From the official game release: This is the first Michigan football game to end before all 60 minutes of regulation have been played. Well kind of. And I’ll clarify in a minute. It’s certainly not the first Michigan football game to end before the planned allotted time. Most notably two of the most famous games in college football history ended early: The 1902 Rose Bowl (the first bowl game ever played) ended with plenty of time on the clock because Yost, Heston and crew were putting a colossal smack down on Stanford. From the Bentley: With eight minutes remaining in the game, Stanford captain Ralph Fisher approached the Wolverine bench and offered to concede; Michigan consented. While this game yielded the Little Brown Jug, the great 1903 Minnesota-Michigan battle between the Western powerhouses also ended early. The common story is that after the Gophers scored a late TD to tie the game, the Minnesota fans stormed the field and the coaches agreed to call the game. (I’ve heard other claims that approaching weather was a factor in the decision, but haven’t seen much evidence to back that up). The Sunday November 1, 1903 Minneapolis Tribune says the game ended with “but a few seconds left to play.” The Detroit Free Press from that Sunday said two minutes remained, headline: Detroit…
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The Sharps Don’t think Michigan is so Keen
In last week’s WSJ, Darren ‘My Main Man’ Everson reported that the Vegas wise guys have pounced on the early release lines on two college football teams—Georgia, who they feel is underrated in the early lines—and your Wolverines for a different reason: Conversely, Michigan looks overrated to the experts, who are skeptical of teams that have a new coach. Of the five Michigan games on the list of available matchups, four have moved by at least three points because of action against the Wolverines—most notably the Notre Dame game. Once a two-point favorite, Michigan is now a four-point underdog. I just thought it was interesting, not a big deal. And there are many reasons not to give a crap about this (and FWIW, the underdog in the U-M-Notre Dame game has a ridiculously good record in the past couple decades). The bettors are reacting to the initial lines set by the book, so they are not necessarily saying Michigan is going to suck. Even if they did, as we sit here before U-M has even had a fall practice, I’m guessing most fans wouldn’t care. Check out the whole story here.
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Michigan Legacy Throwbacks Revealed
As if you hadn’t heard(!). I’ll say what I said before—I wish they had more specific references to history. The guy from adidas basically said that they trolled through the old team photos and found some stripes on the 1890s-era teams, and AD DB suggested that the stained glass (I think Ira has that trademarked now) design is indicative of stitching on the old block M uniforms. Fine. I would have had a design that pointed to specific elements from uniforms for a specific team or era of Michigan football history. That being said, I really like the helmets and the gray throwback facemasks. And—the jerseys definitely look much better on the players and over the shoulder pads. I think having Denard wear it for the unveiling helped—the dude can make anything look kind of cool, right? And it’s not just that they look better on the players. The shoulder-pad fitted “sleeves” are shorter on the actual uniform than in the version that the public can purchase. Thus, there are about half as many stripes and it deemphasizes that aspect of the ensemble (as do Denard’s dreads): Here’s RVB’s helmet: those are RVB’s forearms, not mohair extensions on the sleeves It’ll be interesting to see if those number decals stay on the helmet. I’m guessing a few will be displaced…
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A Century Ago: 1910 Michigan Football through the Words of The Daily
Recently I visited the outstanding U-M Bentley Historical Library to wade through the pages of the Michigan Daily archives from fall of 1910. Here’s a brief look back at Fielding Yost’s tenth season at the helm of the Wolverines: Preseason: Expectations were high coming into 1910, as the previous season Yost’s men became the first “western” team to knock off one of the traditional eastern foes when they defeated Penn 12-6 in Philadelphia, in a game not as close as the score indicated. They added a 15-6 win in the season finale over Minnesota and Michigan made claim to the mythical title of “Champions of the West”. The 1910 season would prove a bit rockier, as Michigan was still settling into their status as an independent. Seven games were scheduled for the year, including four against rivals that are quite familiar a century later: M.A.C (later MSC then MSU of course), Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Minnesota. Here’s how the season went, through the words of the U-M student newspaper from the fall of 1910: Game 1: vs. Case, Ann Arbor, October 8, 1910 The 1910 slate started on October against Case, the Wolverine’s foe in the previous four season openers and a team that nearly spoiled the 1909 season. Yost squeaked by 3-0 that season and hoped to put…
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Denard’s Golden Pants
A pretty good shot of the game-winning touchdown Saturday from mgoblue.com. They also have a few thoughts from Denard on the play along with commentary from the photographer Eric Bronson: But upon closer inspection….damn our new athletic director is pretty slick. BRANDON!!! <shakes fist toward direction of State Street>: P.S. Speaking of shots of Denard, if you were hoping he’d grace the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, or perhaps a corner like Tate Forcier did last year after Notre Dame, no go. But there will be a Michigan Man on the cover.
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Historical Context of Denard Robinson, 2010 Notre Dame Game
Given that John Kryk, author of the definitive history of the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry Natural Enemies, is a mere email away, I had to get his thoughts and observations on the game. This marked the 19th time Kryk has watched the game in person and that’s exactly half of the 38 games played all-time between two schools. A few thoughts from Mr. Kryk: The only Michigan players I’ve seen that are so potentially and routinely electrifying [as Denard] are Anthony Carter and Desmond Howard (in that order). This is no fluke. The drive to open the second half vs UConn was mostly Denard completing 3rd-down after 3rd-down pass, not Denard running for first downs. And the winning drive Saturday was almost all on Denard’s arm, not his legs. He’s a quarterback, not a deluxe running back who keeps defenses honest with his throw. In fact, he tears ’em up with his throws. This game reminds me what Lloyd Carr once told me about the greatness of this series — that neither team will ever play its greatest game of the year, because it’s too early in the year, but because both teams play so hard in this game, and it’s early, you get more killer mistakes. Thus more momentum swings, thus more exciting games. It was the seventh time in…
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Irish Bullets – Sights & Sounds | Michigan 28, Notre Dame 24 (2010)
A few takes across the board from the trip to South Bend. First off, most ND fans are very courteous and to me, it’s just a pleasure to go down there for games in this rivalry. I love the trip and it’s a big reason I’m firmly behind continuing the contract with the Irish. One thing that does suck about the trip is the Turnpike. It’s not so much the concern of paying the tolls—it’s getting through the tollgates. On the return trip the wait to get onto I-69 north was like 20 minutes+ at 10 PM. Going from the press box (with laptop, phone, TV and Fan Vision nearby) to sitting in Notre Dame stadium was quite a shock. My cell phone didn’t get any reception (then died trying) and with a scoreboard that basically shows time and score. I had no idea what happened to Crist and then rumors started to circulate around the crowd that he was poked in the eye. Someone even joked he should wear an eye patch. