THE WORST OF THE WORST: Michigan Embarrasses Notre Dame, Gets First Win

Rarely do two of college football's most storied programs enter the third week still seeking their first win, but in an unprecedented match-up of mediocrity, winless Notre Dame headed into the Big House to take on also winless Michigan.

While it seemed Michigan's season couldn't get worse after losing to App State and getting spanked by Oregon in consecutive weeks, it was almost as bad for the Irish, who had been handled easily by both Georgia Tech and Penn State.

Could the stakes be any lower?

A rivalry is still a rivalry and Michigan came out with a fire not seen in the two previous games, while Notre Dame kept on sucking. Add those ingredients together and you get a 38-0 Michigan victory. Things might finally be looking up for the Wolverines, but it just keeps getting worse for the Irish.

After allowing 34 and 39 points the Michigan defense finally stepped up, though with offense as bad as Notre Dame, a shutout might not be that great of an accomplishment. RB Mike Hart backed up his words with his play after guaranting a Michigan win, rushing for 187 and 2 scores.
In what might be a future rivalry for years to come, two of the top high school recruits from last year lined up under center for their respective clubs. While few would have guessed that Ryan Mallet would be taking the snaps today, it was #15 that ended up throwing for three TDs clearly outplaying his counterpart, Jimmy Clausen, who looked clueless for the second straight week, being sacked 8 times.

Then again, its hard to blame a frosh QB when your running game is being stuffed for -6 yds and your defense isn't stopping anything.

After two embarrassing losses, Michigan finally has some breathing room and confidence headed into Big Ten play. Meanwhile the Irish have more questions than answers.

After a trip to Michigan State next week, Notre Dame will play Purdue, UCLA, BC and USC.

An 0-8 start may be very realistic, especially since scoring is a vital part of college football today.

And not much about Saturday seemed different than weeks one and two. The Irish defense still sucks, the offense still hasn't scored a touchdown, and Charlie Weis is still fat.

Imagine that.

It may take more than Touchdown Jesus and Rudy combined to save this season.

—C. Nierman