The Way Too Early Michigan Preview

Over the next several weeks, Charlie's Nasties will be giving readers previews of the 2008 Irish opponents.

2007 record: 9-4
2007 conference record: 6-2
Returning starters: 3 on offense – 5 on defense

Carlos Brown will battle Brandon Minor for the starting roll. Both backs posted similar numbers last season, each netting around 380 rushing yards on around 80 attempts. Look to see some of incoming freshman Sam McGuffie if either of those two struggle; the speedster from Texas comes to Ann Arbor with an impressive highlight reel and possesses the big play potential that could be helpful for a young offense. I know that my dorm-mates back at school all fear and respect the McGuffie virus.

After losing Adrian Arrington and Mario Manningham to the green movement, errr… NFL, Greg Matthews and Junior Hemmingway will likely be the primary targets at receiver this fall. The pair only contributed to 15% of the passing offense last season and will have to make a big jump if they want to scare any team’s secondary. Look for Threet to use returning TEs Carson Butler and Mike Massey if Rodriguez doesn’t eliminate their positions so the Wolverines can run a spread…

Redshirt SO David Molk, redshirt SE Mark Ortmann, redshirt SE David Moosman, redshirt SE Cory Zirbel, and redshirt junior Steve Schilling are the favorites to start in the offensive trenches, and while a first glance at the line should make a UM fan feel pretty confident, a solid and mature offensive line last year prevented most of these guys from getting playing time; Schilling is the only returning starter. There was a reason most of these guys weren’t starting last year, but four years to develop strength and technique leads me to believe that while the group may lack experience, their age should make them pretty solid. Notre Dame is fortunate to play Mich early in the season, but could still have major troubles matching up against this group.

It gets worse in the defensive line. The same four hog-mollys that gave Clausen an unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons) welcome to college football is back; a fine tuned group of seniors and fifth years that sacked Clausen eight times last year will give the Notre Dame line a much tougher test than the Aztecs.

A lot of experience returns at cornerback as the Wolverines will have two seniors back from last year as well as a talented Donovan Warren, who saw a lot of PT last year as a freshman, but the two projected starters at the safety positions are both rising juniors with little experience. Notre Dame’s best bet will be to stretch the field and keep the UM linebackers and safeties guessing with lots of playaction and screens.

Unfortunately for the Irish, the ability to keep a defense off balance relies heavily on establishing a consistent running game; even if only 3 yards is consistently gained. Clausen must also be able to set his feet on his deep drops in order to deliver catchable deep balls, and while the showing by the offensive line will be better than last year’s debacle (how could it be worse?), I think that Michigan’s talent and experience up front will prevent ND from moving the ball with much success.

The Bleacher Report and I both agree that this game will be interesting from the standpoint that it will tell us much about the future of each team, this one probably won't be a shootout in South Bend:

"With Michigan still working out kinks of its own at this point of the season, and a highly inexperienced offensive unit entering a hostile environment for the first time, I foresee a low-scoring affair and a game determined by the play of both defenses."

Notre Dame’s best chance for success in this is game is to be the aggressor on defense, bringing heat up the middle and off the edge, forcing a green offense to make the plays. If the Irish are successful in this one, it will be due to ND’s defense drumming up come circa 2002 turnovers, and Michigan's defense surrendering one or two big plays on offense and special teams. It is fortunate that Notre Dame has week one to work out a few kinks against San Diego State, but this game will likely be a grueling defensive struggle. Unless the team made some giant strides in the offseason, however, the Irish offense will struggle against a good UM defense, and Notre Dame will drop their second game of the season 17 – 10.