It's 2020 (happy new year!) and I have no idea what a VRBO is, but that doesn't matter since I get to enjoy watching my Wolverines play one last game as part of the 2019 season. While it may not be the Grandaddy of Them All, today's game, the Citrus Bowl, is being played on January 1, unarguably the best day for bowl games. You can have your national championship game on February 20 or whenever it is--I'll take New Year's Day any time.
This will be Michigan's fifth appearance in the Citrus Bowl, played in sunny Orlando, a place I wouldn't mind being right now. As things currently stand the Wolverines 3-1 there, beating Arkansas after the '98 season, Auburn after '99, and Florida after 2015 (coach Jim Harbaugh's lone bowl win to date) and losing to Tennessee at the end of the 2001 campaign.
Michigan's opponent today will be a 10-2 Alabama team that lost those two games by a combined eight points to LSU, who's in the title game, and at Auburn in a matchup they dominated statistically. It promises to be a tough day for the 9-3 Wolverines who looked strong at times this year but had difficulty with the best teams on its schedule. The 2012 regular season opener against the Tide, a 41-14 Bama victory, is a good reminder of how overmatched Michigan could be today.
Then again, nobody should forget the Orange Bowl matchup from 20 years ago today, when Tom Brady led the team back from a 14-point deficit only to see a last-second game-winning field goal get blocked. Still, Brady managed to hit TE Shawn Thompson with a beautiful play-action pass on the first play of OT, and when Bama responded with a TD of their own but missed the PAT the Wolverines were victorious.
Michigan's bowl record certainly has room for improvement at 21-26 (and 3-7 in their last 10), and to be honest I don't see that getting any better today against an NFL-ready Bama team that wasn't far from yet another playoff appearance. The 7-8 point line is probably far too generous for this overmatched Wolverines team (which is also down a couple defensive players) hoping to go out on a high note. But you never know, and regardless I'm happy to be rooting on my alma mater one more time this season. Before we look ahead to the 2020 season let's celebrate 2019 one last time. Happy Blue Year!
I'll keep it short today because everyone knows the deal: it's The Game, the one that's always at the end of the regular season, the one that matters the most no matter each team's record. Once again Ohio State is rolling into Ann Arbor with an emphasis on "rolling"--they're 11-0 and have destroyed all comers on their way to another likely playoff appearance. They have a new head coach who can continue the storied Buckeye tradition of winning a lot before leaving in disgrace--Woody, Tressel, and Urban say "hi"--not that the fans remotely care.
This was a true rivalry for the longest time, with each team experiencing peaks and valleys. While the 30s-40s belonged to the Maize and Blue, the 50s-60s leaned scarlet and gray, until an upstart coach named Glenn "Bo" Schembechler came along to even things out.
Michigan enjoyed the mid-70s through the 90s before OSU went on their current 16-2 run. The rivalry produced stars coming up huge in crucial moments like Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson, both of whom cemented Heismans with their performances against the Bucks.
In fact, that '97 game was the final push Michigan needed to win it all.
But the aughts and the 2010s were a low point for Michigan as outgoing coach Lloyd Carr let the game pass him by, and replacements Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke (who won UM's most recent game in 2011) made things worse. Close calls in 2006 and 2013 were just that, and Jim Harbaugh hasn't gotten over that hump yet, though 2016 stands out (J.T. was short!).
Still, Michigan is peaking at the right time, as evidenced by a nice win at Indiana last week that saw the offense perform in a way the fans were hoping they would all offseason. The reality says that OSU wins their 8th straight in the rivalry, but there's always hope, as The Game from 50 years ago reminds us. Win or lose, it's been another fun regular season, and now it's time to leave it all on the field, just the way Bo would have wanted.
There isn't really much to dislike about Indiana, aside from the smell coming from the city of Gary when you're within 25 miles of it, or the existence of Mike Pence. Parks and Recreation was set there, and it's where you can find Bloomington, home of the Hoosiers.
The football team there has rarely been relevant enough to discuss except in the occasional spoiler role, but this season they've done pretty well for themselves in getting to 7-3 with an understandable loss to OSU, a close defeat in Happy Valley last week, and the dubious honor of being the most recent victim of a Michigan State victory...about two months ago.
Speaking of the Spartans, they're still searching for their dignity after getting absolutely pantsed last weekend, showing little fight--except for the literal variety after the whistle--in a 44-10 drubbing. Michigan did just about everything you could ask for as Jim Harbaugh's team continued to display the execution and swagger that's necessary this deep into the season.
