Observations on the HUGE rout of Notre Dame, 38-0!

1-We had 7 red zone opportunities (6 for the first unit) for 38 points; 5 touchdowns, one field goal and a turnover.

2-Defense was awesome today! We held Notre Dame to only 7 first downs, 1 of 12 in 3rd down conversions and one of two in 4th down. They held the Irish to 49 yards in 25 carries, and 8 of 24 in passing for only 91 yards plus 2 intercepted passes. Notre Dame had 140 yards in 49 plays and possessed the ball only 22 minutes of 60 played. Julius Jones was held to 42 yards; Ryan Grant to only 20. We forced them into 9 punts, and they had no red zone opportunities. This was a pretty dominating defensive performance to say the least.

3-Navarre did a decent job. He threw 14 completions in 21 attempts for 199 yards, no picks and one TD. Edwards has had a couple chances in the end zone, but came up short. We had 19 first downs, 439 yards in offense, and were 12 of 19 on 3rd down conversions and two of two on 4th down. Gutierrez looked good with 3 of 3 in passing for 52 yards.

4-Perry ran great. He had 133 yards on 31 carries with 3 TDs (one on a catch). Perry also had 4 catches for 44 yards. He is definitely a Heisman candidate now! Underwood had 21 net yards in 9 carries, and left with an injury after a hard hit; hopefully he'll be o.k. Rembert looked great scoring a TD, and gaining 15 yards on 4 carries. Bracken got 2 chances and Jackson had one. Although our offensive line didn't get 200 rushing yards, we certainly manhandled the Irish defense. They only had two tackles for loss, and one of those was against our second offense.

5-Brent Musberger really needs to quit broadcasting; he is terrible. He needs to focus on our game, not some other game on television. He can't seem to get Jason Avant's name correct as he continues to call him Anthony. He finally corrected himself in the second half.

6-Breaston was one awesome difference in this game with his punt returns. He has 105 yards on 4 attempts with the 55 yard one helping contribute to a TD. We were one of one on field goals, made all extra points, and had a nice "coffin corner" punt by Finley. Finley shanked one on a good rush by Notre Dame, but they couldn't convert. Nienberg boomed the kickoffs, and our kickoff coverage on Julius Jones was superb. We only had one return opportunity on the first kickoff of the game, and that was a touchback.

8-Larry Stevens had a great game with 3 tackles including one sack for a 10 yard loss. Jackson and Shazor led our defense in tackles with 6 each. Curry and Shaw had picks. We had 6 tackles for loss. Courtney Watson had 12 tackles for the Irish; Hoyte and Bible forced Wolverine turnovers. Hoyte and Earl had 10 tackles each.

9-It is still nice to know that after all these years, we can still teach a great football program like Notre Dame how to play football. It will probably go down as one of the worst defeats in Irish football. Our offense dominated, our defense dominated and our special teams dominated; the score reflected what happened on the field. It was as perfect a game as a Michigan football team has played against a quality opponent; remove the two turnovers that didn't hurt us including the one red zone opportunity, and we have a "perfect" game. Coach Herrmann clearly outmatched his old defensive mentor, Greg Mattison.

10-Notes on player participation: Woodley, Mundy, Burgess all played on defense. Burgess had two tackles and Woodley had a sack for a 3 yard loss. Jacob Stewart came in when Jackson was injured and performed well. Gabe Watson had a nice tackle. Rondell Biggs had his first tackle as a Wolverine. Obi Oluigbo did see action at MIKE. Massey started, and Kashama didn't get too much involved in pass rush situations (no tackles) compared to Stevens. Barringer, Crable and Harrison didn't play! Did anyone notice that Tabb was in before Butler? Walk-on from Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, Mark Spencer, came in for his first punt as a Wolverine, and hit a 45 yarder.

In all three games so far, we've been able to play our second and third team offense and defense along with several walk-ons for several minutes in the 4th quarter. This really helps for team spirit and unity. Our first travel roster will take place for Oregon, and the scholarship players other than redshirts who may or may not make the trip include: Berishaj, Biggs, Oluigbo, Riley and Murphy. Barringer, Harrison and Crable won't make the travel team if still injured. Walk-ons like Bradley, Cummings, Kesler, Lafer, Mandich, Matsos, Stejskal and Young are also on the cusp of making the travel team.

Possible Travel Roster to Oregon (60 players allowed/68 listed)

Offense-35

QB
Navarre, John
Gutierrez, Matt
Brinton, Spencer
FB
Dudley, Kevin
Thompson, Brian
TB
Perry, Chris
Underwood, David
Jackson, Jerome
Rembert, Pierre
Bracken, Tim
TE
Massaquoi, Tim
Mignery, Andy
Ecker, Tyler
Fisher, Jim
WR
Butler, Tyrece
Edwards, Braylon
Gonzalez, Jermaine
Tabb, Carl
FL
Bell, Calvin
Avant, Jason
Breaston, Steve
LT
Stenavich, Adam
Kolodziej, Mike
LG
Baas, David
Morgan, Courtney
Gaston, Jeff
C
Pearson, Dave
Christopfel, Andy
Bihl, Mark
Mann, Ross

RG
Lentz, Matt
Henige, Leo
RT
Pape, Tony
Solomon, Demetrius
Riley, Rueben

Defense-33

DE-Anchor
Kashama, Alain
Massey, Pat
DE-Rush
Stevens, Larry
Van Alstyne, Jeremy
Woodley, Lamarr
DT-Nose
Bowman, Grant
Watson, Gabe
DT-Wide
Heuer, Norm
Harrison, Larry
Ofili, Alex
OLB-SAM
Woods, Pierre
Manning, Roy
Sarantos, Joe
ILB-MIKE
Diggs, Carl
McClintock, Scott
ILB-WILL
Reid, Lawrence
Kaufman, Zach
Burgess, Prescott

DB-Wide
Curry, Markus
Hood, Darnell
DB-Short
LeSueur, Jeremy
Hall, Leon
Cummings, Brent
Young, Charles
SS
Shazor, Earnest
Stewart, Jacob
FS
Jackson, Marlin
Barringer, Willis
Mundy, Ryan
Shaw, Jon
P/PK
Finley, Adam
Rivas, Garrett
Nienberg, Troy

Observations on the first half with the Irish, 17-0!

1-We've had 4 red zone opportunities, and come away with only17 points; 2 touchdowns, one field goal and a turnover. We could have possibly "put away" the Domers with a touchdown on the last drive. Instead, they are still in it.

2-Luckily, we've had two turnovers and the Irish have been unable to convert. We converted a touchdown on their only turnover. Good for us.

3-Navarre is doing a decent job. He is 11 of 17 for 166 yards, no picks and one TD. Edwards has had a couple chances in the end zone, but come up short. We have 11 first downs to Notre Dame's 3. We have 248 yards in offense to the Irish's 52. We have dominated time of possession by almost 6 minutes. We are 6 of 9 on 3rd down conversions to zero of six opportunities for the Leprechauns.

4-Perry is running good, but the fumble really hurt. He has 77 yards on 21 carries with 2 TDs (one on a catch). Perry has 3 grabs for 31 yards.

6-Breaston is one awesome difference in this game with his punt returns. He has 105 yards on 4 attempts with the 55 yard one helping contribute to a TD. We are one of one of field goals, made both extra points, and had a nice "coffin corner" punt by Finley. Finley shanked one on a good rush by Notre Dame, but they couldn't convert.

7-Irish will get the ball first in the second half; that drive will tell a lot as far as whether they'll have made adjustments to compete with us. It looks hot out there so conditioning will certainly be a factor.