As an OSU fan/alum I think I have a pretty unbiased view as I do not care for either program all that much. I was able to watch the UM game live and then caught the ND game on TIVO. I view UConn as being better than Purdue and based on the team performances in these games, I am looking to see a close game with UM coming out on top (no more than 7 point win). I will say 31-28 UM win.

Michigan by 14+

14 points either way is wayy too big of a spread.

Opening line is Notre Dame -5. I'd guess it will drop to -3.5 at least by gametime.

I have a buddy who is talking smack about Ohio State and is saying Michigan is going to walk all over Ohio State. That aside, I still say ND wins 23-17

lol, Michigan had a pretty good opener, but I don't see them walking over OSU anytime soon. I can't see Robinson being healthy by the time late November rolls around if he keeps running the ball 29 times a game. See if you can put some money on it now, before they play too many more games and fall back to earth a little bit.

i hate both of these teams so much... i wish they could both lose. But i think michigan will win.
so far karen is a braves fan and notre dame fan...you stink of bandwaggon.

Notre Dame will be in trouble if the containment doesn't get better. Now plenty of people think that because Purdue rolled the pocket Michigan will be able to run outside all game, but that's now how football works. That said, Brian Smith sucked a fat sausage at times against Purdue. The OLB's will need to improve their containment against the run. I think Notre Dame gets their best edge rusher back for the game so that should help.

I'm weary of Kevin Koger matched up against Brian Smith in coverage. If you can't tell, I was not a fan of Smith's play. I just watched the game again and thought the same thing as when I saw it in person. Smith, in man coverage, was too slow in both speed and reaction time. So many of those boots placed him in coverage and his man was always wide open in the flats. Koger is an athlete and will tear him up for first downs.

I think Notre Dame needs to keep Robinson in the pocket and force him to pass. Who would've thought the Irish would want to force people to pass? I don't think Michigan has any wide receiver's like Purdue has, so the coverage shouldn't be so loose.

Offensively, Notre Dame is not Connecticut. I think Floyd ill have a big game after Brian Kelly works on Crist's deep ball ad nauseum this week in practice. Notre Dame controlled the game against Purdue practically the entire time, so I'm in the group of people who think he didn't necessarily show a ton of the offense.

At the end of the day, I don't like how Notre Dame matches up with Michigan even though I think they are more talented and better. A week ago I'd have said they'd beat Michigan and lose to Michigan State, now I'm inclined to say the opposite.

Lastly, I hope my buddy Patrick Omameh does well, but not well enough to stop Ian Williams from destroying Robinson's face.

Check out Kevin Koger and I freshman year. God damn he was tall, and I was 6'1 as a frosh haha

redfalcon;472886 wrote:I have a buddy who is talking smack about Ohio State and is saying Michigan is going to walk all over Ohio State. That aside, I still say ND wins 23-17

You have a buddy who is retarded. Give him mattinctown's number, they could have brunch.

sjmvsfscs08;472952 wrote:I'm weary of Kevin Koger matched up against Brian Smith in coverage. If you can't tell, I was not a fan of Smith's play. I just watched the game again and thought the same thing as when I saw it in person. Smith, in man coverage, was too slow in both speed and reaction time. So many of those boots placed him in coverage and his man was always wide open in the flats. Koger is an athlete and will tear him up for first downs

What's your problem with Brian Smith? You just watched a replay of the game so it should be obvious to you that he played a very good game, not great but good. BTW, Smith is not slow, I have to ask what game you just finished watching because there were MULTIPLE times that Smith showed his closing speed, especially on the QB rollouts and those little passes in to the flat. Personally, I'll take my chances with Smith or any other ND linebacker lined up on Koger, it's the strength of this ND defense. Kevin Koger is no Kyle Rudolph!

Midstate01;472949 wrote:i hate both of these teams so much... i wish they could both lose. But i think michigan will win.
so far karen is a braves fan and notre dame fan...you stink of bandwaggon.

well...It's been clearly noted that Notre Dame hasn't been good since 1988 (maybe), so if a 6 year old can be guilty of jumping on a bandwagon then I suppose you might be on to something. Shouldn't I have jumped ship by now?

Michigan close.

Smith didn't keep contain on the Mavre TD run, which was eerily similar to Forcier's TD run late in the game last year, with Smith being beaten on the edge. That said, he did have a good game outside of that play. Also remember that Smith was in the game that much due to Fleming's legs cramping up. Hopefully that won't be the case this coming weekend. Neal was solid, Steve Filer was flying around making plays, Carlo was everywhere (which was a guy I was worried about) and Te'o, while he missed some tackles, was still all over the field. The LB crew played a very good game. The CBs made some great open field tackles and even the safeties were always in position and where arriving at the ball with some authority. When is the last time we could say that about the defensive backfield?