They'll need that to continue this afternoon for a 3:30 matchup in Bloomington. Despite the ugly record above, Indiana has often pushed the Wolverines to the brink, somehow finding a way to play their best game of the season when this game rolls around. Sure, Michigan hasn't lost in this series since 1987 (and before that, 1967) but there's been some close ones, and a few instant classics.
Who could forget Wangler-to-Carter in '79, setting off a Bob Ufer celebration for the ages? Or the close call 10 years ago that saw Rich Rodriguez's team escape with a 36-33 win by the skin of their teeth? Even Jim Harbaugh joined the part in his first season as head coach with an insane 48-41 2OT finish in 2015 that included a last-second FG by the Wolverines to get to the extra period.
As for this afternoon, I'm hoping for more of the same team from this season since halftime of the Penn State game, which has outscored its opponents 107-38. Maybe the offense could resemble the one from the 2013 game, in which QB Devin Gardner, RB Fitz Toussaint, and WR Jeremy Gallon hung 63 on Indiana--though the defense should look elsewhere for inspiration instead of allowing Indiana 47 points. I absolutely believe Michigan isn't overlooking Indiana with The Game looming next weekend, so I'm looking for the same effort over the last few. Beat the Hoosiers and then get ready for the Buckeyes.
Rivalry game #2 happens today at noon as Michigan State makes the short trip to Ann Arbor on a frosty day where there's plenty of snow left on the ground thanks to a stronger-than-expected storm earlier in the week. Sour-faced hypocrite Mark Dantonio "leads" his 4-5 team, losers of their last four, into Michigan Stadium for the annual game he actually cares about.
This is a series that's been dominated by the Wolverines overall, with the occasional stretch where the Spartans take over for a bit, after which things return to normal. I grew up on Michigan being in charge, seeing my team take 18 of 25 games after I was born. It was a "rivalry" in name only, with the other team vanquished without an issue or a one-off loss, sometimes attributed to brutal refereeing. So I never really had much hate for Michigan State growing up--they didn't really warranty any.
It's no coincidence that things started slipping in favor of East Lansing after Michigan's disarray once Lloyd Carr retired and Dantonio arrived in EL--State has taken eight of the last 11, and the Wolverines haven't even won at home since 2012. MSU even got an extreme case of good fortune in Jim Harbaugh's first year, 2015, with a bad bounce. But 2019 has seen the chickens come home to roost for a program that has become downright despicable under MD's watch, or rather complete lack thereof. This is a guy willing to turn a blind eye to some horrible behavior when scouting recruits, needing his arm twisted to kick the worst offenders off the team, and deflecting responsibility with false piety. It looks even worse in the wake of the Nassar scandal, an athletic department that's completely lost control while it ignores its charge of protecting student athletes.
Dantonio is one of the worst human beings--arguable, as the species typically has a functioning heart and sometimes a conscience--ever involved in the sport, and if Michigan vanquishing his rudderless team in 2019 can help speed his exit from the school, that's even more motivation for a 7-2 Wolverine squad looking to prove that they have plenty of fight in them.
That fight wasn't completely apparent to some after Michigan handled Maryland a couple Saturdays ago, returning the opening kick for a score and maintaining control for the remaining 59 minutes and change. But I don't think the desire to keep the Paul Bunyan trophy in Ann Arbor will be a problem this year, even if I'm realistic enough to realize the score will likely be relatively close as usual. This can be a fluky series that can turn on a play or two, but MSU has returned to its mediocre norm with no-shows against top 10 conference foes and an inexcusable collapse after a 28-3 lead against Illinois last week. What's left of the leadership of Grumpy Cat's unfortunate doppelganger is circling the drain, so it's up to Harbaugh to keep his team motivated and focused to finish the job.
Win or lose, keep your eye out for a warm glow as you look toward East Lansing this evening as Spartan fans perform their annual tradition of lighting their couches on fire. As for me, I'll be sitting inside, warm, and looking forward to a Dantonio-less future when MSU is once again irrelevant and all my sports antagonism can be directed where it belongs, at Ohio State.
We've now rolled the calendar over to November and the weather here is responding accordingly. Fortunately for my Wolverines the forecast in Maryland looks quite nice for a noon matchup against the Terps.
This will be the ninth game in the series, and the sixth since Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten Conference in a deal that fans rue to this day. The lone blemish for Michigan was that conference debut in 2014, which was mercifully the last season for idiot AD Dave Brandon and overmatched HC Brady Hoke. Since then the Wolverines have won by a 164-34 margin, with the closest being last year's 42-21 victory I was able to take in in person thanks to Jeff.
