Wimbush lead Irish to win over Wolverines

Notre Dame 24, Michigan 17

The MichiganNotre Dame series returned after a threeyear hiatus and the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish became the latest rival to get the best of Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines.

Brandon Wimbush connected on a long touchdown pass to help Notre Dame jump out to a big first-half lead, Te’von Coney and the defense made it stand with a late takeaway, and the Fighting Irish beat No. 14 Michigan 24-17 on Saturday night.

A green-out crowd welcomed the Wolverines back to Notre Dame Stadium and the Fighting Irish scored on their first two drives against a defense loaded with future NFL draft picks. Chris Finke hauled in a deep throw from Wimbush that went through a defender’s hands in traffic for a 43-yard score to put Notre Dame up 14-0 midway through the first half.

Wimbush, who had to re-establish himself as the starter in the offseason after a rough end to 2017, was 12 for 22 for 170 yards and an interception and ran for 59 yards.

“It just feels like playing football again,” Wimbush said. “I just had so much fun out there, playing ball and just not worrying about anything else.”

Jafar Armstrong’s second touchdown, a 4-yard run with 3:55 left in the second quarter made it 21-3. Ambry Thomas gave the Wolverines a much-needed jolted with a 99-yard touchdown on the ensuing kickoff, but otherwise the Michigan debut of quarterback Shea Patterson was mostly disappointing.

Michigan’s only offensive touchdown came with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter, when Karan Higdon rushed in from 3 yards to cut the lead to seven.