Will Michigan Beat Notre Dame Again? Who Wins Ohio St. vs. Virginia Tech? What About Michigan St. vs. Oregon? Here are our Vegas Big Ten Predictions for Week 2
Vegas Big Ten Predictions
Game of the Week
Michigan at No. 16 Notre Dame
Line: Notre Dame by 3.5
I hope the families have had time to get everything in order, the wills are read, and the mourning has been appropriate as the one of the great rivalries in college football history ends this Saturday and the funeral begins. Michigan-Notre Dame has been an exciting game for many years, as these teams have met every year since 2002 and 31 times since 1978.
This year, the rivalry is as exciting as ever with both teams having something to prove. Michigan is coming into the game trying to prove that it is turning the corner in Brady Hoke’s fourth year, getting back to the success of his first year. Devin Gardner remains the starter at quarterback and has lots of weapons to play with, but he has a suspect offensive line that could get exposed by the Notre Dame defense. At least it didn’t get exposed against Appalachian State. The Wolverines defense has 9 starters back and is looking to be much better than last year, when it still beat Notre Dame but allowed 30 points. With enough experience, Wolverines fans should be hoping that Everett Golson won’t be able to simply smack them in the mouth, and they’ll be looking to contain him while putting up a lot of big plays on offense to win the game.
Notre Dame obviously is an adjustment period despite a good bit of talent after the offseason suspensions and is looking to prove that it is back among the nation’s elite. With Golson back they certainly showed it on offense against Rice as he had 5 touchdowns total, 295 passing yards, and 41 rushing yards. Greg Bryant, Tarean Folston, and Malik Zaire also added lots of yards on the ground with 71, 71, and 58 respectively, so this is a very good offense that will look to take advantage of a Michigan defense that so far appears to only have experience to rely on. The defense’s struggles with the switch to a complex 4-3 though will have to be nullified. Rice did manage 17 points and 367 yards against them last week, so if the Irish are going to win this game, that will have to improve. Stopping mental errors on defense and using Golson and the rest of the running game to torch the Wolverines are keys to an Irish victory.
Prediction
Everett Golson will make lots of great plays against Michigan with a hyped up crowd at home, and the Notre Dame rushing attack will make an impact. But Devin Gardner and the Michigan skill players will be too much for a still developing Notre Dame defense, and the Wolverines’ defense is experienced just enough to contain Golson. Remember Michigan put up 41 points on Notre Dame last year. They’ll repeat that easily and win this game in a shootout.
Michigan: 42 Notre Dame: 38