Wolverine247 Board

I honestly don't know at this point. It really is hard to tell what we have at this point. I don't for one minute think Air Force would of been able to run the ball like that without the option. Can our secondary cover? How good is our pass rush? Will Fitz and the run game with the RB's be better? Can Denard continue to improve his chemistry with Gardner and Funchess?

RIght now I'd say no. But that doesn't mean Notre Dame wont beat themselves...

Stop agreeing with everything I say!!!

j/k

Michigan looks as though they are still 'finding themselves'. They have 1 more game to get it together ....

We have #16 they don't its as simple as that. D has to get some turn overs like last year

I really like our chances

As of today, I'd say probably not. But if the O-line creates a few holes for Denard...

Air Force was a far worse team to schedule then Alabama.....I dont think this type of opponent prepared the team in getting better for big ten play. Yes tackling can be improved on in any game, and maybe the CB's got more experience in run support, and maybe the DL got more experience in avoiding cut blocks, but overall AF did not play to any of our strengths, if we have any

35-28. Wolverines. CBK's demise.

ND's lack of a secondary will be their downfall. The key to beating Michigan is forcing Denard Robinson to beat you through the air, and when the secondary is as decimated as ND's, they can't afford to sell out to stop the run. If anything, they'll have to stay back and give the secondary extra help, especially if we've got tall guys like Devin Gardner and Devin Funchess running wild downfield.

As a result, the running game should open up for both Denard and Fitz. Hopefully Fitz finds himself and looks more like the Fitz of last year.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Cierre Wood - he'll only be playing in his second game off his suspension, so we'll see if he's fully back. I think our defense will do enough to keep us in this game, and I can't see ND's defense doing enough to keep us from winning.

I really wonder what the DL will look like in that game because of the pass rush and I assume less frequent power-run plays. The end of the game yesterday featured Jake Ryan and Frank Clark on the ends with Black and Pipkins, Campbell, or Washington in the middle. Will we see a similar configuration with Cam Gordon taking the SAM and Ryan sliding down to the DL to get more pressure?

As of right now, my guess would be we see a configuration of :
DL: Ryan, Washington/Campbell/Pipkins, Black, Clark
LB: Cam Gordon, Demens/Bolden, Ross (think his athleticism trumps Morgan's experience in this one, but also wouldn't be surprised if Hawthorne got in for this game since he played well against ND last year because of his athleticism)
CB: Taylor, Floyd - Avery at the Nickel
S: T. Gordon, Kovacs -- don't think Jarrod Wilson will be ready for prime time against ND

It's a toss-up game but because it is in South Bend I'd give ND a slight advantage.