Wolverines Outlast Fighting Irish, 21-14

Saturday, September 27

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:30 PM

Michigan

3-0

Notre Dame

1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

NDU

MICHIGAN

9/27/1997 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: #6 Michigan 21, Notre Dame 14
Records: U-M (3-0), UND (1-3)
Attendance: 106,508
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Oct. 4 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 11:30 a.m. EST/CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The nation's top-ranked defense made the big plays in the fourth quarter as the sixth-ranked Michigan Wolverines prevailed, 21-14, over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon in front of 106,508 fans at Michigan Stadium.

The Wolverines (3-0) carried a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter and looked to their defense to hang onto the lead. After Notre Dame (1-3) took over on the Michigan 47, following an Aaron Shea fumble, the Irish moved the ball down inside the 10-yard line. On third-and-goal from the Michigan 9-yard line, Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus was pressured and Tommy Hendricks made a diving interception to maintain the seven-point lead.

U-M fumbled again on its next possession, but once again the Wolverines defense lived up to the challenge as Notre Dame, which took over on the Michigan 42-yard line, could not sustain a drive and had to punt the ball away.

However, for the third straight possession, Notre Dame recovered a fumble inside Michigan territory and took over on the U-M 28-yard line. With under four minutes left in the game, Notre Dame was faced with a fourth-and-2 from the Michigan 20, but Glen Steele and James Hall combined on the biggest tackle of the game, as Autry Denson was stopped for no gain, giving U-M possession of the ball. The Wolverines were able to run out the last 3:26 of the game to win their third straight game of the 1997 season.

Michigan trailed 14-7 at the half but came out of the locker room firing. Following a Clarence Williams kickoff return to the U-M 44-yard line, Brian Griese found Tai Streets for a 15-yard completion. On the very next play, Griese found Streets over the middle and Streets outraced the Irish defenders for a 41-yard touchdown, his first of the season, to tie the game at 14 apiece.

On their next possession, the Wolverines took over at the Notre Dame 42-yard line after Charles Woodson ran back a punt for 20 yards. Chris Floyd capped off a seven-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown scamper to give Michigan a 21-14 lead, the final margin of victory.

Notre Dame was the first team to score in the first game between the two rivals since Remy Hamilton's late field goal gave the Wolverines a 26-24 victory in 1994. For the first time this season, the Michigan defense gave up a touchdown as Powlus found Bobby Brown for a 15-yard touchdown with 3:16 left in the first quarter as Notre Dame took a 7-0 lead.

The Wolverines came back on the next drive to tie up the game as Williams scored his first touchdown of the season on a four-yard run. Notre Dame was able to drive 98 yards on 11 plays on its last possession of the first half as Tony Driver scored on a two-yard touchdown run to give the Irish a 14-7 heading into the locker room.

With the victory, Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr is now undefeated in 10 games in the month of September since his tenure began in 1995. The victory also marks Carr's 20th career victory as Wolverines coach.

The Michigan offense was balanced with 168 yards gained on the ground and 177 yards through the air. Griese had another solid effort at quarterback as he completed 16 of his 22 passes for 177 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Floyd had four catches for 35 yards, Williams had four receptions for 23 yards, and Streets totaled 77 yards on three catches to lead the Wolverines. Chris Howard was the leading rusher with 91 yards on 16 carries, while Floyd ran seven times for 41 yards and Williams gained 28 yards on six runs.

Sam Sword keyed the Michigan defense with 15 tackles, while Eric Mayes chipped in with 14 tackles and Marcus Ray was in on 11 tackles. Hendricks had Michigan's lone interception, and the Wolverines defense was unable to record a sack.

After rolling through the non-conference schedule undefeated, Michigan will kick off its Big Ten schedule next Saturday, Oct. 4, at Indiana. The Irish, losers of three straight, look to rebound at Stanford.