While Maryland is riding a three-game losing streak after a dynamic pair of season-opening wins, #14 Michigan is 6-2 and coming off a statement win in obliterating a Notre Dame team that had be ranked in the top 10. The Wolverines are a different team since the second half of the Penn State game, and opponents would do well to fear them if they've finally got it all figured out.
As if the Wolverines needed any additional motivation this afternoon, new OC Josh Gattis spurned new Maryland HC Mike Locksley to join Jim Harbaugh's staff, leading to some bad blood between the two. Just as it did last Saturday, respectful competition may take a back seat to running up the score, and we may finally see significant garbage time action for the rest of the depth chart.
Things can always go haywire--that's why they play the game--but I'm looking for Michigan to continue the momentum of the last few weeks before enjoying a bye that should help them prepare to face Mark Dantonio's tire fire out of East Lansing. Harbaugh's guys should build more confidence today on offense and keep things rolling on D to get November started on a positive note. Some kids may like turtles, but I'll take Wolverines any day.
It's a rainy one as I sit here in Ann Arbor awaiting a second straight big prime time for Michigan. Well, rainy's a bit of an understatement--we've been getting soaked all day, and that's before the real downpour starts this evening, threatening to bring an inch of precipitation or more. So yeah, conditions out there are gonna be slick as the already cool temperature feels even less comfortable thanks to the precipitation.
But there's zero chance that will dim everyone's excitement for the return of the Under the Lights night game series with Notre Dame, the team led by the guy above. Human storm cloud Brian Kelly is the kind of embodiment of unbridled anger Lewis Black could only dream of achieving.
This is a series that has been going on since the 19th century, though this evening's game will be just the 43rd meeting between two of the sport's blue bloods. The Wolverines won the first eight, and things have been pretty even since then, though memorable games abound...
...such as 1991, when eventual Heisman winner Desmond Howard caught a surprise 4th and 1 pass from Elvis Grbac thanks to an amazing diving effort in the end zone for a 35-yard score to give Michigan some valuable insurance.
Moving ahead a bit in history, the Wolverines ran a three-win streak starting 10 years ago, a trio of games they won by exactly four points. In 2009 Michigan saw a 31-20 lead turn into a 34-31 deficit until QB Tate Forcier hit WR Greg Mathews in the endzone with just 11 seconds left. The following year in South Bend QB Denard Robinson was helming the offense when they were down 24-21 late, but he used his speed and magic to cap off a 72-yard drive with a two yard run with under 30 seconds to go.
And yet, those crazy finishes pale in comparison to 2011. The scene: Under the Lights I, back in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines trailed 24-7 in the third quarter and things looked dire, but Robinson got his team within three points thanks to a one yard run and a TD pass. He then temporarily gave Michigan the lead on a pass to RB Vincent Smith the last of 21 unanswered points, with 1:12 left. But Notre Dame needed just 42 seconds to regain a three point lead after QB Tommy Rees hooked up with eventual Lion Theo Riddick.
The Wolverines had just 30 seconds and two timeouts to try to tie it up after a touchback. An incompletion on first down made it look like pretty much all hope was lost. And then! And then, with the clock ticking, Denard took the snap, scrambled away from a little pressure and, on the run, flipped a pass to the previously invisible diminutive WR Jeremy Gallon, all alone along the right sideline thanks to a great wheel route. Gallon grabbed the pass around the Irish 45, then crossed the field entirely while scampering to the opposition 16 with eight seconds to play. Six seconds later Michigan WR Roy Roundtree came down with Denard's pass in the end zone (despite defensive pass interference), and the Wolverines had shocked the Irish for the third straight season.
The teams met up the next three years and alternated wins, with Michigan victorious in 2013, and then the rivalry was suddenly halted until last year, a 24-17 Wolverines loss that didn't get that close until it was too late. And now they're meeting again tonight, under the lights and rain, until another hiatus breaks things up until 2033-34. The Irish have lost just one game, while visiting previous #3 Georgia, and they handled now-unranked Virginia, so after Michigan their usual not-in-a-conference-so-whatever schedule looks fairly meh.
Meanwhile the #19 Wolverines are coming off a loss at Penn State in which they stumbled early but showed lots of heart in the second half, almost enough to tie it up. Will Michigan carry that over to a strong start that could lead to positive things as the toughest part of their schedule looms? If they play like the last two quarters last week, hold onto the ball, and aren't negatively impacted by the deluge taking up residence here tonight, that could certainly happen. And why not? To hell with Notre Dame!
