• Irish upset Wolverines Irish upset Wolverines ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Brady Quinn threw two touch-down passes in the first half and the 20th-ranked Fighting Irish held on to beat the Wol-verines 17-10, making Weis the first Notre Dame coach
• Irish upset Wolverines
Irish upset Wolverines
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Brady Quinn threw two touch-down passes in the first half and the 20th-ranked Fighting Irish held on to beat the Wol-verines 17-10, making Weis the first Notre Dame coach to win his first two games on the road since Rockne in 1918.
A mere two games into his Notre Dame tenure, Charlie Weis has joined Knute Rockne in the record books.
And even though he isn’t interested in any comparisons to the famed Fighting Irish coach, if Weis keeps winning games like he did Saturday at No. 3 Michigan he might not have a choice.
Notre Dame (2-0), which won at then-No. 23 Pittsburgh last week, snapped the Wolverines’ 16-game winning streak at Michigan Stadium and handed them their first loss against a nonconference team at home since 1998. The Irish — two years removed from losing 38-0 in Ann Arbor — also won at Michigan for the first time since 1993.
Notre Dame hosts Michigan State next Saturday.
Weis helped New England win three Super Bowls as Belichick’s offensive coordinator, and earned his first championship ring with the New York Giants as one of Parcells’ assistants.
Against Michigan, the offensive guru began with a shot-gun formation and an empty backfield. The Irish didn’t use a huddle at times during the opening 12-play drive and didn’t have a third down.
The Wolverines (1-1) slowed down Notre Dame’s offense, but they squandered several chances in the fourth quarter to pull within a TD before finally capitalizing on their third opportunity.
On a fourth-and-3, Chad Henne lofted a 25-yard pass to Mario Manningham with 3:47 left to make it 17-10.
The Wolverines then forced Notre Dame to punt, but four incomplete passes later, the Irish were celebrating on the sideline. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, players ran into the end zone to celebrate with their fans.
Notre Dame didn’t need much help to beat the Wolverines for the third time in four years, but instant replay over-turned two calls in its favor in the fourth quarter.
On a sneak from inside Notre Dame’s 1, Henne was ruled down, but a review showed that he fumbled and that the Irish’s Chinedum Ndukwe recovered the ball in the end zone. On the ensuing possession, officials ruled that Quinn fumbled, but a review showed that his knee was down, allowing the Irish to keep the ball deep in their territory.
Each time, Michigan’s stu-dent section responded by throwing water bottles and other debris on the field.
After the Irish’s strong start offensively, Michigan’s muchmaligned defense held them in check for the most part, limit-ing them to 244 yards.
“We lost a football game, but I think we found a defense,” Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
