Notre Dame Football Post-Game Awards: Michigan Heartbreak Edition
In yet another thrilling chapter in the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry, Michigan pulled out a touchdown drive in the final minute for the second consecutive year to tear the heart out of Irish fans.
The formula for the Wolverine victory was very similar to 2009, albeit with a slightly different cast of characters. This year, Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson assumed Tate Forcier's position, gouging the Irish defense with big plays using both his arm and his legs.
Much of the damage was done in the first half as Notre Dame reeled from the loss of starting quarterback Dayne Crist to a head injury. Michigan stifled both of Notre Dame's backup quarterbacks, freshman Tommy Rees an junior Nate Montana, with two interceptions and a critical stop on Michigan's three-yard line to end the first half.
The goal-line stop was a result of Irish coach Brian Kelly's decision to go for a touchdown rather than kick a field goal, one of several high-risk tactical gambles that backfired. Crist and Irish tight end Kyle Rudolph still nearly salvaged a Notre Dame win with a miracle 95-yard touchdown strike, but ultimately could not make enough plays necessary to hold off Robinson and the Wolverines.
How the Irish respond to their first loss of the season will be especially crucial to the remainder of the season, however a loss to Michigan is frequently a bad omen.
The Rainmaker (Offensive Player Of the Game): Denard Robinson
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Who else? These awards are generally for Irish players, but this is just too obvious to ignore.
Robinson continued what has been a disturbing trend for recent Irish teams of opposing teams' stars turning in stellar performances against Notre Dame on a national stage. He amassed over 500 yards of total offense, throwing for 258 and running for 244.
The most dangerous element of Robinson's game is his threat to make a big play at almost any point in the game. Michigan's three first-half touchdowns were all a direct result of plays over 20 yards from Robinson - a 31-yard touchdown pass, another 31-yard completion to the Notre Dame one-yard line, and an 87-yard touchdown sprint.
One of the most underrated elements of Robinson's game was his toughness. Kelly mentioned this in his post-game press conference that the Notre Dame defense dealt him some fierce hits, but he continued to carve up the Irish defense. Whether or not he ends the season in Heisman consideration will largely depend on his ability to absorb similar punishment during the Big Ten season.
Runner-Up: Kyle Rudolph
The Showstopper (Defensive Player of the Game): Manti Te'o
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The sophomore Irish middle linebacker was a large reason that Notre Dame held Michigan scoreless in the second half up until the final seconds. On Michigan's last drive, Te'o made what, at the time, looked to be a critical one-on-one tackle of Denard Robinson to bring up a third-and-five before Michigan deflated Irish hopes with a 15-yard pass conversion.
Te'o made his presence felt on the stat sheet, racking up 13 tackles with a forced fumble and a pass break up, but he was even more effective disrupting and redirecting many of Michigan's offensive plays. He showed a combination of instincts and speed to anticipate plays correctly and elude blockers. He tackled with authority and continued to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with.
Runner-Up: Kapron Lewis-Moore
The A-Team (Best Group Performance): Linebackers
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This category could probably be changed to the "least worst performance" as no unit on the Irish team went without key mistakes or had a collectively good performance. The linebackers were certainly busy and that, if nothing else, gives them the edge here.
Carlo Calabrese and Te'o at the inside positions had the lion's share of the tackles on the Irish defense and managed to keep Robinson in check for most of the second half. Outside linebackers Brian Smith, Darius Fleming and Steve Filer were only useful as tackling dummies with their difficultly shedding blocks, but Calabrese and Te'o made up for that.
Runner-Up: Running backs
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The Goat: Brian Kelly
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This is an easy one, although the choice would have been more difficult had the official actually noticed Irish freshman wide receiver TJ Jones' Leon Lett impersonation before he crossed the goal line.
For all his years of coaching experience Kelly made critical coaching mistakes more typical of a rookie coach that put Notre Dame in a hole. Irish fans were wondering if former coach Charlie Weis, a notorious risk taker, was calling for the decision to go for a touchdown at the end of the first half rather than kick a field goal.
That Notre Dame was even in a position to get points was fortune enough after an out-of-nowhere 37 yard completion from Nate Montana to Theo Riddick. But Kelly, unsure if Crist would return and if his defense could stop Robinson, pushed his luck and went for it. The subsequent pass play went out of the end zone and the Irish went into the locker room empty handed.
Crist's injury seemed to completely scramble Kelly's thinking, especially when he called for a flea flicker on the first pass play of freshman backup Tommy Rees' career. The play took too long to develop and a poor throw made for an easy interception. That play swung the momentum of the entire first half as Michigan quickly converted the turnover into a touchdown.
Kelly admitted after the game that he did a poor job of preparing both Montana and Rees. That and dropping the ill-advised gambles will need to change if Notre Dame is to successfully rebound from its first loss of 2010.
Runner-Up: Irish Secondary
The Milk Carton (Missing Person): Michael Floyd
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For the second consecutive game, Floyd had a sub-par performance. His five catches were second most behind Kyle Rudolph, but none of them made a significant impact. He had one exciting run after catch where he cut all the way back across the field, but it wasn't enough to make up for his costly dropped passes.
Big things are expected of the talented junior wide receiver, but he has yet to show the breakout ability and sure hands that he flashed both his freshman and sophomore year prior to injury. The Irish passing offense is going to need a go-to receiver other than Rudolph to make big plays.
Runner-Up: Ethan Johnson
Stat Of the Game: Turnovers
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Turnovers are always critical to big games, and Michigan's ability to take care of the football ultimately preserved their victory. Notre Dame actually did a respectable job of damage control, holding Michigan to only seven points-off-turnovers (which would have been the stat of the game had the Irish won).
Each of the three Irish quarterbacks threw an interception (all of them poor decisions) while Michigan managed to avoid losing its only fumble. Perhaps most impressive is how Robinson managed to do so much damage while not making many risky plays. There was only one other instance where the Irish might have had an interception but the throw bounced harmlessly off the hands of Te'o.
Runner-Up: Yards per carry
Game Ball: Denard Robinson
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Comparing a skittish mouse to a wrecking ball seems like a very counter-intuitive analogy, but that would be Denard Robinson as he single-handedly dismantled the Irish defense.
Players like him are extremely frustrating for the opposition because they are slippery, elusive and fast as lighting. Little guys like him aren't supposed to survive the violence of football, but play after play (usually for 10 yards), he picks himself off the ground.
He still lacks much in the way of passing skill, but he does just enough to be dangerously effective. The play where he takes two steps forward, faking a run, and then throws a pass is one that was particularly damaging to Notre Dame.
It's way too early in the season to talk about Heisman winners, but he is certainly an exciting player to watch. He has the ball in his hands on every play and that makes it a threat to go for a touchdown.
Runner-Up: Dayne Crist
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