It's another exciting college football Saturday that's seen a few surprising upsets, including Illinois taking down a top-10 Wisconsin team that must have been looking ahead to next week and Ohio State. Hopefully the Wolverines (#16, 5-1) have some of that upset magic of their own as they head to Happy Valley to take on undefeated Penn State (#7) for the conference's marquee game under the lights this evening.
The Nittany Lions' spotless record is a bit questionable, though, with close losses against Pitt and Iowa where they mustered just 17 points in each game. Still, this relatively nascent series, which began in '93, has favored the home team of late, 8-2 over the last 10. Game #23 in the series will be the eighth time that PSU has rolled into this matchup undefeated, with a 3-4 record so far that includes a huge win for Michigan in '97 that helped vault them to the title, plus 2005 when this happened:
I love me some 2005 Mario Manningham! This was Penn State's only loss that season, and at the hands of a Wolverines squad that went just 7-5.
Still, this is a team that's looking tough, and the point spread, at around a touchdown-plus, seems to agree. Michigan will need some heroic plays by the defense, like Mr. Branch, killer of QBs, seen at the very top of this post in the 2006 game. And more importantly, the offense will need to get it going against its toughest opponent this far. Fortunately they showed some signs of life last weekend:
Granted a few ill-timed fumbles plus some uncharacteristic flubs by the D led to a gutsy comeback by Illinois that make things too close for comfort. Then again, the Illini showed that same heart again today in taking down Wisconsin, so you have to take that into account.
Will Michigan be healthy enough and play mistake-free to the point of a big upset that should change the annoying "Jim Harbaugh is on the hot seat" narrative the media is relentlessly pushing? I don't know, but I'm at least hoping this team comes out hyped up to play some tough competition and shows the kind of effort that could win the game. Sometimes all it takes is one second to obliterate another team's hopes!
This afternoon Michigan heads back on the road to Champaign for a noon (EST) tilt against formerly familiar Big Ten foe Illinois.
This will be the 96th matchup between the teams but only the fifth game since 2010. The Wolverines are on a four game winning streak after opening up the RichRod era with two awful losses at the hands of dynamite QB Juice Williams in 2008-09, followed by an insane 67-65 triple OT victory in 2010. The Illini previously visited Ann Arbor three years ago for a 41-8 thumping, and they have just three conference wins since then. Things haven't been great under former NFL head coach Lovie Smith.
The Wolverines should (should) be getting another breather after a tough win against #14 Iowa last Saturday, one that shouldn't count if you're to listen to the whiny minority of the fan base that lives to complain. The offense continued to stall and frustrate, but boy did the defense come up huge against a decent team. If the O can approach half the confidence of Don Brown's charges this team can still achieve its goals.
So we'll see if QB Shea Patterson and his side of the ball can finally show some signs of progress and get things going today, enough that we can get a longer look at backup Joe Milton and, less likely, Dylan McCaffrey, who's recovering from a concussion. This is a team that should get eaten alive by the renewed ferocity of the Wolverine D, and now that it's short Michigan transfer QB Brandon Peters, that's an even better bet. Michigan should get plenty of opportunities with good field position to instill some confidence (and maybe an identity) to a group that sorely needs it--a night visit to Happy Valley and home tilt vs. Notre Dame are up next. Time to get things going.
It's another noon kickoff on this cool fall Ann Arbor afternoon for the game that will define the 2019 season, until the next one that defines the 2019 season. #14 Iowa will bring their 4-0 record up north to face the 3-1 Wolverines (#19) in their toughest test since their last toughest test.
Michigan is coming off a much-needed 52-0 smackdown of lowly Rutgers, which has things pointed in a much more positive direction. It wasn't a flawless performance but was at least a sign that the team can put up points as promised.
The Hawkeyes will be a tough out this year, and despite the overall series record being heavily in Michigan's favor, that's been the case recently, with Iowa winning six of the last 10, including five of six since 2009. This will be their first matchup in Ann Arbor since 2012, though, which was also Michigan's last win in the rivalry.
If both lines can settle down and do their part and the offensive coaches can put QB Shea Patterson in situations he can handle, Michigan can come out of this game with a big win. The play-calling and ball control were much better last week and continuing that momentum would go a long way toward a crucial victory. Though I have no idea how this one will turn out, I'll be pulling for a big homecoming win for Jim Harbaugh's squad.
I don't think there's much need to rehash last week's loss at Wisconsin any more than has already been done elsewhere. It was the kind of loss that sends the fan base into a civil war of "there's still lots of season left to right the ship" against "everything is awful, you're the reason we're mediocre, fire Harbaugh." That's the tiresome part of rooting for any team, but with the lows come the highs, and there's been lots in Michigan's history, if not recently.
