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Posted on Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : noon

Breaking down the Michigan-Notre Dame football game with Chicago Tribune beat writer Brian Hamilton

By Michael Rothstein

Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune took a few minutes to chat about the suddenly important Michigan-Notre Dame football game in South Bend on Saturday.

Both teams are 1-0 entering the 3:30 p.m. game (NBC) and are in the midst of rebuilding projects. Brian Kelly inherited a lot of talent in his first year as coach in South Bend. Rich Rodriguez is in Year 3 of his plan at Michigan.

Last year, former starting quarterback Tate Forcier led a last-minute drive to give Michigan a 38-34 win over the Irish.

Check out what Hamilton has to say.

BRIAN-HAMILTON.jpg

Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune

Q: How does Notre Dame deal with Michigan starting quarterback Denard Robinson? Is it anything close to what it had to deal with a week ago against Purdue?

Brian Hamilton: The short answers: Tackle better (well, some players, anyway), and not really. Denard Robinson is a different animal than Robert Marve. Marve was, generally, well-contained in the pocket, but Robinson just moves much, much better. Notre Dame won't make blitzing on every down a priority this year, so the chance for gaping holes that lead to backbreaking fourth-down touchdown runs are not high. That said, when Purdue went with a bit of read-option last weekend, it caught the Irish off guard, and Marve actually did run for a fourth-down touchdown out of a read-option play. But read-option is what Michigan does, so you have to assume Notre Dame will be better prepared for it.

I see the Irish just trying to contain and corral more than attack for big plays, and then attempting to tighten up in the red zone. Michigan should move the ball some. It's whether Michigan can finish drives off that will determine how this goes.

Q: The Irish offense answered a lot of questions Saturday. What's the biggest question you still see overall with this Notre Dame team?

BH: Defensive depth and how extensive the offensive repertoire will be. Even when two starters went down against Purdue and were out for most of the game, the Irish defense held up. I don't know how the attrition, if any, will play out in late October and November, but then this is Week 2. It's going to be whether a five-man rotation on the defensive line can hold up for four quarters. On offense, I know we didn't see the full extent of the Brian Kelly attack -- but I'm also not sure it was that Kelly "held something back." It's more likely that Kelly feels the players can't handle the full menu just yet. That might make it easier for Michigan defenders to sit back a bit and keep the Irish in front of them.

Q: Michael Floyd, when he's healthy, makes opposing secondaries look bad. Is that where Notre Dame can be most effective this week?

BH: Considering that no Notre Dame receiver has ever had more yards against Michigan than the 131 Floyd had last year, yes. It was odd that Floyd went more than a quarter without registering a catch against Purdue, which said to me that teams first and foremost want to run a safety his way and keep the ball out of his hands. I'm going to guess that Kelly will devise a way to get Floyd the ball underneath, or just resolve to throw it up in his general vicinity and expect that the first-round NFL Draft pick talent can outduel the marginal Michigan cornerback he's battling against. It's too much of an advantage -- Floyd versus a patchwork secondary -- not to attack often.

Q: Besides the obvious, what has changed at Notre Dame from under former coach Charlie Weis to current coach Brian Kelly?

BH: I think it's best summarized this way: Kelly is a college coach. The Irish now have "Mental Monday" and "Perfect Practice Thursday" and "Focus Friday." They have an "Irish creed" and "Irish commandments" listed in the locker room. It's all extremely corny and cheesy -- and it's exactly the sort of stuff that 19-to-21-year-old football players buy into. Likewise, the pool table and air hockey table and video games in the player's lounge, where there was just chairs and flat-screens before. Kelly creates an environment where the players want to come to work, where they can balance fun and their football duties, and they don't feel suffocated doing so. Long-run, that's going to pay off.

Q: Last year we discussed what the impact of this game could mean for both schools. Michigan ended up winning, but struggled down the stretch. Notre Dame lost and Weis ended up being fired at the year's end. What do you think a win or loss would mean for Notre Dame this year?

BH: I think a loss doesn't mean as much as a win would for the Irish. A loss puts them in grave danger of going to 1-2 after a trip to Michigan State next week, and for all the optimism and confidence around Kelly, a few early losses would challenge the message he's sent to his players at some level. But it's not like he's going anywhere, and it's not like the Irish can't make up ground later in the season when the schedule lightens up. A win, I think, even against a still-retooling Michigan program, can legitimize everything Kelly is selling to the players and create some significant momentum. It won't springboard them to a BCS game or anything, but it probably erases all doubt from their minds that they're headed in the right direction.

Follow Brian Hamilton on Twitter @ChiTribHamilton and check out his stories at the Chicago Tribune, including extremely well-done features on Dayne Crist and Manti Te'o.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball at AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein

Comments

jameslucas

Sat, Sep 11, 2010 : 12:45 p.m.

One has to wonder about the sanity of those who read comments about the existence of articles on A2.com while taking on someones catch phrase. Let me suggest a remedy for those who are upset about the comments on the local media: Dont pay any attention to the comments!!

clarklaker

Sat, Sep 11, 2010 : 6:49 a.m.

its one thing for the freep to have a jihad against michiganbut annarbor.com to is another.rothstein must be a hater too

stunhsif

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 11:27 p.m.

