Michigan
3-0
Notre Dame
1-1
Perry, Defense Propel Michigan to Shutout of Notre Dame
9/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan football team (No. 5 AP, No. 7 ESPN/USA Today) shut out Notre Dame (No. 15 AP, No. 14 ESPN/USA Today) 38-0 Saturday (Sept. 13) in front of an NCAA-record 111,726 fans at Michigan Stadium. Senior tailback Chris Perry (Advance, N.C./Fork Union Military, Va.) continued to lead the Wolverines by racking up 133 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 31 carries. He also had 44 yards receiving and one touchdown on four catches. The blanking by U-M is the first against the Fighting Irish since 1902, and the 38-0 score is also the largest margin of victory by either team and the most points scored by either team in the 31-game series.
| | Perry ran over and around the Irish for 133 yards and scored four touchdowns. |
Michigan's offense began the game with the ball on its 20-yard line following a touchback. On first down, a misdirection screen play to Perry went for 14 yards to the left side. Two plays later, an Irish blitzer hit Navarre to knock the ball loose and allow Brandon Hoyte to recover the ball at the U-M 38-yard line. Michigan's defense proved up to the challenge, though, allowing only one yard of offense to force a punt.
Michigan again began a drive at the 20-yard line and managed to obtain back-to-back first downs before being stopped on a third-and-short play at the ND 44-yard line. Adam Finley (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) squibbed a punt that was downed at the ND 12-yard line.
The Maize and Blue defense then stifled the Fighting Irish, sacking Carlyle Holiday at the seven-yard line. On the punt, Steve Breaston (North Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills HS) fielded the ball at his own 48-yard line, split the Irish gunners, raced through the coverage team and was finally brought down at the ND two-yard line. From there, Perry dove into the end zone for the game's first points at 6:25 of the first quarter. Finley converted the PAT to give Michigan a 7-0 advantage.
To begin Notre Dame's subsequent possession, Julius Jones earned a first down, ND's first of the game, with an 11-yard gain to the 35-yard line. The drive quickly regressed after a stuffed run and a sack for 10 yards by Larry Stevens (Tacoma, Wash./Woodrow Wilson HS) forced a punt. On the return, Breaston again evaded multiple Irish defenders for a gain of 25 yards to give Michigan the ball at its 42-yard line.
Navarre hooked up with Braylon Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Gallagher HS) and Carl Tabb (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) for pickups of nine and 21 yards, respectively, and Perry rushed five times for 26 yards to put Michigan at the two-yard line. Notre Dame's defense stiffened at that point to make U-M attempt a field goal. Finley split the uprights at 14:56 of the second quarter to extend the lead to 10-0.
Notre Dame moved the ball effectively on its ensuing drive with carries by Jones for 15 yards and Ryan Grant for 12 more. However, Markus Curry (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Gallagher HS) came up with a big play on defense for the Wolverines as he held inside position on his receiver and intercepted the Holiday pass at the U-M 20-yard line.
Navarre's 199 yards passing gave him the school record for career passing yardage. | |
The Fighting Irish were held without a first down for the third time of the half, giving Michigan the ball at its 46-yard line. The Wolverines capitalized on two big third-down conversions, with the first being a completion to Tim Massaquoi (Allentown, Pa./Parkland HS) to the ND 28-yard line. On third-and-10, Perry made a nifty catch out of the backfield, shook off a would-be tackler and tip-toed down the sideline for 12 yards.
The drive ended poorly, though, when Perry fumbled the ball away at the seven-yard line with 4:24 remaining. The first half concluded with the teams exchanging punts. Perry ruled the first two quarters with 77 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries. He also made three catches for 31 yards and one touchdown. Navarre completed 11 of his 17 throws for 166 yards and one TD. Five different receivers had catches, with Edwards leading them all with four for 54 yards. The Michigan offense converted six of its nine third-down attempts while Notre Dame failed to convert on six tries. Holiday completed just one of his seven passes, and the Irish running game averaged three yards per carry on 17 attempts.
Notre Dame began the second half with the ball on its own 10-yard line after Vontez Duff hesitated on the kickoff return. Lawrence Reid (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington HS) fired through a hole on first down to drop Grant for a five-yard loss. A run for no gain and a hurried pass by Holiday created another punting situation. Setta's kick from his own end zone was shanked and went out of bounds at the 36-yard line. From there, Michigan only needed two carries from Perry to hit paydirt and make it a 24-0 affair. Perry weaved his way through the Irish defense for 27 yards. From nine yards out, Perry slipped off tackle right to reach the goal line untouched at 12:35 of the third quarter.
By completing two passes, the first of the day to wide receivers, Notre Dame earned a first down at its 35-yard line. The Irish picked up one more set of downs before being stopped by the U-M defense and 20 yards worth of penalties at the Michigan 40-yard line.
The Maize and Blue regained control of the ball at the 20-yard line after the punt by Setta. Perry bulled his way for 13 yards on third-and-10 to move the chains. Another third-down conversion was converted to Avant for 13 yards. A pass to Tabb for seven yards put the ball at the ND 46-yard line. A run by David Underwood (Madisonville, Texas/Madisonville HS) for five more yards meant the fourth consecutive third-down conversion for U-M.
After finally being stopped on third-and-two from the ND 12-yard line, the Irish lined up offsides on fourth-and-one to grant U-M a first-and-goal opportunity. Three straight carries left Michigan in a fourth-and-goal situation from the one-yard line. Perry wrapped up the drive by stiff-arming an Irish defender on his way to the right pylon and a 31-0 Michigan lead with 13:26 left. The drive, which lasted 10:25, became the longest scoring drive in Michigan history in terms of time. It covered 80 yards on 19 plays.
In ND's first drive of the fourth quarter, Brady Quinn replaced Holiday at quarterback. The Irish gained two first downs, including one on fourth down to reach midfield. The drive then stalled after four straight incompletions.
For Michigan, Matt Gutierrez (Concord, Calif./DeLaSalle Catholic HS) relieved Navarre as the signal-caller with 11:01 remaining. The Wolverines continued to prosper as Gutierrez hit Tyrece Butler (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central HS) for a 24-yard pass down to the ND 24-yard line. After gaining first-and-goal from the nine-yard line, Pierre Rembert (Milwaukee, Wis./Cudahy HS) battled his way into the end zone from seven yards out to make it 38-0 at 4:24. The drive lasted 10 plays and traveled 50 yards.
Notre Dame's final two drives sputtered and Michigan was able to run out the clock to conclude the shutout.
Michigan will take to the road for the first time of the season when it takes on Oregon next Saturday (Sept. 20) at 12:30 p.m. PDT (3:30 p.m. EDT). The game will be regionally televised by ABC.
Contact: Dave Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
ND 0, MICH 7
MICH - Perry, Chris 2 yd run (Finley, Adam kick), 1 plays, 2 yards, TOP 0:04
ND 0, MICH 10
MICH - Finley, Adam 24 yd field goal 10 plays, 51 yards, TOP 3:57
ND 0, MICH 17
MICH - Perry, Chris 5 yd pass from Navarre, John (Finley, Adam kick) 9 plays, 81 yards, TOP 3:54
ND 0, MICH 24
MICH - Perry, Chris 9 yd run (Finley, Adam kick), 2 plays, 36 yards, TOP 0:39
ND 0, MICH 31
MICH - Perry, Chris 1 yd run (Finley, Adam kick), 20 plays, 80 yards, TOP 10:25
ND 0, MICH 38
MICH - Rembert, Pierre 7 yd run (Rivas, Garrett kick), 10 plays, 50 yards, TOP 6:37