Then again, if you go back just three years you can relive the school's best game in this matchup, which began in 2014 with a Brady Hoke loss in his final season but has seen Harbaugh's boys win the next four straight by a combined 204-37 margin. The trash-talking Scarlet Knights got housed in their own house, with the Wolverines putting up more points than the home team accumulated yards on offense, 78-39. The performance has entered Michigan lore as a "double Rutger," and even that doesn't do it justice:
2-18 for 5 passing yards, 36 rushes for 34 yards, and 0-17 on third down. Michigan actually punted four times, lost a fumble, and took a knee at the end of both halves, or this could have been even uglier!
This is the type of game fans want to see after listless and disjointed performances on both sides of the ball over the first three weeks of the season, leading to a shaky 2-1 record. Can coach Harbaugh bring back the fire of 2016 to kickstart a team still searching for an identity? A decisive win on this rainy fall day in Arbor would go a long way toward talking fans off the cliff. Wallop Rutgers and build some confidence for the rest of the conference slate.
After a much-needed bye the Wolverines head west to Madison this afternoon for their Big Ten opener against the #13 Badgers at noon EST. Coming into this game the Wolverines own a 51-15-1 series advantage that's hard to fathom since Wisconsin has been so good lately. The teams have split the last 10 games but Michigan hasn't won in Madison since my freshman year of 2001.
It would appear that last weekend's bye came at an ideal time as most of Michigan's walking wounded appear to be healthy enough to try to erase the mistakes that caused a scary double-OT win over Army. Hopefully a team that's more or less at full strength on offense can finally show off the promise of its new "speed in space" scheme against a relatively undersized Wisconsin front. Meanwhile, the defense will have to contend with yet another stud Badgers RB in Jonathan Taylor plus a typically beefy OL. The wild card is QB Jack Coan, who's yet to face a defense as good as Michigan's.
This will be a very difficult early road test, and after the results of the first two games I'm looking for Michigan to right the ship and come out firing on all cylinders. Leave the old school, Big Ten-style football to the Badgers and light up the scoreboard early and often!
After last week's somewhat uneven but otherwise convincing win, the Wolverines are back for a noon kickoff (the best!) with the visiting Army Black Knights.
Michigan showed some flashes last week while dealing with a few injuries, and today should be another chance for the offense to show its progress in learning a new system against an overmatched Army defense (about the only time you can say that!). The real gotcha for today's game is Army's triple option offense, which is designed to attack the knees of the opposition's DL and grind out three yards per play, not to mention the clock.
With a bye week coming up to get healthy I'm looking for Michigan to try to get out of this game unscathed in another victory where they don't cover a pretty large spread. This is the only time you'll see me rooting against our country's army, but today I respectfully root for them to go home defeated.
Whoooooa Nelly, fans, college football is back! It's late summer in Ann Arbor as the weather begins to transition to fall temperatures (before an inevitable random heat wave) and the students have returned to campus for some fun before the semester gets back into full swing after Labor Day, and fun they'll have on this cloudy Saturday evening. That's right, Michigan is kicking off its season not at noon, 1, or 3:30, but under the bright Big House lights at 7:30 p.m. Word is the electricity will be provided entirely by late coach Bo Schembechler spinning in his grave at nearby Forest Hill Cemetery!
Legendary announcer Bob Ufer, known to the world for his impartiality and laid back demeanor (HA!) is surely looking down on Football Valhalla, ready as any fellow Meeeechigan fan for another exciting year of the sport that continues to put the No Fun League to shame.
The Wolverines' opponent tonight is Middle Tennessee State. Known primarily as a basketball school since their not-at-all surprising March first-round elimination of Michigan State in 2016--the Blue Raiders indeed hail from smack dab in the middle of that state, a city called Murfreesboro that's not too far from Nashville. That's about as much as I know about them, and hopefully that's all I'll need to know.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh remains at the forefront of most related stories these days, but the new hotness this year is brand new OC Josh Gattis, most recently of Alabama, who's bringing experience with some explosive and, dare I say, modern, offenses, to the program. His slogan is #speedinspace and the transition to an up-tempo, spread, no-huddle look could finally be the key to consistency and production that Harbaugh's been looking for. He certainly has some intriguing weapons in returning QB Shea Patterson and a talented group of WRs.
Naturally I'm thrilled by the return of my favorite team in all of sports and am eagerly anticipating kickoff in under an hour (as I'm writing this). Here's hoping for some early chances to work out the bugs on both sides of the ball, lots of PT deep into the roster, and an easy win for the boys in Maize and Blue. Do it for Bo, Bob, and the rest of the Meechigan faithful.