This is all too funny. All this "hullabaloo" over Michigan's footbal program as well as Notre Dame's program. Neither one has been any good or in the top 25 for years. Like anyone outside of the Detroit area or South Bend gives a hoot. It is embarrasing to see A2.com give all this "air time" to Michigan's football program. What happened, did RR invest a bunch of money with the owners of A2.com?

Mick52

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 11:03 p.m.

Ok, Ok I am not going to criticize Mr Rothstein's writing. I am just reading this and trying to figure out why I should give a hoot about what Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune thinks. Frankly this game doesn't mean squat in the big picture. Neither program at this time is considered a contender. For anything. For Michigan, it's a win, but it was a win last year and by the end of the season? No hoots. For ND it's deadly. If you are foolish enough to play for ND you should be aware you have one thing to play for, the national championship. If you lose to Michigan? There's a hoot. Bye bye to NC unless Michigan goes undefeated and ND wins the rest of its games. Not likely. ND looses another game and maybe they get a second rate bowl game. ND should get into the Big East. Give the kids a chance to be champions. Michigan looses this, I give no hoot. Win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl! Nobody remembers the ND game. Defense wins ballgames.

paperstreetsoap

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 8:14 p.m.

Coaching advantage Notre Dame for sure. If any of you football fans actually followed football at other levels you would know Brian Kelly wins and at every level he has ever coached at. While rr continues to get close but is never able to win the "big" game.

heartbreakM

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 7:34 p.m.

Interesting thing about these comments, Michboy: You (and others) criticize the beat writer constantly and say that you are done reading the author's work, yet you (and your colleagues) keep making really not nice comments about the writer. If you are not reading his work, why comment? Thanks for the work, Mr. Rothstein. I don't have to agree with your work all the time, but I think overall, your questions and op-eds are fine and interesting to read.

azwolverine

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 7:34 p.m.

All of these attacks on the media border on paranoia. As long as UM is winning, who cares what anyone says? The media is not dismantling the Michigan program or causing any of the 16 losses over the past two years. They are doing their job and reporting and if, as some of you say, you don't like their articles, then stop reading them. It's the beauty of a free country. Of course, those who consistently say they've had enough and will never read the articles again also consistently come back and read them again. They then swear...again...that they will never read them again. I'll believe it when their posts disappear. That said, I agree with most of jameslucas' advantages in Michigan's favor this weekend. UM will win by 18 if not more.

jameslucas

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 5:36 p.m.

Teebob, A score prediction is not science, or even serious endeavor its just for fun. But, if you want to know that list was made with the most important item first, followed by the next important item second, and so on all the way down to the last and least important item. So one item does not have the equal weight as another item. Also, there is way too many variables for anyone to make accurate and consistent score prediction, it is an art not science. Maybe you were just asking a rhetorical question? Like me asking you were is your score prediction?

jameslucas

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 4:44 p.m.

Michael Rothstein, so this is where you choose to explain yourself, where were you after your story Michigan Quarterback Tate Forrcier All you need to know is Im out story? Are you Arthur Fronzarelli? or are you able to admit you were wrong?

Michael Rothstein

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 4:14 p.m.

Michboy40, Just so you know, these beat writer breakdowns are to help people who mostly follow Michigan know what to expect from the opponent, hence all the questions about the opponent (see the Connecticut one last week and all the ones from last season).

zeeba

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 2:36 p.m.

All that talk and no prediction? Sounds like somebody doesn't have as good a handle on this game as he'd like to project.

Teebob

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 12:30 p.m.

Good questions Rothstein, and his answers all seemed logical enough. Nice article. Don't bother with these fellas Rothstein, I think you are doing a tremendous job. Keep up the good work. I can only hope it is not a defensive struggle. jameslucas' advantage scale is sided 5-4 in notre dame favor, how did you come up with final score in Michigan favor. Or were you just throwing points out there that didn't have anything to do with your score prediction.

michboy40

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 12:04 p.m.

Isn't this breaking down the "Notre Dame' game? There is 1 question related to Michigan, 4 related to ND. Rothstein, You have no credibility and I am done reading your stuff. I can safely ego to the comment sections and just post that you were one sided against Michigan and I will be correct. I honestly considered doing that with this piece, but I really wanted to give you another shot after the video that was posted earlier. BTW- Who did you pick to win this game last year? I really don't know, but I would bet it was ND.

upfromthebighouse

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : noon

Wet Kentucky blue grass, class has started, offensive blunders on both sides, more of a defensive game than people think. Michigan 21 Notre Dame 17.

jameslucas

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 11:49 a.m.

Michigan 42 vs. Notre Dame 34 Quarterback Advantage Michigan Offensive Line Advantage Michigan Defense Line Advantage Michigan Secondary Advantage Notre Dame Running Backs Advantage Notre Dame Receivers Advantage Notre Dame Special Teams Advantage Notre Dame Coaching Advantage Michigan Home Field Advantage Notre Dame