Coach Jello has had a gargantuan sized monkey on his back for the past 5 years and it's name is Notre Dame. Michigan was 0-4 against the Irish under coach Jello. That monkey is now gone following a 34-24 victory Saturday night.

The game started off very familiarly for Michigan. In every ND game prior to this one ND had a 40+ yard TD run on their first drive. The same happened in this game as Ian Childress busted a 42 yarder for a TD on their 1st possession. Michigan would miss a medium ranged FG to exit the 1st quarter down 7-0. After a 30 yard TD pass to Spence and a Mark Charles 5 yd rushing TD ND took a 14-10 lead into the half.

In the 3rd quarter the wolverines would seize control and never relinquish it. MLB Jarrod Miller took over as he picked off Archie on 2 consecutive possessions and returned 1 for a TD. This, combined with Charles' 1st of 2 TD passes would give Michigan a 24-21 lead after 3.

In the 4th, Charles would hit Banks for a 40 yard pass on 3rd and 18 to keep a TD drive going. With 2 minutes remaining ND, down by 7, forced Michigan to punt the ball. Theo Riddick was lit up right after catching the ball and fumbled it to the Wolverines. This sealed the deal and got Michigan their first victory over ND in this dynasty.

This game had several side story lines in addition to the usual Michigan-Notre Dame game. It featured a #1 vs. #2 matchup. It featured the much anticipated matchup of QBs Devin Archie and Mark Charles, who were both signed during the same year. It also featured 2 star receivers in Deon Spence and Greg Banks who were also recruited the same year as Charles and Spence. Michigan's duo got the better of ND's duo in this game.

Charles played brilliantly in every aspect of the game, especially as a passer

Not only did Charles run the ball well (he led the team with 53 rushing yards), he surprisingly outpassed Archie as well.
Player QBR Comp Att % Yards TD INT
Archie 131.7 18 28 64% 194 2 2
Charles 184.0 20 23 86% 211 2 1

WR Greg Banks, who had a lot of preseason hype with him given permission to don the coveted #1 jersey, had a huge game. He and Spence both caught 8 balls, but Banks was more explosive. Spence ended with 8 rec for 81 yards and 2 TDs. Banks caught 8 for 131 yards and 1 TD.

Next up for the Wolverines is #20 Mississippi State in a rematch of their 2001 Capital 1 Bowl matchup.