The defensive line was able to control the line of scrimmage for the most part all three starters were contributing. Ian Williams actually said after the game that he was able to stay fresh because of a solid rotation of guys. The depth along the line was supposed to be one of the teams biggest strengths. Granted they aren't a top 10 defensive team but I can't remember a play outside of the Mavre TD run where anyone was out of position or an assignment was blown. That is the biggest change from recent ND teams IMO.

karen lotz;473066 wrote:Smith didn't keep contain on the Mavre TD run, which was eerily similar to Forcier's TD run late in the game last year, with Smith being beaten on the edge. That said, he did have a good game outside of that play. Also remember that Smith was in the game that much due to Fleming's legs cramping up. Hopefully that won't be the case this coming weekend. Neal was solid, Steve Filer was flying around making plays, Carlo was everywhere (which was a guy I was worried about) and Te'o, while he missed some tackles, was still all over the field. The LB crew played a very good game. The CBs made some great open field tackles and even the safeties were always in position and where arriving at the ball with some authority. When is the last time we could say that about the defensive backfield?

Marve's TD run was well executed, just about the entire defense bit on that play. I'm finding it very hard to single out Brian Smith as the lone culprit on the ONLY TD the defense gave up. Go to the highlights, 3:30 mark of the video and watch:

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25706086#39010312

Enough of Brian Smith, he will be just fine.

I really think Kelly went ultra "vanilla" against Purdue, doing just enough to get a solid win, knowing that Michigan is laying in the weeds waiting. While ND's offense needs some fine tuning here and there, Kelly's going to open it up this Saturday big time. He knows he has to win, the Michigan game sets the bar every year for ND's season.

Yeah the Marve TD run was just a good call upstairs by Purdue realizing that no one was staying home. I don't think it was an indication of how the defense played overall.

Much like last year, I don't have any indication as to how either team will be come the end of the season. Michigan did well against a Big East team...one Rich Rod knows well...who cares really, Robinson was knicked a couple times, won't be healthy all season I doubt. ND looked decent on D but was up against a freshman QB. How much stock do you put into a solid showing like that at home?

I won't put much stock into either team following the outcome of this game. JMO

ytownfootball;473134 wrote:Much like last year, I don't have any indication as to how either team will be come the end of the season. Michigan did well against a Big East team...one Rich Rod knows well...who cares really, Robinson was knicked a couple times, won't be healthy all season I doubt. ND looked decent on D but was up against a freshman QB. How much stock do you put into a solid showing like that at home?

I won't put much stock into either team following the outcome of this game. JMO

Decent is a 100% improvement from what they did under Weis. BTW, how can you NOT put stock in to a defensive showing like that, against a team who traditionally runs a high octane offense, with a defense that underachieved for two years. It tells me that for the first time, in a long time, ND was prepared, in shape and most importantly......well coached.

The relatively inexperienced QB has more to do with my opinion than anything. He may develop and be fine by seasons end but I can't label it a "buy" (ND defense) until that is confirmed by showing some consistency. I can't base it on a new guys first game as a Boiler entering Domer stadium his first trip out of the gate.

Ill take Michigan by 10

A lot of people picked UConn over Michigan. Michigan won by 3 touchdowns. I can't wait until Saturday!

He wasn't relatively inexperienced. Maybe at Purdue but he did play quite a bit at Miami. I'm guessing by the time Purdue/OSU rolls around he will be one of the most experienced QBs in the nation right?? No one is saying Notre Dame's defense is a top 10 defense. They did do a very good job of shutting down an offense that has a lot of weapons. Mobile QB and an experienced WR corp that includes one of the best returning WRs in the nation.

karen lotz;473191 wrote:He wasn't relatively inexperienced. Maybe at Purdue but he did play quite a bit at Miami. I'm guessing by the time Purdue/OSU rolls around he will be one of the most experienced QBs in the nation right?? No one is saying Notre Dame's defense is a top 10 defense. They did do a very good job of shutting down an offense that has a lot of weapons. Mobile QB and an experienced WR corp that includes one of the best returning WRs in the nation.

Exactly! ND's defense has a long way to go in order to show how good and how far they have come, BUT......compared to how they played under Weis, it was a huge improvement.

Pick6;473173 wrote:Ill take Michigan by 10

Imagine that.:rolleyes:

rock_knutne;473206 wrote:Imagine that.:rolleyes:

What about it? Michigan looked way more impressive in their win last week, im not saying ND didnt look good..but ill take UM