Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Michigan-Notre Dame always important game
College football notebook
Enquirer staff and news services
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The significance of Michigan's game against Notre Dame isn't lost on any of the Wolverines players.
“It's a dream game for any football player,” Wolverines running back Chris Perry said Monday. “Playing in a Michigan-Notre Dame game, it's something you think about when you're little.”
The No. 7 Wolverines (2-0) face the 20th-ranked Fighting Irish (2-0) Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium in the teams' first meeting in three years. Michigan's 815 wins rank first all-time among Division I-A football teams, while Notre Dame is second with 783.
The Fighting Irish have won 75 percent of their games, which ranks No.1 among Division I-A football programs, and the Wolverines rank second with a 74.6 winning percentage.
The two storied programs played 18 times - often in memorable fashion - between 1978-99. The Fighting Irish lead that series 9-8-1, but trail 17-11-1 overall in a matchup that began in 1887.
“I think it's one of the biggest games I'll ever play in,” Michigan defensive end Dan Rumishek said.
When Rumishek was little, he was a Notre Dame fan, like many Irish Catholics growing up near Chicago.
Rumishek said his family - even his uncle, who sports a “Fighting Irish” tattoo - now roots for Notre Dame only when it isn't playing Michigan.
“If you can win at Notre Dame, you can win anywhere,” he said.
MIAMI: Sophomore punter Mike Wafzig won his second Mid-American Conference East Division special teams player of the week honor after averaging 40.8 yards on four punts.
The RedHawks (1-1) travel to LSU (1-1) on Saturday night for their third meeting. The series is tied 1-1 after the Tigers' 35-7 win in 1990. Miami's win was a 21-12 upset of then-No.8 LSU in 1986, the last year Miami won the MAC title and appeared in a bowl game.
KENTUCKY: Quarterback Jared Lorenzen (Highlands) is the Southeastern Conference offensive player of the week after completing 10-of-17 passes for 211 yards and five touchdowns in UK's 77-17 victory over Texas-El Paso.
The Wildcats are 2-0 for the first time in four years and generating a buzz around the Commonwealth that wasn't expected from the program for several years to come.
With home games against Indiana and Middle Tennessee the next two weekends, the team has a legitimate chance to go 4-0 for the first time in nearly two decades heading into its SEC opener at Florida on Sept. 28.
POLL SITTING: Miami's dominating victory at Florida and Oklahoma's shaky victory at home over Alabama increased the Hurricanes' grip on No.1 in both polls. The 'Canes gained 34 No. 1 votes in The Associated Press poll as voters jumped off the Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee and Florida State bandwagons.
Judging from two games, Notre Dame and Texas A&M are two pretenders that are ranked more on name than results.
BCS NIGHTMARE LOOMS: MAC kingpin Marshall could become the Bowl Championship Series' worst nightmare.
If the 16th-ranked Thundering Herd win at 11th-ranked Virginia Tech on Thursday night, they could go undefeated.
That would cause BCS bowl folks to face the public-relations nightmare of passing on a 12-0 team.
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Michigan-Notre Dame always important game
