Notre Dame Flies by Michigan : Irish’s Ismail Returns 2 Kickoffs for Touchdowns, 24-19

ANN ARBOR, Mich. —  Notre Dame launched a rocket that destroyed Michigan on Saturday.

Raghib Ismail, nicknamed Rocket because of his speed, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in the second half as the top-ranked Fighting Irish beat No. 2 Michigan, 24-19, and took a major step toward defending their national championship.

Ismail, the nation’s leading kick returner last season, ran back the opening kickoff of the second half 88 yards and added a 92-yard return with 12:46 left to give Notre Dame its third straight win over the Wolverines--the first time any school has done that in Bo Schembechler’s 21 seasons as Michigan coach.

“He’s faster than the speed of sound,” Schembechler said. “He may be the best I’ve ever seen. We couldn’t tackle him.”

The two runs were shocking considering that no one had returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Michigan in 32 years. The last to do it was Ron Engel of Minnesota, who had a 95-yarder on Oct. 26, 1957.

“If I make one person miss, we usually do pretty good,” said Ismail, a 175-pound sophomore flanker.

It was the 25th meeting between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams since The Associated Press started its poll in 1936. The top-ranked team now has won 16 times and tied twice.

Notre Dame’s victory on a gloomy, rainy day extended its winning streak to 14, the nation’s longest, and snapped Michigan’s 10-game unbeaten string. It was Michigan’s season opener and the second game for Notre Dame, which beat Virginia 36-13 in the Kickoff Classic on Aug. 31.

“Notre Dame is a better football team than Michigan right now,” Schembechler said. “That may or may not be true at the end of the year.”

As they did in last year’s 19-17 victory, the Fighting Irish shut down Michigan’s vaunted running attack, which features a trio of talented backs and an offensive line that averages 293 pounds per man.

The Wolverines gained only 94 yards on 34 rushes, a sickly 2.7 yards per carry.

“I thought our defense played very well,” Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz said. “We didn’t do anything special. It was just a hard-earned victory.”

Notre Dame led 7-6 at halftime, but Ismail fielded the opening kickoff of the second half at his own 12, cut right and sidestepped kicker J.D. Carlson before racing down the sideline for the score.

Michigan’s chances took another blow on the next series when senior quarterback Michael Taylor was tackled by linebacker Ned Bolcar and bruised his back.

Taylor, who led the Wolverines to a 5-2-1 record before breaking his collarbone last season, was replaced by redshirt freshman Elvis Grbac and did not return.

Grbac completed 17 of 21 passes for 134 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to Derrick Walker and Greg McMurtry. But Ismail, not Elvis, was the king on a day when he broke Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown’s Notre Dame record of three kickoff return touchdowns in a career. Ismail now has four, including two against Rice last year.

“The two kick returns did us in,” Schembechler said. “I was hoping we wouldn’t make so many mistakes in our first game.”

Notre Dame gained 213 yards on the ground, including 80 by fullback Anthony Johnson and 79 by quarterback Tony Rice. Rice threw only two passes and completed one, a 6-yard touchdown to Johnson in the second quarter.

“We played very, very conservatively,” Holtz said. “We didn’t do anything special. We did not want to give Michigan anything that it did not earn.”

Grbac’s 5-yard scoring toss to Walker with 12:58 left capped a 12-play, 61-yard drive that cut Notre Dame’s lead to 17-12. But on the ensuing kickoff, Ismail broke a tackle at his own 25 and dashed down the left side for a touchdown.

Michigan made it 24-19 with 4:08 left on a 4-yard pass from Grbac to McMurtry and then tried on onside kick, but Notre Dame recovered at the Michigan 38 and ran out the clock.

“I think this proves we’re capable of playing anybody in any environment,” Holtz said.

Defense dominated in the first half before 105,912 fans at Michigan Stadium, the 86th consecutive home crowd of more than 100,000 at Ann Arbor.

The game was scoreless until Rice hit Johnson with 5:05 left in the first half. The eight-play scoring drive started when Notre Dame’s Scott Kowalkowski recovered a Taylor fumble at the Michigan 24.

On the next series, Michigan drove 59 yards in 10 plays and scored when Taylor threw a 9-yard pass that a leaping Chris Calloway caught in the right corner of the end zone.

Carlson missed the extra point when the ball hit the left crossbar. Michigan also failed on a 2-point conversion attempt following the touchdown pass from Grbac to Walker.

After stopping Michigan on the opening series, Notre Dame took over on its own 44 and drove to the Michigan 9 following a 23-yard run by Johnson. But Michigan’s defense stiffened and forced Craig Hentrich to attempt a 20-yard field goal, which was wide to the right.