Real Kato Blog: College Football Recap: Week 2

Wow. This will long be remembered as one of Michigan's greatest victories. Michigan rallied from a 17-point deficit entering the third quarter to pull out a victory over Notre Dame with two seconds left on the clock. Meanwhile N.C. State fell to Wake Forest, as I feared.

There were lots of bad things that happened Saturday night. Michigan failed to contain Michael Floyd most of the night, and also ceded big yards on the ground; Notre Dame ended up with 513 yards of offense on the night. A lot of that came as Michigan was zone-blitzing, with DT Mike Martin running away from the line just as the Irish running back Cierre Wood was bursting through it. On offense, Michigan's ground game was mostly ineffective; for all the talk of getting Michigan's running attack more involved in the offense this year, Denard Robinson ended up with 108 of Michigan's 114 yards rushing. And in the passing attack, Robinson made a number of poor decisions that resulted in interceptions. And in the first half, it seemed like no receiver could make a catch.

But there were good things, and then there were really good things. Denard's ability to scramble and keep plays alive resulted in several big plays through the air. Michigan's receivers made up for their early drops by grabbing several jump balls out of the air, including one for the game-winning touchdown. And Greg Mattison's risky zone-blitzing schemes confused the ND quarterback Tommy Rees enough to result in two critical interceptions.

And there was more than a little luck on Michigan's side too. When fullback Stephen Hopkins fumbled the ball on a goal line dive, it fell right to Denard Robinson, who picked it up and rushed in for a touchdown. At that point it seemed like Michigan was a team of destiny.

In the end, the lead changed hands three times in the last three minutes. Michigan's last drive: 64 yard pass to Jeremy Gallon with 23 seconds left; 16 yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with 8 seconds left; Michigan Stadium pandemonium with 2 seconds left.

By all rights, Notre Dame should have won the game. They were the better team, on both sides of the ball. But with a few lucky bounces, and a desperate determination for sixty minutes of play, Michigan willed themselves to victory.

Grades: Offense C, Defense C. The lack of any kind of organized rushing attack was worrisome; the passing game was inaccurate; and Denard made several poor decisions. But they did show an ability to make big plays. The defense was similarly up-and-down: pass coverage was often poor and the line was dominated by ND's front; but they did come up with five turnovers and some key stops late in the game. Hero of the day: Denard Robinson, who accounted for 446 out of Michigan's 452 yards of offense. Honorable mention to the Michigan receiving corp, who won every jump ball late in the game.

Michigan gets Eastern Michigan next week; they'll have to be careful to avoid a letdown. Although Michigan will be a multiple-touchdown favorite, Eastern is a surprising 2-0 under former Michigan assistant Ron English, and this would be a bad time to lose focus.

N.C. State 27, Wake Forest 34. Almost exactly as I predicted... N.C. State was simply too inconsistent on offense to sustain touchdown drives (two promising drives early in the game fizzled out and led to field goals). The defense failed to contain Wake Forest quarterback Tanner Price, who lived up to his billing with 297 yards passing. State's late comeback attempt resulted in some good-looking numbers for Mike Glennon, who eventually ended up with 315 yards passing himself; but 128 of those yards came on two big touchdown passes, and not enough came on critical third-down conversion plays.

State gets a cupcake game next week against South Alabama; hopefully that will give the team a chance to refine their technique and tighten up their game.

Other Notable Games

Alabama was too much for Penn State again, winning 27-11. Penn State's quarterbacks are just not good enough to play against this level of competition.

Duke kept it surprisingly close against Stanford for a while, but Stanford pulled away to win it 44-14. Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes in the game.

Nebraska fans were a bit worried as Fresno State led for much of the game. Nebraska finally turned a one point fourth quarter lead into a 42-29 win, but Nebraska should be concerned about the state of their defense.

Virginia Tech struggled a bit against East Carolina but hung on for a 17-10 win.

South Carolina beat Georgia 45-42 in a wild up-and-down game. Mark Richt is now 0-2 and officially in the hot seat again.

Oregon stomped Nevada 69-20, bouncing back well from their week 1 loss to LSU.

Toledo almost pulled off the shocker against Ohio State, but eventually lost 27-22 as Toledo's final drive failed at the OSU 17 yard line. Ohio State fans should be very worried; they do not look like a championship team.

Auburn scored a minor upset against Mississippi State, winning 41-34. Mississippi State had a chance to score a game-tying touchdown late in the game but fell just inches short.

Norfolk State was winning 12-10 against Virginia Tech at the half; then Virginia Tech remembered there was a football game going on and scored the next 45 points.

Texas squeaked by BYU 17-16, with backup quarterback Case McCoy leading the comeback drive in the fourth quarter.

UNC beat Rutgers in an ugly 24-22 game.

Clemson avoided an upset bid by Wofford 35-27.

Tennessee improved to 2-0 with a good win over Cincinnati, 45-23.

Virginia beat Indiana 34-31 on a last-second field goal.

Minnesota lost to New Mexico State 28-21. Minnesota coach Jerry Kill was hospitalized after collapsing on the sideline with 20 seconds remaining in the game.

Purdue lost to Rice 24-22. Oh, Purdue.

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