By Joe Pierce

- Notre Dame hadn't scored 21 points in the first quarter of any game during Charlie Weis' tenure until Saturday? Let's hope the trend continues.

- Sergio Brown does a fine job running with receivers, but never turns around to look for the ball.

- After Bryan Smith's fumble recovery for a TD, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez covered his mouth while he yelled at the people in the booth. I guess he didn't want NBC to read his lips and see who he was ripping.

- Hammond and Haden brought up the arch-nemesis of Notre Dame and Lou Holtz, Mr. Mark May? I agree, I think Lou was happy to get away from him for a day, too.

By Joe Pierce

0:

The number of sacks allowed by Notre Dame through two games.

28:

The number of consecutive games Notre Dame allowed a sack before this season.

3:

The number of turnovers forced by David Bruton inside Notre Dame's five yard line this season.

104:

Golden Tate's previous single-game high for yardage before gaining 127 against Michigan Saturday.

100-30-2:

Lou Holtz' record as Notre Dame's coach. Holtz was honored before the game with the dedication of a statue in Notre Dame Stadium.

1988:

The last year Notre Dame won the National Championship. Their 20th anniversary was honored this weekend.

By Joe Pierce

QB: B+

Jimmy Clausen lead the team well, and made some key passes to put Michigan out of the game. However, you can't ignore the fact that he threw two pretty bad interceptions. One thing's certain, though - Jimmy Clausen's the real deal.

RB: B+

Notre Dame's RB-by-committee trio played pretty well, lead by Robert Hughes' two TDs. James Aldridge contributed with some tough running in the red zone, but Armando Allen played sparingly and poorly, mustering up only 4 yds on two carries. I want to see someone emerge as the featured back.

WR/TE: A

Golden Tate is a star, Michael Floyd is a star in the making, and Duval Kamara rebounded from his poor game last week to score a touchdown on a beautiful jump ball in the end zone. The TEs were quiet in the receiving game, but must be contributing in the blocking game by helping keep Jimmy Clausen clean two weeks in a row.

OL: A+

The big guys didn't allow a sack for the second week in a row, and imposed their will on a very tough Michigan front seven. Trevor Robinson made his Notre Dame debut, spelling Chris Stewart at RG.

DL: D

They were more active than last week, and Pat Kuntz played well, but they were gashed all day by Michigan RB Sam McGuffie. Michigan State will destroy them next week if they don't get it together.

LB: B-

They made some nice highlight reel plays, including Bryan Smith's fumble recovery for a TD, but they need to take some blame for the poor run defense.

DB: A+

David Bruton, Sergio Brown, and Kyle McCarthy pace the defense and are true playmakers. I also believe that Saturday was Raeshon McNeil's coming out party. I haven't seen him play this well his entire career at Notre Dame.

ST: B+

A punt was tipped, but they recovered a muffed kickoff and pinned Michigan deep most of the day. Mike Anello is one of the best gunners I've ever seen.

Overall: B+

This was a terrific and fun game to watch, but there were mistakes made, too. If Notre Dame makes the same mistakes against Michigan State next week, the outcome will be significantly different.

By Joe Pierce

Who knows what is was - Lou Holtz & the 1988 National Championship team on the field yelling support to the current players after being honored in the first quarter, the thirst for revenge following a 38-0 shellacking in The Big House last year, or this young Notre Dame team coming of age; whatever the cause, Irish eyes were smiling as they watched Notre Dame force two early turnovers, score on four of their first five drives, and outclass Michigan in all three aspects of the game en route to a 35-17 tour de force Saturday in a swampy Notre Dame Stadium.

Sophomore WR Golden Tate proved to be more than a one-week wonder, as he caught four passes for 127 yds and a touchdown, as well as being on the receiving end of a 60 yd beauty by Jimmy Clausen that split double coverage up the seam. Tate's jump from being a deep threat-only last year to being one of the most dangerous receivers in college football (yes, I said in all of college football) is remarkable. Now that the secret's out, we'll see how he responds to double coverage and how Duval Kamara (1-10-1) and Michael Floyd (2-10-0-2 key pass interference penalties drawn) do with having some open real estate to work with.

