Carr puts the barking dogs to rest -- for a few days, anyway

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- By halftime, even the geniuses running firelloydcarrnow.com had seen enough to take the rest of the weekend off.

And so maybe even more galling than the broad smile Michigan coach Lloyd Carr wore after his 11th-ranked Wolverines clocked No. 2 Notre Dame, at least as far as the bitter Web masters and barking talk-show hosts calling for his head were concerned, was the expression on Carr's face heading into the locker room at the intermission.

Normally, Carr regards sideline reporters the way he does unopened packages from Ohio State -- with plenty of suspicion and a scowl that suggests nothing good can happen next. But when an NBC sideline reporter caught up to Carr heading into the locker room at halftime, already ahead 23 points in a game Michigan would win 47-21, he was downright talkative. And smiling.

Carr always knows how talented the Wolverines are; after all, he recruited them. This time, though, he had a sense of how committed this bunch might be, too.

"We've had to deal with all the negative things that surround the football team and a program when things aren't going your way. So now we'll see," Carr said afterward. "We've handled that pretty well during the offseason, the preseason and the first three games.

"Now we're going to have to deal with some other issues. But I'm extremely happy for this team, that they could come in here, and have some success today."

Carr's kids returned the love by giving him a Gatorade bath with 48 seconds left, just one indication of how much this game mattered. Most people carrying around a resume as complete as Carr's -- one national title, five more championships in the Big Ten, a 105-34 record, few graduation issues and none with the NCAA -- don't play games that really matter until late in the season.

But just like Charlie Weis is learning about South Bend, few people in Ann Arbor will afford Carr that luxury. His seat gets hot the moment the first kickoff is in the air, and the mercury only climbs from there on out.

"Everybody said the first two teams we played weren't any good. This was going to be our big test. Well," said Michigan defensive lineman LaMarr Woodley, "we passed the test today."

A little of the air goes out of college football balloon every time Notre Dame loses, but especially early in the season. That's because the Irish are their sport's version of the Yankees -- the team everyone loves or loves to hate -- and every loss shoves the national championship a little farther out of their reach. Man, does Carr ever know how that feels.

Before Saturday, he'd lost six straight road openers, was 0-6 against Notre Dame, Ohio State and the Wolverines' last two bowl opponents -- Texas and Nebraska -- and nearly 80 percent of his losses came against lower-ranked opponents. He was coming off a 7-5 season.

"They've been much maligned coming into the game," Weis said, after beginning his news conference with a nod to his counterpart. "I have a lot of respect for coach Carr. I think it's really important to understand that team just came in and whupped us pretty good."

It began on the second play of the game, when Wolverines linebacker Prescott Burgess grabbed a tipped pass and returned it 31 yards untouched for a score. That domination on both sides of the ball only became more evident the longer the game wore on, suggesting that the talent pool is still surprisingly shallow at Notre Dame, and that the echoes Weis is supposed to have awakened aren't quite booming loud enough to merit a No. 2 ranking.

Fact is, no more than a half-dozen current Irish players would get considerable playing time at Michigan. That explains in part why Weis, 15 games into his college career after a long apprenticeship under certified NFL wizard Bill Belichick, is still lionized. And why Carr, with a record and a clean program deserving praise, is still facing plenty of scorn.

Maybe that's why, after all this time, he was genuinely surprised when a reporter asked afterward, "How important was it to you to get that elusive win in South Bendfi

"Mefi" Carr said, then paused.

"Well, as I said when I started, if you're in enough of these games, you're going to win some and you're going to lose some. The ones that you lose, they hurt."

Carr went on to explain what was special about Michigan-Notre Dame, about the fierce competition and the mutual respect, but it was clear a part of that question was still gnawing at him.

"There's always some issues going that people will sometimes make more than they are," he said. "So as a coach, when you can win against a rival like that, believe me, it's special, because it's hard.

"I mean, the credit, it sure as hell doesn't go to me," Carr added. "Those guys out on the field, they played the game."

The once, at least, they played it exactly the way Carr wanted. And if that little smile he allowed himself at halftime was any indication, they just might continue playing like that all the way until the final whistle on a long season is blown.

"We proved a little bit," running back Michael Hart said, "but we have a lot to do."

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Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C2.