SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -The Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry has had a little bit of everything.
There have been last-second field goals made and missed, seasons ignited and derailed, campaigns for the Heisman launched and hobbled. Michigan has “The Victors” as its fight song, the winged helmet, the Big House. The Fighting Irish have the “Notre Dame Victory March,” the Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus.
The Irish and Wolverines have played 27 times since The Associated Press poll began in 1936. Twenty-five times at least one team has been ranked, 21 times both have been ranked and eight times they were both ranked in the top 10.
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The most common theme in the rivalry has been hard feelings, if not downright hatred. The theme for Saturday’s game at Michigan might be respect.
Both programs are trying hard to get back among college football’s elite programs, ones that challenge for national championships with regularity. Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has been on the hot seat for some time and second-year Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez joined him after last season’s 3-9 campaign.
Still, there’s no bad blood between the two coaches – not like in the past between these two storied programs.
A disagreement over player eligibility and general dislike between Knute Rockne and Fielding Yost kept the two teams from playing from 1911 until 1942, and then it was just a two-game series.
They didn’t start playing again regularly until 1978. It’s a bit odd considering the series started in 1887 when some Michigan students traveled to South Bend to teach the game to Notre Dame students.
“That’s how it began. It’s the teacher and the student,” said former Michigan star running back Jamie Morris, who now works for the university. “That’s what makes it special.”
ring his Heisman Tropy-winning season – a victory that snapped a four-game Irish winning streak in the series.
Most players involved in this year’s game don’t know a lot about the history. They just know that it’s a game that’s been played all their lives and a game they badly want to win.
“The tradition between Notre Dame and Michigan is outrageous,” Irish tailback Armando Allen Jr. said. “It’s not another game. It means a lot to us, it means a lot to them.”
The game has more meaning for some.
Fighting Irish tailback Jonas Gray is from Pontiac, Mich., and went to Detroit Country Day School, where he was a teammate of Michigan linebacker Kenny Demens. He got a text this week from Michigan safety Troy Woolfolk “talking a little junk.”
He also knows Michigan linebacker Obi Ezeh and cornerback Boubacar Cissoko, as well as former Wolverines Braylon Edwards and Howard. Gray even grew up cheering for the Wolverines.
Still, he was open to listening to Notre Dame because one of his favorite players from the Detroit area, Jerome Bettis, had played for the Irish. He was even more interested in hearing from the Irish after learning Michigan coaches weren’t sure he was fast enough to be a tailback.
“I’m not going to lie. When that happened, I did kind of want to go to a school that played them,” he said.
gan at .740 and Notre Dame at .737, the game has lost a bit of luster in recent years.
They haven’t both been ranked in the top 10 at game time since 1994, although they came close in 2006 when the Irish were No. 2 and Michigan was No. 11. The Wolverines won 47-21 and lead the overall series 20-15-1. The past two years marked the first time since the poll began that neither was ranked when they played.
The buzz is back after the 18th-ranked Irish (1-0) beat Nevada 35-0 last week and Michigan (1-0) defeated Western Michigan 31-7. Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said that’s the way it should be.
“I would always think Michigan-Notre Dame is always going to have a national tone,” he said. “It’s one of the greatest rivalries there is, and it’s a game that has great passion from the fan following.”
Michigan fans chanted “Beat the Irish!” during last week’s game. Both teams are hoping a win Saturday could be a further sign they are headed in the right direction.
“I think the team is taking a very good approach about let’s take this game not just one game at a time, but just this is the next step in our progression to becoming an upper-level team,” Weis said.
That’s a bit of change in tradition. In the past, the pair were upper-level teams heading into the game and the talk of a national championship came with a victory.
They’ll get more chances: The teams are scheduled to play each other annually through 2031.
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