SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The popular theory is that weird, usually painful situations plague Michigan at Notre Dame Stadium.
The pain came as heavy as the rain Saturday, but very little could be blamed on the fabled "mystique."
The Wolverines lost this one all on their own, fumbling seven times, losing four of them, three that led to touchdowns, topped off by two fatal interceptions midway through the fourth quarter.
The 35-17 loss to Notre Dame was a morass of missed opportunities, poor decisions and atrocious fundamentals.
"I'm obviously disappointed in our execution," coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We certainly didn't help ourselves early with some turnovers. Turnovers will hurt you anytime, but really discouraging is what I call the unforced errors -- nobody knocking the ball out, kicking the ball out, just dropping the ball. Guys are trying hard. ... It's nothing other than just telling them to relax and take care of the ball."
Michigan (1-2) dug a 14-0 hole four minutes into the game, having fumbled twice deep in its own end -- once on muffed lateral by tailback Brandon Minor, and once on a kickoff reception by Michael Shaw -- and both times Notre Dame punished the Wolverines with quick touchdowns.
The Irish pushed their lead to 21-0 just 11 minutes into the game after a Michigan drive stalled and Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen burned the U-M secondary on a 48-yard touchdown pass.
"It was just momentum on their behalf, a few mistakes turned into more mistakes, and we're in a hole off the bat," cornerback Morgan Trent said.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable hole, the Wolverines' offense found a rhythm. By the end of the first half, they had 244 yards of offense and trailed by only 11. They even had a chance to cut the margin to four with just over 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. It was about to be a toss-up game with the ball at Notre Dame's 5-yard line and U-M marching. But Kevin Grady fumbled trying to push for extra yardage, and the drive was lost.
Three of the next four Michigan drives ended with a turnover -- quarterback Steven Threet's fumble gave Notre Dame (2-0) the cushion touchdown as Brian Smith brought it back 35 yards.
While Michigan produced an impressive offensive game with nearly 400 yards, mistakes at crucial times negated any credit.
Even though one fumble was by Threet, he and tailback Sam McGuffie were the offensive bright spots, with McGuffie totaling 178 yards of offense and a few dominant highlights.
For those who thought there was a quarterback controversy, backup quarterback Nick Sheridan ended that by throwing interceptions on his two drives -- one inside the Notre Dame 20 -- ending any chance Michigan had to win.
The six U-M turnovers were the most since 1992 versus Illinois. The four lost fumbles were the most in a game since U-M faced Memphis in 1995.
But at least one Wolverine wasn't convinced by anything other than the scoreboard.
With Michigan outgaining Notre Dame, 388-260, holding the ball for five minutes more and the U-M defense allowing just 72 yards and no offensive points in the second half, there were still some believers.
"We don't have our heads down because we know who the better team was," defensive back Steve Brown said, referring to Michigan. "They beat us today. It happens, but in our hearts we know we're the better team."
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