Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009

Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor a season will be defined for one of college football’s giants.
Coming off less than stellar seasons in 2008, Notre Dame and host Michigan will square off in a contest that took on more significance after the two teams looked very good in their season openers.
The Fighting Irish defeated Nevada and the Wolverines knocked off Western Michigan.
Both teams played extremely well in the first half offensively and were solid on defense all afternoon.
The two teams entered the 2009 season with a lot of questions.
Some of those questions were answered last Saturday, while others will be answered on the floor of the “Big House.”
The Wolverines have been surrounded by controversy as they prepared to kick off the season.
Hints of possible NCAA violations and questions about their head coach didn’t seem to bother Michigan on Saturday.
Neither did starting a true freshman at quarterback or the fact that it was coming off its worst season in history.
Notre Dame entered the 2009 season with some new coaches, a new look on defense and the return of Charlie Weis as the offensive play-caller for the Fighting Irish.
The Irish looked good in all phases of the game on Saturday.
But Nevada and Western Michigan are not the Wolverines and the Fighting Irish. Nor are they a USC or an Ohio State.
While both teams got off to a good start, they certainly understand that there are more challenges to come as they head into the heart of their schedules.
But at least for one day, Michigan and Notre Dame looked like two of college football’s best.
Now, come Saturday afternoon, we will see which team is ready to take that next step.