I will kick off each football weekend this season with a summary and break down of the weekend’s marquee game. The first installment in this series takes us down to Cowboy country for one of Notre Dame’s biggest rivals and the defending national champs.
#8 Michigan vs. #2 Alabama
Where: Jerry’s World (Cowboy Stadium, Arlington, Texas)
When: Saturday at 8:00 PM ET on ABC
Last time they met: The 2000 Orange Bowl, which Michigan won 35-34 in OT
#2 Alabama kicks off its national title defense against Denard Robinson and the 8th ranked Michigan Wolverines. This is only the 4th meeting for the two programs, with the previous three matchups occurring in January bowl games.
When many powerhouses are starting their seasons with FCS opponents, it is great to see these two teams facing off at a neutral site to open up the 2012 college football slate (but don’t think I’m forgiving Alabama for their games against Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic and Western Carolina). While both teams enter with top 10 rankings, I do think Michigan is a bit overrated and I expect the Crimson Tide to win this game fairly easily. While The D-Nard has caused fits for the rest of the Big 10 and Notre Dame, Alabama’s defense has too much side-to-side speed for Robinson to break open too many big plays – big plays which the Wolverines would need in multitude to pull out a victory.
Though Trent Richardson won’t be making a surprise comeback for the game, pre-season All-Americans Barrett Jones (C) and Chance Warmack (G) should anchor an offensive line that UM’s D-line (though still strong) will struggle mightily with without Mike Martin playing tackle.
Back-up quarterback/wide receiver Devin Gardner of Michigan has been splitting time between the two positions in fall practice, and it seems likely that we’ll see him exclusively at WR on Saturday. Michigan fans are high on Gardner at wide out, and he will certainly face a tough task against one of the top defenses in the country in his debut at the position. He has the physical tools necessary to be successful at receiver, but how he has developed in Brady Hoke’s offense has yet to be seen.
Prediction: Heading into the weekend, Alabama is favored by 14 points, and I don’t think that is enough. I expect Denard to have his worst game statistically as a Wolverine, and for the Crimson Tide to cruise in front of what should be a pro-Alabama crowd in Dallas, and we hear a whole hell of a lot of Rammer Jammer. Final score: Alabama 31, Michigan 10.
As a bonus, I Love You Denard:
Proof that, sooner or later, everyone comes around to love the Irish.
After growing up as a Notre Dame hating, misguided youth, it only took one visit to campus during high school for Twibby to realize the error of his ways. From that point on Twibby and the Irish have had what can only be described as a true Hollywood love story. When he's not reminiscing about his time in South Bend and pondering ways to get a 5th year of eligibility as a student, Twibby writes about Notre Dame and the rest of the college football world for HLS. Along with the Irish, he is a diehard fan of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs with a strange affection for Northwestern Wildcats football.
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