Michigan vs. Notre Dame: Score and Twitter Reaction

In the final matchup of a long rivalry between Michigan and Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish got the last laugh with a 31-0 win.

Everett Golson led the way with 226 passing yards and three touchdowns in one of the better performances of his young career. Meanwhile, the defense was fantastic, forcing four Devin Gardner turnovers and holding the Wolverines to just 2.9 yards per carry in the shutout.

Ryan Field of Fox Sports 1 provided this interesting note at the end of the game:

Devin Funchess was a lone bright spot for the visiting team with nine catches for 107 receiving yards, but he appeared to injure his knee in the fourth quarter, creating a full nightmare scenario for the Wolverines. 

Michigan seemed ready to score early on, but a pair of missed field goals in the first few drives killed that opportunity. Notre Dame was then able to strike first thanks to two pass-interference penalties, setting the ball up at the 1-yard line. Cam McDaniel punched it in to go up 7-0.

From that point on it was Golson's time to shine, as he continued to make big plays to keep putting points on the board, like this series to make it 14-0:

Those watching along could not help but be impressed by the improvements of the young quarterback:

The defense deserved a lot of credit as well, keeping the Wolverines off the scoreboard. Ralph Russo of The Associated Press provided his look at that side of the ball:

Notre Dame was able to add another touchdown right before the half on a great throw and catch from Golson to William Fuller:

Adam Shear of Fox 28 liked what he saw in this final play as the home team was able to go up 21 at halftime:

Things did not change much in the second half as Michigan once again struggled to get anything going offensively. Golson added a third touchdown with a pass to Amir Carlisle, his second receiving touchdown of the day, making it 28-0 in favor of the Irish.

At this point, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports was embarrassed for the Wolverines:

A few more turnovers by Gardner, and Bleacher Report's Michael Schottey was able to provide a simple analysis of the game:

While Gardner did give his team a few more chances, Notre Dame held tough to secure the 31-point victory to close out this series in style.

College GameDay explained before the game that Michigan had gotten the better of this matchup in the past:

The series goes back over 100 years, although the two programs did not start playing regularly until the late 1970s. Still, this has been considered one of the more entertaining matchups each season as it features two of the most popular football teams in the nation.

Unfortunately, there are no more games between the two sides currently on the schedule.

According to Matt Fortuna of ESPN, Michigan coach Brady Hoke left the door open for a return in the future, saying, "Who knows when is going to be the last game? We just know we aren't going to play them in the near future."

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Of course, the Wolverines now have bigger problems than figuring out whom they will play next season and beyond. They have to figure out a way to bounce back from this loss before the year gets any worse.

Michigan will return home next week to face Miami (Ohio), which has started the year 0-2. If the Big Ten school cannot get a win in this one, this could be a long year.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame will play its next game at Lucas Oil Stadium against Purdue. The Irish have a tough schedule throughout the season, but this could be a chance to relax with an easy matchup and tweak some things before it gets much more difficult later in the year.

Until then, Brian Kelly's squad will remain a team on the rise in the next few polls.

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