Preview Central: Notre Dame vs. Michigan

Let this get you in the mood for the game.


After one week of football, there are only three things we know going into this game:

1. Denard Robinson is for real.  Really, really, real.
2. Michael Floyd is going to have his pimp hand nice and ready for Michigan's secondary.
3. Everyone else in the country is rooting for some way that both teams can lose this game.

Is UConn the Big East contender that everyone proclaimed them to be in August?  (Bonus question, does that even say anything positive about them when Rutgers takes a half of football to get warmed up against Norfolk St., Pitt is still coached by the Wannstache, and Cincinnati looks downright pedestrian under Butch "Sloppy Seconds" Jones?)  Was Michigan's defense that effective in stopping an experienced UConn offense, or did they stop themselves?  What about the UConn defense that spent all of last Saturday taking worse pursuit angles than a squad put together by a high school for the blind?

On the other side of the fence, what about Purdue?  Did Allen and Wood terrorize a competent defense, or is this unit the same 94th ranked rushing D from last year?  Was Purdue's back seven responsible for neutralizing Michael Floyd, or does that honor go to Dayne Crist?  Does anyone think Robert Marve can be a productive quarterback outside of Robert Marve?

Half Full or Half Empty? Defensive Line

Another installment in my season preview which looks at reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic about the coming season.  Now that Secondary and Linebacker are out of the way things should be a little more cheery around here.


What's that, a position group on defense that we can actually be reasonably excited about this year?  You don't say.

Graham is leaving big shoes to fill.

If UM is going to win more than they lose in 2010   a novel idea I know   the defense is going to have to show a level of competency that has been absent the last two years.  The ability of the defense to do this is going to rise and fall with the ability of the defensive line to control the line of scrimmage and pressure the quarterback.  Even the most optimistic view of the linebacker and secondary performance this year still recognizes the obvious shortcomings that both units have.  There will be no coverage sacks this year, and unless Greg Jones gets lost on his way to Spartan Stadium on game days and somehow ends up in Ann Arbor, there is no knight in shining armor lining up five yards deep who is capable of neutralizing the talented group of running backs the Big Ten has to offer.  With great power comes great responsibility, and the defensive line is going to have to set the tone every game.

Just what we can expect is still somewhat of a mystery.