the series. Since 1978, Notre Dame and Michigan have been regular opponents on one another's schedules, playing some of the great games in the history of both programs. Courtesy of its 8-0 record against Notre Dame from 1887 to 1908, Michigan still holds the lead in this series, 18-14-1. Since the resumption of the series in 1978, however, N.D. holds a 12-9-1 advantage. Despite the litany of great and memorable games between the schools, still an antagonism exists, even after all these years. Recently, former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, never a fan of the Notre Dame-Michigan series, was quoted as saying that Michigan doesn't need Notre Dame, but Notre Dame needs Michigan, and that the Wolverines should drop the Irish from their schedule. In the spirit of fairness, it should be noted that Schembechler's record against the Irish was 4-6-0.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

History abounds in this series. Michigan was not only the opponent in Notre Dame's very first game back in November 1887, but was also N.D.'s opponent in the program's second and third games, contested on back-to-back days in April 1888. This series was the first to feature a match-up of #1 and #2 teams in the Associated Press poll when the schools met in 1943. Interestingly, the teams met in another #1 vs. #2 match-up in 1989, when Raghib Ismail ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 23-19 victory over UM. The series features two of the most famous marching bands in the nation and undoubtedly the two most famous fight songs. The schools' stadiums are very similar, not surprising because Michigan Stadium served as the model for Notre Dame Stadium when the university decided to build a football facility in the 1920s.

Two years ago, Michigan led at the half at Notre Dame Stadium, but the Irish stormed back to claim victory, 28-20. Last season, the Irish traveled to Ann Arbor and manhandled the Wolverines, downing them, 17-10, in a game much more lopsided than the final score indicated.

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Other notes:

-Since 1985, 14 of the 17 series games played have been decided by ten points or less (1987: ND 26, UM 7; 1998: ND 36, UM 20; 2003: UM 38, ND 0).

-The Irish have won three out of the last four games in this series, dating back to 2002. Overall, the schools have split the last eight games, dating back to 1994.

-At least one of these schools has been ranked every time they have played since the AP poll was instituted in 1936. Both teams have been ranked in 20 of those 25 games, and at least one school has been in the top ten in the last sixteen games.

-The lower ranked team has won six of the last nine games in this series.

-This year is the first time that Notre Dame will be the higher ranked team in this game since 1994. That game was Michigan's last win at Notre Dame Stadium (26-24).

-The Wolverines are 0-6 in their last six road openers, and have won only one road opener in their last eight seasons (1999 at Syracuse).

-Charlie Weis is the first coach since Knute Rockne (1918-30) to start his first two seasons at Notre Dame with 2-0 records.

-Notre Dame is in the top five for the third consecutive week. The last time that occurred in one season was 1993, when the Irish were in the top five after their second game, a 27-23 win at #3 Michigan, through their season-ending Cotton Bowl win against #7 Texas A&M.

-This season marks only the third time since 1974 that the Irish have been in the top five for each of the first three weeks of a college football season. It also occurred in 1989 and 1990 during the zenith of the Holtz Era.

-Charlie Weis is looking to become the first Irish coach to go 12-3 through his first 15 games at N.D. since Ara Parseghian (1964-74). Parseghian coached nineteen games at N.D. before losing his third game (a 12-3 home loss at the hands of #1 Michigan State in 1965).

-Notre Dame is 7-4-1 against Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium. Michigan has only won at Notre Dame twice since 1978 (1986 and 1994).

-Michigan (18-14-1) is one of only seven current Division I-A schools with a winning record against Notre Dame. The others are: Nebraska (8-7-1); Florida State (4-2-0); Ohio State (3-2-0); Oregon State (2-0-0); Georgia (1-0-0); and North Carolina State (1-0-0).

-These schools are scheduled to continue meeting annually through 2011.

-These schools rank #1 and #2 in all-time winning percentage and all-time wins.

-In the ongoing competition between Michigan and Notre Dame for college football's all-time best winning percentage, here is where things stand after last week:

#10 Michigan defeated unranked Central Michigan at home, 41-17, moving their record to 851-250-36 for a winning percentage of .7446. This week, #11 Michigan travels to #2 Notre Dame.

#4 Notre Dame defeated #19 Penn State at home, 41-17, moving their record to 813-266-42 for a winning percentage of .7440. This week, #2 Notre Dame hosts #11 Michigan.

Michigan leads Notre Dame by 67/100,000ths of a point. As if the stakes were not high enough in this game, the winner will claim the title as college football's winningest program.

The game kicks off at 3:30 EDT on NBC.

Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!
Big Mike

copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006