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Punt returner Steve Breaston of Michigan crumbles under the weight of a host of Notre Dame defenders.Notre Dame 17, U-M 10
U-M drops the ball
Henne and the offense sabotage a strong effort from the defense with an interception, fumble.
Tight end Tyler Ecker was Chad Henne's main target against the Irish. Ecker caught a team-high seven passes for 74 yards.
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ANN ARBOR -- The focus for so long has been Michigan's defense, or lack thereof.
But this time, the offense was a glaring no-show.
A bundle of injuries to starters and the weakest performance of quarterback Chad Henne's young career made it a difficult, error-prone afternoon for the third-ranked Wolverines.
Michigan had its share of chances, and its defense reappeared -- rejuvenated, aggressive and fairly unyielding -- but it could not overcome Notre Dame on Saturday, losing 17-10 at Michigan Stadium.
The 20th-ranked Irish had not won here since 1993 but now have won four of the last six meetings with the Wolverines.
"We just made too many mistakes in the red zone," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "You can't get the football down there and give it away like we did and expect to win a game like this."
Making things more difficult for the Michigan offense was yet another wave of injuries.
Starting tailback Mike Hart left the game late in the first quarter because of an apparent injury to his left hamstring.
The Wolverines entered the game down a second starting offensive lineman.
Mike Kolodziej, the replacement for starting right tackle Jake Long, who suffered an injured left ankle before the season started, didn't play because of an undisclosed injury.
Starting tight end Tim Massaquoi also missed the game because of a broken arm suffered in the season opener.
"We have no excuses here, we've never made excuses, we never will, but we've been a very unlikely football team from an injury standpoint right from the beginning of this fall training camp," Carr said.
"We had problems protecting the quarterback."
Michigan certainly had opportunities, but it was 0-for-3 in the red zone against Notre Dame thanks to an interception, losing the ball on downs and a fumble.
With 19 seconds left in the first quarter, Michigan got the ball in fine field position at its 44. Steve Breaston's 30-yard gain on a reverse put U-M at the Notre Dame 26. It got no closer than the 21 and settled for 38-yard field goal by Garrett Rivas to make it 7-3.
Michigan opened the second half with a skillful drive, reaching the Notre Dame 13. But a poor throw by Henne, intended for tight end Tyler Ecker in the right side of the end zone, was intercepted.
"It was a poor decision," Henne said. "I figured they would have man-to-man coverage on Tyler, and I figured he would cross his face, but the safety made a great play. I just didn't take care of the ball down there."
In the fourth quarter, two drives were squashed by errors. Dave Harris forced a fumble, giving Michigan the ball at the Notre Dame 18. Henne overthrew Jason Avant in the end zone on third down. With about six minutes left, Henne fumbled on a sneak, and Notre Dame recovered in the end zone.
Initially, Henne was ruled down before the fumble. But Notre Dame requested a review, and officials said it was a fumble.
"It was both our faults," Henne said of his exchange with center Adam Kraus. "I should have stayed in longer. I can't do anything about it. It's gone. It happened."
Henne, a sophomore, was an unremarkable 19-of-44 for 223 yards and a touchdown -- a 25-yarder to Mario Manningham with 3:47 left for the game's final score.
"It wasn't his best performance," Carr said succinctly.
With Hart out, Michigan went with freshman tailback Kevin Grady, who had 18 carries for 79 yards. Ecker made seven catches for 74 yards and Avant five for 90 yards.
On the positive side for the Wolverines, Carr said he felt they had found a defense after it had been widely dismissed as incapable.
Notre Dame finished with 244 yards of offense and was 4-for-15 on third down. It gained a paltry 56 yards in the second half.
"We lost a football game, but I think we found a defense," Carr said. "I liked the way we played from a standpoint of effort and aggressiveness. I thought we were very physical. That's the kind of defense, if we can maintain that kind of effort, we'll have a good football team."
The defense looked a bit off during the opening drive. Notre Dame came out in a no-huddle, five-wide set and was almost flawless in going 76 yards in 12 plays.
Although Carr said the no-huddle did not surprise Michigan, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said the move obviously was calculated for several reasons.
"I wanted to take the crowd out of the game," he said. "This was a no-huddle offense, but this was not a hurry-up offense, they're two different things. This was so that I didn't have to have guys not hear the play in the huddle."
Brady Quinn was 19-of-30 for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and Darius Walker gained 107 yards.
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