4. Michigan takes charge in big win over Notre Dame
Last weekend, Michigan took Penn State down to the wire in front of a whiteout crowd in State College. If not for Ronnie Bell’s gut-wrenching dropped pass in the endzone at Beaver Stadium with two minutes left in regulation, the Wolverines likely would have taken a top-10 Nittany Lions team to overtime.
But that game showed the resilience of Jim Harbaugh’s program after a season where they entered the year as a Big Ten favorite and reached the end of October as an afterthought in the conference race. This week they play against rival Notre Dame, which comes to Ann Arbor seeking their first win at the Big House since 2005.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a bye week, which would normally mean that a team is rested and ready to take on an opponent. Getting the idle weekend ahead of a rivalry game almost always proves critical to a team’s success. But more than history lies behind the oddsmakers’ decision to rate Notre Dame as underdogs despite ranking 11 spots ahead of the Wolverines in the AP Top 25.
Ian Book faces off against a Michigan defense that has been lights-out against the pass. The front seven ranks 14th in the country in sacks, while the secondary ranks eighth nationally in passing yards allowed. Notre Dame has had tremendous turnover luck so far, but on the road that is all finally going to change. Look for Shea Patterson and crew to break out against the Irish for their eighth win in nine chances at home against their rivals as they topple a top-10 program.