Team 137 - Game 8 - Michigan vs. Michigan State

Homecoming weekend in Ann Arbor was the way it was meant to be – fun-filled festivities on campus, hoards of alumni crossing the diag while grasping nostalgically at their youth, and an ass-kicking at the Big House.  Damn it feels good to have returned to that beautiful place called “normal.”  

The Michigan Wolverines pummeled the visiting Fighting Illini last Saturday and further solidified their position high atop the college-football ranks.  Through seven weeks of the 2016 college-football season, Big Blue is ranked #2 in the country and it’s pretty hard to find a deeper, more complete, more exciting team than our Wolverines.  When the final buzzer sounded, Michigan claimed its seventh consecutive victory of this season, 41-8 … a lot to a little, once again. 

And as Halloween draws near, the men who done maize and blue board the Big Khaki Bus once again this weekend … this time headed down Interstate 96 to East Lansing, a true Midwestern armpit. Yup, the annual battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy is here again, but this time with an aura of revenge … revenge for the debacle that was last season’s 27-23 MSU victory in Ann Arbor.  I know, you’re welcome again, but even if you’d deleted the imagery from your brain, you’ve seen it a dozen times already this week in pre-game hype for Saturday’s contest at Spartan Stadium, and I feel your pain.

But hang on, we’ll get there … first let’s unpack the whoopin’ Big Blue put on the kids in blue and orange, and then we’ll tee up the battle of the Great Thumb State.

Michigan v. Illinois – The Recap

Coach Harbaugh wasn’t kidding when he promised the team would maintain focus and not fall victim to bye-week complacency.  That much was very clear when Big Blue came out of the tunnel fired up with a ten-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a Jake Butt TD reception off Jimbo’s “Train” formation.

With baseball legend Hank Aaron continuing Harbaugh’s Parade of Captains program in an impactful way, the stage was set for another Big Blue blowout … and it was … it was Michigan early and often … all day long.  And when it was all said and done, perhaps the most interesting storyline of the day was that this was the first college football game ever coached by two coaches who previously had coached in the Super Bowl … while that may be “just-below-average” on your cocktail-conversation cheat sheet, it does say something about the afternoon on the gridiron.

The Michigan Offense

On the offensive side of the ball, UM OC Tim Drevno’s game plan was well-executed and effective.  The Maize and Blue gained 29 first downs and the unit notched 561 yards of total offense (291 yards through the air and 270 on the ground).  UM won the time-of-possession battle -- 42 minutes to 18 minutes – and all was working in the offensive schematic.  I know, it was Illinois, and that’s like beating your preschool nephew in chess, but the balance and flow impressed.  

Wilton Speight went 16-23 for 253 yards and two TDs in three quarters of play, and he continues to execute mostly mistake-free, which is all we can ask given that Harbaugh continues to operate without his own guy under center.  Speight threw TD strikes to Jake Butt and Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. – yes, the Redshirt Freshman son of RB Coach and former Michigan RB, Tyrone Wheatley. And no, he doesn’t run the ball like his old man (who doesn’t remember that ridiculous 250+-yard performance against Washington in the 1993 Rose Bowl?), but he’s a strong TE with talent and a long history with the game … talk about succession planning for the departure of the Great Ass Man at the end of this season!  

Running back-by-committee continues to be the ground strategy, with 14 UM backs carrying the ball for a total of 270 yards. Karan Higdon led the pack with 106 yards on 8 carries and a TD, with De’Veon Smith notching 76 yards on 18 carries and a score, and Ty Isaac adding another 35 yards on 10 touches.

Out wide, Amara Darboh caught 5 balls for 99 yards while Jehu Chesson added 44 yards with 3 catches.  Jake Butt pulled in 3 snags and a total of 11 different Wolverines caught a pass from a Michigan QB.

The Michigan offense is clicking on all cylinders as it prepares for the second half of the season.  And while it’s true that we’ve put up numbers on units that better resemble those Little Giants (but hard to forget the Annexation of Puerto Rico that won the game for the pesky kids in red, white and blue) than that of a real college-football program, we play the hand we’re dealt and so far we’ve played it pretty damn well.

The Michigan Defense

UM DC Don Brown’s Michigan D – ahem, excuse me, I mean the #1-ranked defense in the country – was stellar in the first half against Illinois, pitching a shutout and holding the Illini to ZERO pass completions.

The Michigan D dominated on all fronts … and I know, it’s Illinois and therefore not a real judge for a defensive performance.  But when a Michigan unit performs to potential, it’s cause for celebration, let’s not forget how many times Big Blue has had the talent but not the execution-capacity … there’s not much more we could ask for from the defense right now, so let’s appreciate the bitch-slap and look to stay focused as we move into late fall.

And speaking of late fall, yet another unpredictable weekend unfolded in the immediate rear-view mirror.  Yessir, those Bucking Fuckeyes fell from grace on the road in State College to the unranked Nittany Lions and the Ghosts of JoPa Past. Hence the UM boost in the AP Poll to #2.  Alabama beat Texas A&M in impressive fashion, Washington looked solid yet again, and Clemson continued its winning ways.

