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There was a nice article in the Blade on the first Notre Dame Michigan football game which occured in 1902 in Toledo, Ohio. Here is the link. The article is too long to post but was an interesting read.
http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/12/30/Notre-Dame-made-its-mark-in-...
Is this the game we taught them how to play football?
The article notes that a couple of Michigan football player taught the game to ND in 1887. ND had been playing for 10 years when this game happened.
I read somewhere (perhaps in John Kryk's great Natural Enemies) that Michigan counts the 1887 game as an official contest between the two schools. Notre Dame does not.
I'm pretty sure both schools count it, because we both recognize the same all-time number of games played in the series (40). There is nothing in this wiki article to suggest otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan–Notre_Dame_football_rivalry#1887...
You would believe that was a win for nd reading the article.......but if their biggest win of the era was a 23-0 loss as well as the consecutive losses...well now...
I like how some would discredit the early dominance of the 1900's but when they try to make nd look good suddenly Michigan was the superbowl champs and little nd stood up to them....always entertaining to see the writen biases.
Your title is incorrect. This wasn't the first Michigan-ND game. That was in 1887. The 1902 game was just the first time they were (somewhat) competitive against us. Apparently, they view the '02 game as a turning point in their program's history.
I hope they can celebrate so much after a loss to the tide
That article just reaffirmed why I hate Notre Dame so much.
