COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 2 : Yardstick Favors Wolverines--by a Neck : Nonconference: Notre Dame comes up just short on final drive as Michigan avenges last year’s loss by holding on, 26-22.

That was no “gentleman’s agreement” at game’s end. That was Notre Dame receiver Raki Nelson stretching for the first-down marker and Michigan strong safety Tommy Hendricks stretching Nelson’s neck.

That was a tug-of-war over three feet, one priceless patch of grass, involving players from the two winningest football programs of all time before a modern-day record crowd of 111,523 at Michigan Stadium.

In the end, Irish quarterback Jarious Jackson passed for 302 yards on a day he needed 303.

In the end, Jackson threw a 19-yard strike to Nelson on third and 20, Hendricks stopped Nelson a yard short at the Michigan 12, Notre Dame played beat-the-clock to the line of scrimmage and lost, and Michigan held on to win, 26-22.

Notre Dame and Michigan first met on a football field in 1887 and, although no one is left to recount that one, Saturday’s game has already taken its place in lore.

“I’ll never play Notre Dame again,” senior Michigan nose tackle Rob Renes said with a sense of sadness.

Michigan tailback Anthony Thomas would have loved to tell you about it, except he was in the trainer’s room being treated for dehydration after gaining 142 yards in 32 carries and scoring the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard run with 1:38 left.

That was some one yard too, Thomas slamming off left tackle and bulling over linebacker Anthony Denman at the goal line.

It was one of the fourth quarter’s many mood swings.

A year after spoiling defending national champion Michigan’s 1998 debut with a 36-20 victory at South Bend, it appeared Notre Dame had swung the wrecking ball again with 4:08 to play on Jackson’s seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jabari Holloway to put the Irish up, 20-19.

But this is not your father’s Notre Dame. Already facing its first major NCAA sanctions hit, the Irish then gave the game away with behavior more associated with the Oakland Raiders.

After Jackson and Bobby Brown connected for the two-point conversion, giving Notre Dame a 22-19 lead, Brown was called for taunting in the end zone. What he did was put his hands to his head and wiggle his fingers at the crowd.

“I thought I was 100% sure the penalty was not on me, but the ref called it on me anyway,” Brown said.

It was the last thing Notre Dame needed.

Penalized 15 yards on the kickoff, Jim Sanson’s kick only reached the Michigan 20 and Thomas returned it 22 yards to the 42.

On second and 10, Tom Brady’s 15-yard completion to Shawn Thompson became a 30-yard play when Irish safety Ron Israel was called for a late hit.

The penalty gave Michigan a first down at the Irish 28. Five plays later, Thomas scored on third and goal.

Later, Bob Davie lamented his team’s lack of sportsmanship.

“You can’t have a celebration penalty in a situation like that,” he said of Brown’s blunder. “I don’t care if it was even close. And you can’t have a late hit penalty, even though that was close. I take responsibility for it.”

But the game was still Notre Dame’s to win. Taking over at its own 20 with 1:38 to play, Jackson led one last charge, throwing 36 yards to Nelson on third and 10. Notre Dame had a first down at the Michigan 21 with 41 seconds remaining but, on second down, Dhani Jones sacked Jackson for a 10-yard loss, setting up Jackson’s game-deciding pass to Nelson.

Nelson needed to get to the 11 for a first down, but Hendricks stopped him a yard short. A first down would have stopped the clock and allowed Notre Dame a last-second heave into the end zone.

After Kordell Stewart’s last-second strike to Michael Westbrook at the Big House in 1994, Michigan fans might not have survived a similar finish.

As Nelson lunged for the first down and Hendricks fought to stop him, Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr had a flashback.

“It was a sick feeling,” Carr said. “I was here for the Colorado game. I’ve seen a lot of bad things happen in the last minute or two of a football game. I would not like to go through that again.”

It has been a tough week for Carr. He was ridiculed for playing mind games, claiming Notre Dame had breached a “gentleman’s agreement” for playing Kansas last week in the Eddie Robinson Classic.

After the game, Carr was still moaning about the extra days of practice Notre Dame got to work in because it played an early game.

“You want to call me a whiner, good, call me anything you want,” Carr said.

Carr then screamed at two radio reporters for their coverage of the the Tom Brady/Drew Henson quarterback debate. Carr encouraged a week’s worth of speculation when he would not announce which quarterback would start against Notre Dame.

Carr said both would play, and both did. Brady, the fifth-year senior, made the start and Henson played the second quarter.

Based on his play, Brady earned the right to start the second half, and he finished having completed 17 of 24 passes for 197 yards. Henson was three for eight for 40 yards.

Carr made the right call in sticking with Brady, but the quarterback issue is hardly resolved.

“I didn’t feel it was fair to start one guy and not play the other,” Carr said. “We’re going to see what happens from here.”

It probably won’t matter next week, when Michigan plays host to Rice.

Notre Dame (1-1) doesn’t lose much of its national standing with a hard-fought loss.

“It’s obvious we have enough talent on this team,” Davie said. “It’s obvious we have enough heart on the team.”

Saturday, Notre Dame came up short. A yard short.