I'm still trying to figure out if Notre Dame is that much better from Week 1 to Week 2 after a 35-17 victory over rival Michigan Saturday. I think so.
I would argue that Michigan may be more talented, but I was impressed with how the Fighting Irish played in front of the home crowd. They played inspired. The took advantage of Michigan miscues. And for the first time since Jimmy Clausen arrived in South Bend I saw him live up to all of the Blue Chip hype.
OK, he finished just 10-of-21 passing, but he played with confidence and a little bit of arrogance. This win could be a springboard for Notre Dame and how they play the rest of the season. A few weeks ago I would have bet anyone that the Irish would lose this coming week at Michigan State. I'm not so sure now. I'm looking forward to that game.
As for Michigan, the Wolverines beat themselves early with all of the mistakes. But they did execute much better than they did in the first two games under first-year coach Rich Rodriguez' spread offense. Sam McGuffie was impressive running the ball (131 yards on 25 carries).
Now Michigan must figure out how to hold onto the ball. The Rich Rods have two weeks to work on that before hosting No. 10 Wisconsin.
Sorry Michigan fans. This is going to be a long season.
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