Michigan Football vs. Notre Dame: 5 Key in-Game Matchups

Michigan's Denard Robinson should have some fond memories of playing against Notre Dame.

After all, he did set a Michigan football record for most yards in a single game with 502 yards last season against these same Irish.

He also set a record for the longest run in the history of Irish stadium last year.

So what's not to like about playing the Irish this year?

Robinson plays under a slightly different system, a system that tries to mix in the power running game as effectively as possible.

Meaning Denard won't end up with 502 yards on Saturday.

He might not even end up with 200 yards on Saturday.

After all, through three quarters against Western Michigan last week, Michigan didn't even have 300 yards of total offense.

Given, Michigan hadn't had the ball a whole lot up til that point either.

But this year's Michigan team is supposedly built with a "defense first" attitude.

But back to the question at hand: if Denard Robinson won't carry the whole team on his back this time around, which part of the team will?

Well in this slideshow, I will show you five match-ups to pay attention to during the game between Notre Dame and Michigan.

1. Denard Robinson vs. Notre Dame Secondary

Denard Robinson torched Notre Dame's secondary last year.

He lit up Notre Dame's secondary for 244 yards and a touchdown in last year's matchup.

Seeing as how Robinson did not throw for more than 100 yards in the weather-shortened game last week against Western Michigan, he most likely won't throw for over 200 yards again any time soon.

Having said that, Robinson can still be a deadly threat in the passing game, he just won't be running the same type of high-scoring spread offense that he ran last year.

He will also be without Darryl Stonum, who is red-shirted this season.

If Robinson manages to keep his composure in the pocket and keeps throwing out of the pro-style offense, he has an outside chance at hitting the 150 yard mark this week.

But even if that doesn't happen, as long as his passing accuracy is anywhere in the 55-65% range, Michigan will be good to go on offense.

2. Michigan's Offensive Line vs. Notre Dame's Front Seven

This slide title will apply in two ways.

We'll start with the running game.

Last year, outside of Denard Robinson, Michigan did not really have a running game.

It wasn't just bad, it was brutal.

This year, Hoke has changed that a quite a bit.

The success of the power running game (something Michigan has lacked since Lloyd Carr) will be dictated by the success of Michigan's offensive line on Saturday.

Michigan's offensive line isn't as heavy as some of the ones out there so they might not be able to push the Irish off of the ball, as well.

Additionally, look for Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o to be an impact player out there today.

If Michigan cannot control Te'o, they will have a rough time running the ball today

Secondly, we move to the passing game.

The front seven of Notre Dame have to bring pressure on Michigan's running game to force Denard Robinson to step up and make some throws.

The ability of the Michigan offensive line to hold the Notre Dame defensive line in check in the pass rush will be a substantial factor in the success of the Michigan passing game this Saturday.

3. Notre Dame QB Tommy Rees vs. Michigan Secondary

Notre Dame quarterback, Tommy Rees, stole the starting job last week from Dayne Crist.

Rees took over from Crist last season when Crist was missed the last four games due to injury.

In fact, he didn't just take over; he led the Irish to four straight wins to close the season.

Yet he was relegated to back-up duties behind Crist to start this season.

Well, Crist's abominable performance last week ensured that Rees will be getting the start this week against Michigan.

Rees played against Michigan last year when Crist went down awkwardly after being tackled.

In the two throws, he completed none to his own team, and one was intercepted by Michigan.

This year should be different.

The calm, cool, collected 19-year-old said he's not scared to play Michigan in the Big House.

We'll see how he pans out against Michigan's secondary.

Look for some well-timed blitzed from Jordan Kovacs in the secondary.

Keep another eye on Brandon Herron, as he showed last week what he can do with those two defensive touchdowns.

Perhaps we'll see some more aggressive blitzing from Michigan's defensive coordinator, Greg Mattison.

Whatever the case is, Notre Dame has no hope if they cannot get a good game out of their young quarterback.

4. Notre Dame's Ground Game vs. Michigan's Front Seven

It's going to be a long day for Notre Dame fans if they cannot get some movement up front on the Michigan defensive front.

Michigan held Western Michigan to 96 yards in three quarters last week.

That's pretty decent overall, and excellent for Michigan's recent standards.

This is one of the marquee match-ups to watch here.

And the big question again: Can Notre Dame get movement up front on the big boys on the defensive line?

5. Michigan's Kick Coverage vs. Notre Dame's Kick Return

Michigan's kick coverage last week against Western Michigan left something to be desired.

I mean, come on, Michigan gave up over 30 yards a kick return last week against Western Michigan.

Although they only gave up a 21-yard average last year on kick returns, Michigan has a lot of work to do to keep Notre Dame's return game in check.

Special teams isn't just worth a third of the game for no reason.

If Michigan can get stay solid and keep Notre Dame to a 15-20 yards per return range, they should be good to go in the return game.

This really will be one of the story lines of the game.

Let's Get It Started

It's Michigan in one corner and Notre Dame in the other.

Number one and number two in all-time wins, respectively.

It's a rivalry game.

It's under the lights.

It's for early season supremacy.

Do you need any more reasons to sit down and watch this game?

Let's get it started.

Final Score prediction: Michigan 31, Notre Dame 25

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