By Staff
Take heart Notre Dame football fans. The Fighting Irish are not nearly as bad as they looked on Saturday in a 47-21 loss to arch rival Michigan.
Be warned Michigan football fans. The Wolverines are not as good as they looked against the Irish in Notre Dame Stadium.
Saturday afternoon was a shock to all of us watching from the press box. I am sure those watching on television were equally in awe of what was going on in South Bend (Ind.).
Michigan came into Saturday's game with a sense of purpose. The Wolverines were tired of losing to the Fighting Irish in South Bend and played like a team on a mission.
The breaks pretty much all went Michigan's way on Saturday, something that just doesn't happen to the Wolverines when they take on the Fighting Irish.
The wind at one point even changed directions for a Garrett Rivas field goal in the second half and then switched back again.
While the Wolverines were playing at the top of their game, Notre Dame seemed to be lost.
The Fighting Irish appeared to be a team that had been reading a few too many headlines about how good they were.
Who would have imagined that Lloyd Carr would outcoach Charlie Weis? Certainly no one doing the NBC telecast of the game.
I know I am tired of hearing what a genius Weis is. Perhaps now he can just be the head coach of the Fighting Irish.
I bet he is tired of it too.
That was one good thing that came out of Saturday's game for Notre Dame.
I also believe that the Fighting Irish can now get back to playing football and quit worrying about winning the national championship.
Notre Dame could still wind up playing for a title if it wins the rest of its games. The Irish can now just worry about their opponents each week and let the chips fall where they may.
Brady Quinn can now just worry about opposing teams' coverages and not impressing Heisman Trophy voters.
Quinn's chances were seriously hurt, but not completely killed by the Wolverine defense.
If he leads Notre Dame to victory in the remaining games he will still wind up in New York with a chance to win the trophy.
The Wolverines have the Notre Dame monkey off their back and they too can concentrate on their opponents.
Michigan needs to win its remaining games in order to set up a showdown with No. 1 ranked Ohio State on Nov. 18 in Columbus (Ohio).
If both teams are undefeated, this should be a classic. The winner will not only get a Big Ten championship, but a ticket to the national title game.