brian kelly is yosemite sam

the first-half high point was a high point [ESPN screencap]

Previously: Krushed By Stauskas (Illinois 2014), Introducing #ChaosTeam (Indiana 2009), Revenge is Terrifying (Colorado 1996), Four Games In September I (Boston College 1991), Four Games In September II (Boston College 1994), Four Games In September III (Boston College 1995), Four Games In September IV (Boston College 1996), Pac Ten After Dark Parts One and Two (UCLA 1989), Harbaugh's Grand Return Parts One and Two (Notre Dame 1985), Deceptive Speed Parts One and Two (Purdue 1999)

Week One: 1993 Washington Part One, Part Two, 2002 Washington Twitch stream

This Game: Condensed game, WH highlights, box score, MGoPreview, Denard After Dentist, Offense UFR, Defense UFR, a Notre Dame fan's live blog

Lineup Cards! Brought to you by Seth. Click the images to embiggen.

Michigan offense vs. Notre Dame defense:

Michigan defense vs. Notre Dame offense:

Michigan-Notre Dame is a sight to behold.

Yes, the rivalry has lost its national luster. The Irish's season-opening loss to USF ensures this is the third time in five games both teams enter the contest unranked; that hadn't happened in the history of the rivalry until 2007. Notre Dame is in year two under Brian Kelly after the program bottomed out under Charlie Weis. Michigan is in year one under Brady Hoke (and offensive coordinator Al Borges) after Rich Rodriguez could only field half of a good team.

The rivalry itself is still healthy, however. Despite being, well, not very good, the Wolverines have taken the last two games in the series, both last-minute triumphs featuring star-turning performances by Michigan quarterbacks—Tate Forcier in 2009 and Denard Robinson in 2010. Meanwhile, the two teams are playing in Michigan Stadium's first-ever night game.

As per usual with this game, nobody has a clue what to expect. Notre Dame turned the ball over five times in its season opener but only lost by three points. Michigan looked good against an overmatched Western Michigan squad but didn't even complete three quarters before the game was called due to lightning. How little did we know? This was in Brian's preview:

The only thing we can take from the USF game is that Notre Dame has trouble defending bubble screens. The Bulls consistently racked up 5-10 yards despite the wholesale suck of Daniels. Chalk up some free yards on the outside.

Chalk is easily erased, thankfully.

As you'd expect from a game with a name—Under The Lights—there's a lot of pregame fanfare. Michigan unveils the Legends Jersey program by honoring Desmond Howard.

[After THE JUMP: #FreeDenard]

smoked [Patrick Barron]

Chris Fowler: Now it's time for the Pacific Life game summary.

Fowler: This has been the Pacific Life game summary.

[Hit THE JUMP for three different gif categories: Notre Dame schadenfreude, TOWELS, and the rest.]

No Bad Plays

malzone-roseboroAs recruits turn their focus to the first couple weeks of their high school season, the recruiting news firehose has slowed to a trickle for the moment. Thankfully, scouting of Michigan prospects is in full swing.

The Wolverine's Brandon Brown caught up with the head coach of one of the conference opponents of Darian Roseboro (right, with Alex Malzone) to get a view of his game from the other sideline ($):

There are a lot of things that Roseboro does well, that's been documented, but sometimes it's difficult for casual followers to find weaknesses. When highlights are viewed they are just that - highlights. Snider insists that a lot of times what you see is what you get with Roseboro.



"I think it's really tough to identify weaknesses with him," Snider admitted. "He's pretty tough to block. I think that as a sophomore he might've taken a play off now and then, but last year he didn't really do that. He was much more aggressive and tough.

Roseboro's highlights are, well, highlights, so if he's bringing that on a snap-to-snap basis, that's great to hear.

Reports continue trickling in from last weekend's games. Josh Newkirk spoke with LB commit Darrin Kirkland Jr. after he recorded 17 tackles, four TFLs, a fumble recovery, and an interception in his team's opener to discuss the improvements in his game this year ($):

At 6-foot-2, 226-pounds, Kirkland says he worked on his strength mostly this off-season and it showed in his game on Saturday.

I feel like my strength could be one of the key assets of my game,” Kirkland said. “Being able to shed blockers. That’s one of the biggest things I needed to conquer. As well as my quickness and my speed. Just not to be blocked by lineman, because some are very athletic. It’s helped me a lot. I have been covering sideline to sideline, and it’s really helped me in coverage as well.”

That extra work certainly appeared to pay off in week one. Kirkland also mentioned that he's struck up a friendship with five-star CA WDE Keisean Lucier-South; both will be on campus for the Penn State game.

[Hit THE JUMP for Where In The World Is Tim Sullivan, the latest on Chris Clark, several 2016 prospect updates, and more.]