John Walters

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - On a day in which South Bend received nearly six inches of rainfall, Notre Dame Stadium resembled a reservoir. Rivulets of water flowed down the aisles of the ancient stadium, creating tiny tributaries that emptied onto the field. The field was transformed into a watershed of sorts. Those who were here may tell you that they bore witness to a watershed moment in the Charlie Weis era as well.

Did they? We don’t wish to rain on their parade — there’s been enough precipitation for one day — but it may be premature to proclaim the 2-0 Irish as having wakened the echoes.

Notre Dame beat Michigan 35-17 amidst a deluge of rain and Wolverine turnovers. The inexperienced Wolverines committed six turnovers, losing four of seven fumbles and throwing a pair of interceptions. Michigan’s munificence made for a happy homecoming for former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz on the 22^nd anniversary of his debut with the Fighting Irish — a 24-23 home loss to Michigan on this date in 1986 that occurred in far more clement weather.

Just as the rains hid the heavens this afternoon, the manner in which the Fighting Irish won disguised whether the Irish are truly improved or simply opportunistic. Perhaps the best answer for now is that they are both.

Notre Dame led 14-0 before they even had to take a snap beyond the red zone. It was 21-0 with 4:51 remaining in the first quarter and a flash-flood warning was in effect. Wolverine fans were being advised to evacuate the stadium while Gary Tuchman and Geraldo Rivera pored over non-stop flight schedules from Houston to South Bend.

It was a deluge…between the actual meteorological deluges.

The rain began in the wee hours of Saturday morning. It fell steadily, and in torrents, all morning. Parking lots became wading pools and Notre Dame officials had to close part of White Field parking lot, one of the largest game day lots.

By noon the rain had stopped and the field, which had been covered since early Friday morning, was dry. The Wolverines handled the football, though, as if the cloudburst had not ceased. On three of the first seven plays in which they touched the ball — two of them kickoffs — Michigan fumbled. Two of the three were lost.

“Well, I mean, we didn’t even get to the (scripted plays) until after the first two touchdowns had been scored,” said Weis, who suffered a torn MCL and ACL in the second quarter when Irish defensive end John Ryan was blocked into him on the sideline. “The first two plays after that were the first two plays of the openers — they were the first two plays we were going to call.”

Those two plays were both deep patterns. The first, thrown to true freshman Michael Floyd, earned the Irish 15 yards on a pass interference call. On the following play quarterback Jimmy Clausen went over the top of Michigan’s defense, finding Golden Tate on a 48-yard post route for a touchdown.

A week ago the Irish had needed an entire game to score that many points versus lowly San Diego State. And now they were scoring a Weis-era record number of first-quarter points against many of the same Wolverine personnel (seven returning starters) who had blanked them only a year ago?

Had such a score been in anyone’s five-day accu-weather forecast? Hardly. Earlier this week the Detroit News had predicted an outcome of “3-0, Michigan, in five overtimes.”

Clausen’s 48-yard completion to Tate was the longest pass/catch of both sophomores’ fast-blossoming careers. And it would remain so for four more plays. On the fifth, Clausen found Tate on a quick slant-in route, and then Tate juked defenders and broke a tackle or two for a 60-yard gain. Four plays after that, Robert Hughes scored from one yard out and the Irish led 28-10…equaling, midway through the second quarter, their greatest scoring output in regulation time all of last season.

“I thought (Notre Dame) played pretty hard. They made a few big plays,” said first-year Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez who, if not effusive in his praise, at least stopped short of saying, “To hell with Notre Dame.”

What Weis and any poncho-clad ticket-holder inside Notre Dame Stadium should be most enthused about is what the Fighting Irish did not do this afternoon. Golden Tate and the golden helmets did not lose a fumble. They did not commit an offensive penalty. They did not turn the ball over — Clausen tossed a pair of interceptions — on their side of midfield and they did not, for the second consecutive game, allow a sack. In a category in which Notre Dame was last in the nation last season they find themselves, after two games, first. How very Matthew 20:16 of them.

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