Motivated Hart tastes victory again

For captain Mike Hart, it was time to remember the taste of victory.

“I was just telling the team I lost the taste of winning for a while,” Hart said. “I hadn’t won a game in a while – four games – so we got that victory. I got that taste back in my mouth, and we want to keep winning.”

To solidify his guaranteed victory, Hart carried the ball 35 times. He ran for 187 yards. He scored two touchdowns.

Mission accomplished.

“I knew coming into the game I was going to have to perform, because you can’t say something like that and not perform,” Hart said.

In his post-game press conference, Hart quickly pointed out he meant no disrespect toward Notre Dame with last week’s comments.

Carr mirrored his player’s thoughts, making a guarantee of his own.

“There’s nobody that has greater respect for Notre Dame than we do at Michigan and than I do as the head coach here,” Carr said. “It was simply I think out of frustration that Mike made that statement because he was trying to encourage his own teammates and make a statement for his team. It certainly was out of no lack of respect for Notre Dame, I guarantee you that.”

After recording nearly 200 yards on the ground, Hart jumped up to No. 3 on Michigan’s all-time rushing list. He passed Tyrone Wheatley with a five-yard carry late in the third quarter.

“The only thing that matters is No. 1, and this team being No. 1, that’s all I’m focused on,” Hart said. “If we keep winning and I keep moving up, it’s cool.”

Happy trails?: Junior cornerback Johnny Sears was listed on the team’s dress list before the game, but once the team took the field, he was nowhere to be seen. With message board rumors swirling that Sears had been dismissed from the Wolverines, Carr was asked following the game whether or not Sears was still with the team.

“I don’t have any comment on that right now,” Carr said.

Carr was also tight-lipped about Chad Henne’s condition. The senior quarterback wasn’t on the sidelines for Saturday’s game after suffering a lower leg injury against Oregon. He helped with playcalling from upstairs.

Carr would only say that he would list Henne as “day-to-day” and declined to provide a timetable for his return.

Not-so-good-time-Charlie: Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis wishes he could restart the season. With an 0-3 start and the worst offense in the nation, the Irish are in a tailspin. But since Weis can’t travel back in time, he’s planning on doing the next closest thing.

“We’re starting training camp tomorrow,” Weis said. “We’ve already talked to the players – they’re going early to get their treatment, and they’re not watching this game, because obviously, after three games in, the team’s headed in the wrong direction.”

Later on in his press conference, a Notre Dame media relations official tried winding up the questioning. Weis stopped the man saying everyone would get his chance to ask him questions.

“Hey, I’ll get you,” Weis said to a reporter trying to ask him a question. “I’m not going anywhere,” “I’m going to take my beating like a man, just like we just did. I’m not going anywhere.”

If his training camp approach doesn’t work, Weis and his Irish may have more beatings in their immediate future.

“I obviously am embarrassed by that performance out there,” Weis said. “As I always do, I’ll take full accountability for our team playing like that, but the bottom line is we’re really not getting good at anything.”