Irish Fail to Seize Ball, Momentum
ANN ARBOR, Mich. --- Notre Dame wanted to send a message.
And it likewise wanted the wind at its back in the second half.
The former never happened; the latter never mattered.
Just like that, Notre Dame saw a blocked punt by sophomore linebacker Bo Bauer somehow manifest itself into a negatively game-altering sequence.
Bauer’s block of Will Hart’s first Michigan punt of the game was about to set up the Fighting Irish with possession on a short field of about 30 yards.
Instead, Jonathan Jones pawed at the ball in attempt to recover for Notre Dame. When Jones failed, Michigan capitalized with its own recovery.
The Wolverines only turned the sequence into a field goal, but those three points proved monumental: Notre Dame never trailed by fewer than 10 points after the Wolverines’ second score en route to a 45-14 defeat.
“There’s no confusion,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said of what his players are coached to do in those situations. “What happens in the moment, there, seems to have an effect on somebody’s judgment at that time.
“Everybody knows what they’re supposed to do at that time. But that’s where you have to over-communicate and over-coach. Unfortunately, we touched that ball in that situation and caused it to become a free ball.”
Had Jones not touched the ball, Notre Dame was assured of being in plus-territory --- even with a holding penalty that would have pushed back the Irish offense an additional 10 yards.
Instead, nine plays and 65 yards later, the Wolverines had Jake Moody’s 21-yard field goal for the game’s first points.
The Wolverines established a tone on their second possession, their ground game resuscitated and Zach Charbonnet’s 35-yard run through the teeth of the Irish defense a precursor for the remainder of the game.
Michigan seized upon second life for its offense; it would have five different players record runs of at least 13 yards against an Irish defense that entered the game having allowed an average of just 154 yards rushing per contest.
Notre Dame, for a bevy of reasons, never quite seemed to recover from the wasted opportunity for a potentially game-defining special teams moment.
“Football’s a game of momentum,” Irish safety Alohi Gilman said. “That would’ve been a huge momentum shift for us.”
Instead, not. And when the Notre Dame offense answered that Michigan score with six offensive snaps, 11 yards and the second of Jay Bramblett’s 10 punts, a Wolverines’ blowout-win was set in motion.
“We had talked about getting off to a fast start for about two weeks,” Kelly said. “We didn’t get off to a fast start. That was concerning.
“Obviously, big momentum piece was the fumble off the blocked punt. You know, you’re trying to gain momentum when you’re on the road.”