Michigan @ N.D Michigan Pick ? Thoughts ?

Notre Dame can win this game and still have a decent season but they need to get away from the 50-50 balance on offense, they just need to run  enough to A) Keep your opponent guessing and B) Take advantage of their weaknesses as much as possible.  My favorite example of this comes from week two of the 2002 NFL season, when the Pittsburgh Steelers took on Rich Gannon and the Oakland Raiders.  The Raiders were a fantastic passing team, as Gannon would win the MVP and lead the team to the Super Bowl tossing it to Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown.  The Steelers, however, were absolutely laughable in their pass defense ( I am a huge Steeler Fan so I can say this) (I assure you, it was hilarious, with only the 2004-2006 Irish coming close to matching them in secondary hijinx).  So the Raiders had Gannon throw a staggering 64 times, and when they did mix in the run, Charlie Garner looked like Barry freaking Sanders.  I'm not suggesting a ratio that wild, but seriously, let's not line up with two tight ends and ineffective fullback to run at an opponent's strength just because it makes you feel like more of a man.

The last three seasons against Michigan, the Irish have scored four relevant touchdowns ( seriously, four touchdowns in three games?).  In those drives, the Irish were in a no-huddle, quasi-hurry up, with no drive lasting longer than four minutes and twenty-five seconds (one was a two play drive after a turnover, so kindly disregard it).  There was a steady helping of Darius Walker in those drives, but he was doing what he does best - finding cracks on draws after Brady Quinn, either threw throwing it or simply reputation, had established the pass and had the defensive line getting up-field too recklessly.  While Robert Hughes is more of a downhill runner than D-Walk, both he and Armando Allen are more than capable of finding holes without a lead blocker in front of them.   The Defense was solid last game and will be tough all year.  Should be able to get revenge against the Maize and Blue