Michigan Honors Its Past (Present Isn't Bad, Either) ANN ARBOR, Mich. - There was tradition in Michigan Stadium on Saturday night, even if it was only the second time the university hosted a night game. Before the game, Michigan honored its past with a legacy jersey, giving the No. 98 of its first Heisman Trophy winner, Tom Harmon, to quarterback Devin Gardner. His favorite receiver, Jeremy Gallon, was issued Desmond Howard's No. 21 before the season. Wearing the numbers of former greats, the duo hooked up for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 41-30 victory against Notre Dame in front of an announced crowd of 115,109, an N.C.A.A. record for a football game. It was the last scheduled meeting between these teams here for at least the next decade. It was a career performance for each player. Gardner, a redshirt junior, was 21 for 33 passing for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns. He added a touchdown run on the ground, compiling 82 yards on 13 carries. Gallon, a fifth-year senior, totaled 184 yards and 3 touchdowns, both of which were career highs. Gardner said Gallon was "like a little bulldog," adding, "We've worked so hard since I've got here. We finally got a chance to display it. The Fighting Irish controlled the line of scrimmage from the start. Michigan scored the first 10 points of the game but could not get any push from its interior line as the Irish forced the Wolverines to rely on outside pitches and the passing game. Running back Fitzgerald Toussaint was held to 71 yards on 22 carries - 3.2 yards per carry. Ultimately, it did not matter. Gardner and Gallon were good enough to make up the difference. In the middle of the second quarter, a pass-interference call in the end zone gave the Wolverines a first-and-goal on the 2-yard line. Gardner audibled to send his fullback from the backfield to the line, and had to corral a high snap with the play clock winding down. The play was an option. Gardner read it perfectly, cutting back behind his offensive line and into the end zone to give Michigan a 17-10 lead. The Wolverines led the rest of the way, although the Fighting Irish got to within 4 points in the fourth quarter thanks in part to Gardner's only major mistake of the game. Trying to avoid a safety, he threw a pass directly into the hands of Notre Dame defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt, who dived on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to cut the lead to 34-27. Kyle Brindza made a 40-yard field goal on the Fighting Irish's next possession to pull within, 34-30. "It was a horrible decision," Gardner said of the interception. I told our defense that if they gave us a place to stand, we would finish the game. I'm the quarterback. I have to respond to adversity. Coming into the game, there were concerns about Gardner's decision-making in his first full season as the starting quarterback - he threw two interceptions in Michigan's season opener, and in this rivalry the team that won the turnover battle had not lost a game since 2004. But Gardner made up for that miscue with a long touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, capped by a 4-yard scoring pass to Drew Dileo. That touchdown was made possible by two pass interference penalties against the Fighting Irish, both of which came on third down. It was the 5-foot-8 Gallon who was Gardner's favorite target. He finished with eight receptions, a game high. "We've been working with each other since he first got here," Gallon said of him and Gardner. It's been a brotherhood between us and we won't let anything change that. What does appear to be changing, though, is this rivalry, which is stalled for the foreseeable future after the Fighting Irish called an end to the series after the 2014 season. Next year's game will be in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame said it faced scheduling conflicts because of its agreement to play five teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, which left the Michigan game off the schedule, replaced by a matchup with Syracuse. "I'm going back to the Michigan teams I coached on as an assistant," Michigan Coach Brady Hoke said. There are just certain games you get very excited about, those rivalry games. I don't think there was any kind of anger, we just want to win. Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon said last week that the teams, which first met in 1887, will not meet again in Ann Arbor until at least the next decade. In 2015, Michigan's nonconference home schedule features Oregon State, Nevada-Las Vegas and Brigham Young, three programs that have played a combined five games against the Wolverines. Saturday was the 41st meeting between Notre Dame and Michigan, but it is unclear how many more will occur after No. On Saturday, none of that mattered as a record crowd watched Gardner and Gallon have career games wearing jerseys of former Wolverine greats, adding to an already memorable rivalry, however short-lived it may be.