Irish Give Michigan a Lesson : College football: Moeller doesn’t like what he learns about his No. 3-ranked Wolverines in 27-23 loss at Ann Arbor.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Good thing Michigan Coach Gary Moeller wears those industrial-size headphones on the sidelines. Otherwise, he might have suffered permanent ear damage from the boos that began in the second quarter and continued late into the fourth of Saturday’s 27-23 loss to Notre Dame.

“We found out a lot about our team this week,” Moeller said of the late, great No. 3-ranked Wolverines. “It was not good.”

Who knows how these things happen. Notre Dame was ranked No. 11, but in last week’s game against Northwestern, the Irish played like a team headed to the Poulan-Weed Eater Independence Bowl come late December. Notre Dame won, but not by much.

No wonder Michigan felt good about its chances against the Irish. Michigan had Heisman Trophy candidate Tyrone Wheatley. Notre Dame had . . . well, the less said about the Irish running game, the better. Michigan also had wide receivers galore, a home crowd that would number 106,851 and lots of motivation: The Wolverines entered the game 1-4-1 against Notre Dame in the last six tries.

Meanwhile, Irish Coach Lou Holtz was busy perfecting his damage-control skills. Not only did he have to attend to his team’s dismal running attack, but he had to find a replacement for injured starting linebacker Anthony Peterson and a dependable backup for quarterback Kevin McDougal--just in case. His kicking game was suspect and, according to a recently published tell-all book about the Notre Dame program, so were his coaching methods and scruples.

“This is probably the most difficult situation I’ve seen a football team come in,” Holtz said.

So he went to work. First on his own team, then on the media, then on Michigan.

“I can’t say we were angry,” said linebacker Pete Bercich, “but we were motivated. I tell you, I was as fired up coming on the field as I’ve ever been. I’m sure the other guys were, too. A tears-in-the-eyes kind of thing.”

Holtz spent the entire week preaching two messages: fundamentals and respect. Nobody will make a movie about it, but the sermons worked. Holtz is 26-13-1 against ranked teams.

“He made us go through every play the right way,” McDougal said of Holtz’s meticulous ways.

And when Holtz wasn’t teaching, he was lecturing. The book--”Under the Tarnished Dome: How Notre Dame Betrayed Its Ideals for Football Glory”--was never mentioned specifically by Holtz, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make his displeasure known. He also made it a point to inflate McDougal’s ego and to challenge the Irish’s manhood.

“We had a little meeting,” is all Holtz would say.

Said Bercich: “He just made it evident to us that these are the formative years of your life. It was, ‘What kind of man are you going to become?’ A man-or-mouse type of thing.”

That meek squeak you heard Saturday was Michigan, not Notre Dame. The Wolverines, whose 20-game regular-season unbeaten streak was ended, never had a lead. At one point, they trailed, 17-3, in the second quarter. In the third, they trailed, 27-10. By then, Moeller had heard enough boos to last a lifetime. He was even booed when the stadium public address announcer informed the crowd about the Michigan coach’s weekly television show.

Michigan fans couldn’t believe what was happening. McDougal, who had spent his first three seasons at Notre Dame as Rick Mirer’s caddie, was completing passes and gaining yards as if it were a scrimmage against walk-ons. He completed 12 of 21 passes for 208 yards and didn’t come close to throwing an interception. He also rushed for 66 yards, including 43- and six-yard scoring runs.

“I told the quarterback we’re going to make Kevin McDougal look all-world this week,” Holtz said.

It happened. McDougal didn’t make a noticeable mistake. In an afternoon’s time, he put an end to any questions concerning Notre Dame’s quarterback depth chart.

There were other heroes as well. When the Wolverines were within seven points early in the second period, Notre Dame backup wide receiver Michael Miller returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown. The extra point gave the Irish a 17-3 lead.

Miller, of course, was the same guy who two years earlier made his playing debut at Michigan Stadium and bombed. Heralded as the next Rocket Ismail, Miller had three kickoff returns for 19 yards that day and dropped out of school the next week.

He’s back, just in case Michigan didn’t notice.

Also back is the Notre Dame rushing game, which totaled 163 yards. And Holtz might want to thank the Irish secondary for its work. Notre Dame intercepted three of Todd Collins’ passes, all in the second half. One of the pickoffs resulted in an Irish field goal and the other two ended Michigan drives.

Still, the Wolverines did what they could, especially Wheatley, who had 146 of Michigan’s 151 rushing yards. He also averaged 33 yards on four kickoff returns.

And with 34 seconds to play, Michigan had a chance for a miracle comeback. Collins found receiver Mercury Hayes in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. Michigan kicked the extra point to make it 27-24.

But a delay-of-game penalty nullified the kick. As the referees marked off the yardage, Moeller changed his mind and went for the two-point conversion. Bad move. Collins’ pass was incomplete and that was that. Notre Dame recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

As the final seconds ticked off, Holtz was lifted atop his players’ shoulders and given a ride to midfield. All things considered, he deserved it.