Jimmy Clausen (10-21-147-2-2) was impressive, even though the stat sheet says otherwise. He threw two picks he shouldn't have, but he made some key throws, including the long pass & touch pass TD to Tate, as well as a nicely-placed jump ball TD to Kamara. Even though he's a sophomore, you can tell that he possesses the intangibles needed to be a top quarterback - poise, control of the team, leadership ability, and a cool as the other side of the pillow demeanor. If he stays through his senior year, there's a good shot he'll be Heisman Trophy winner #8 (#9 in you count Rocket Ismail being robbed).

The Irish running game turned in a fine, but unspectacular performance Saturday. Robert Hughes is establishing himself as the Irish's primary back, rushing 19 times for 79 yds (4.2 ypc) and two scores. James Aldridge made his 2008 debut, moving the offense well in the red zone while rushing 9 times for 28 yds (3.1 ypc). Armando Allen played poorly, gaining 4 yds on 2 carries. While the running back by committee plan has worked thus far, I'd like to see someone step forward to be the featured back before Cierre Wood comes to South Bend and takes over in 2009 or 2010.

If I'm being impartial, Notre Dame's defense scares me a little. Yes, they caused five turnovers (plus another on special teams), and the defensive backs are playing amazing football, lead by David Bruton's 15 tackles and interception, but the defensive line was weak, allowing true freshman RB Sam McGuffie (131 rushing & 47 receiving yds) look like Philadelphia Eagles RB Brian Westbrook. Also, they didn't register a sack against a very young Michigan front five. Either Jon Tenuta's blitzes are being figured out, or the Irish need to shake up their personnel, like they did by benching Justin Brown in favor of freshman Ethan Johnson. The LBs played fairly well, but part of the run defense blame falls on their shoulders, too. One thing I'm certain of is that they need to tighten up before next Saturday, when they travel to East Lansing to take on a Michigan State team that thoroughly enjoys pounding the football.

Overall, it was a great win for Notre Dame. They proved that the can handily beat a major conference team (I don't care if Michigan is "down" this year - they're still an arch rival and the winningest program in college football history) and jump on a team early and often. Charlie Weis ended up leaving the game on crutches after tearing his ACL & MCL when John Ryan took him out after being pushed out of bounds by a Michigan player. It's unknown when Coach Weis will get surgery, as he may put it off until the offseason. What can I say, the man's Jersey-tough. Michigan State will be their toughest opponent to date, so we'll see how good this team really is next Saturday.

BOX SCORE

Notre Dame: ROBERT HUGHES 2 YD RUN (BRANDON WALKER KICK)

Notre Dame: DUVAL KAMARA 10 YD PASS FROM JIMMY CLAUSEN (BRANDON WALKER KICK)

Notre Dame: GOLDEN TATE 48 YD PASS FROM JIMMY CLAUSEN (BRANDON WALKER KICK)

Michigan: SAM MCGUFFIE 40 YD PASS FROM STEVEN THREET (K.C. LOPATA KICK)

Michigan: K.C. LOPATA 23 YD FG

Notre Dame: ROBERT HUGHES 1 YD RUN (BRANDON WALKER KICK)

Michigan: KEVIN GRADY 7 YD RUN (K.C. LOPATA KICK)

Notre Dame: BRIAN SMITH 35 YD FUMBLE RETURN (BRANDON WALKER KICK)

Although it's painful and will hurt the program, Darrin Walls withdrawing from Notre Dame was the only choice.

By: Joe Pierce

The Notre Dame roller coaster is cranking its way back up the track, and after the sudden departures of Darrin Walls and D.J. Hord last week, Chris Watt's commitment is a major piece of good news for shell-shocked Irish fans.

By: Joe Pierce

In what has been a whirlwind couple days in South Bend, as predicted yesterday on our message board, 6'6" 220 lb. Fort Wayne, IN (Bishop Dwenger) TE Tyler Eifert has committed to play football for Notre Dame and becomes the 11th commitment and 2nd in two days.