But the weekend ahead is all about the Big Ten … Wisconsin plays host to that team nobody is talking about yet continues to climb in the polls – Nebraska -- which continued its undefeated streak by disposing of Purdue 27-14 and putting itself in position to emerge from the less-than-impressive pack called the Big Ten West to represent in the conference championship game in Indianapolis on December 5th.  The Cornhuskers have a big two weeks ahead, on the road at Camp Randall and then a trip to Columbus.  Oh yeah, and there’s also that game in East Lansing this weekend … yes, we’ll get there.

And while things are heating up in college football, it’s also World Series season, and this year the Fall Classic brings even more to the party.  The Cubs seek a World Series title for the first time in 108 years, and if that weren’t enough of a human-interest story, Joe Madden and his boys are up against another lonely, desolate baseball history in that of the Cleveland Indians, who haven’t won it since 1968.  Baseball history in the making … the greatness of late-October baseball.  All this onlooker is hoping for is to see Wild Thing Ricky Vaughn, throw out a first pitch and be greeted at the plate by amigos Pedro Serrano, Roger Dorn and of course the greatness that was, is and always will be … Willie Mays Hays.  That and for the Cubbies to bring a title to Wrigley … for fuck’s sake, hasn’t Steve Bartman had to live with this monkey for long enough?

I digress.  Michigan is 7-0 for the first time since 2006 heading into this weekend’s battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy, and the time is now.  Michigan is in position to contend, and the second season starts this weekend at Spartan Stadium. Let’s get it on!

Michigan vs. Michigan State – The Preview

This is the 109th meeting between these two teams, and Michigan holds a 68-35-5 advantage.  The teams first played in 1898 and have met almost every since 1910 … the rivalry was truly created when Sparty joined the Big Ten in 1950.  And we’ve seen some doozies over the years, that’s for sure.

Like the 1997 AP Top-15 matchup featuring #5 UM and #15 MSU, where Big Blue won 23-7 behind Charles Woodson’s memorable one-handed pick on the sideline … or Clockgate in 2001, where poor home-field clock management cost UM the game in a contest UM radio announcer Frank Beckmann called “criminal” … or Chad Henne’s comeback victory in 2007, when he threw TDs to Greg Matthews and Mario Manningham in the final 8 minutes to bring UM back from down 24-14 to seal a 28-24 Big Blue victory.  And the list goes on … and while tempting, we’ll hold back, as we all have people to see, places to go and shit to do … point being, this is a great football rivalry and one that plays out in many families around the Great Thumb State.

Moving to present day, Michigan State opened the season ranked #12 and had Uncle Mo on its side after a 36-28 win on the road in South Bend against #18 Notre Dame.  But Sparty then proceeded to shit the bed on more than one occasion, falling 30-6 at home against Wisconsin, 24-21 on the road at Indiana, and then dropping three gross ones in a row at home against BYU (31-14) and Northwestern (54-40) and then on the road at Maryland (28-17).  This train went off the tracks a month ago and Sparty has gone from “contender” to “pretender” in short order.  But don’t be fooled, UM/MSU is a no-joke game … a serious affair … where anything can happen.  Like, um, last year (I know, painful … and it’s even worse in LEGO formation). 

And given how strong Michigan has been out the gate this year, we know that the Green Machine would like nothing more than to spoil the Big Blue parade.  Yes, MSU is 2-5 on the season (0-4 Big Ten) and on a four-game skid, but it’s won the last three in this series and this is a rivalry game.  But let’s not get carried away, either, as MSU is but a fraction of what it once was, and Michigan should be able to leave Spartan Stadium with that lumberjack trophy in hand.

QB Tyler O’Connor leads Sparty under center, and let’s just say that this is no Kirk Cousins.  He’s thrown 11 TDs and 6 picks in his 6 games and this fifth-year senior’s football career likely ends at the conclusion of this season.

MSU RB LJ Scott has racked up 464 yards so far and is poised for a strong finish … he’s averaging 5 yards per carry and is joined by Gerald Holmes in a Green and White backfield that has notched just 8 TDs in 7 games.

R.J. Shelton has pulled in 35 catches for 541 yards during the campaign, with an average of 15+ yards per carry and 4 TDs.  The rest of the receiving crew has been uninspiring, if not sporadic and inconsistent, tallying a combined total 8 TDs.

The MSU offense averages just over 23 points per game, while the defense is allowing 29+ by opponents. Special teams has been a bright spot with kicker Michael Geiger going 19/19 on extra points and 5/8 on FGs this year.  MSU’s biggest threat is the three-headed monster of O’Connor, Scott, and Shelton, but other than those mediocre weapons, Sparty has looked merely like a shell of the former Big Ten powerhouse.

Las Vegas opened with Michigan as an 18-point favorite, and the line since has moved all the way up to 24 (making it the third-largest spread in the series since at least 1980, after 28 in 1992 and 26.5 in 1991).  I don’t know, that seems a bit aggressive for any UM/MSU match-up.  Numbers aside, it’s hard not to like Big Blue in this one, as the revenge factor coupled with Harbaugh’s and the pure balance of power on both sides of the ball … talent + focus + revenge = UM victory.

The early prediction is now in … Michigan 35 - Michigan State 14.  

Go Blue!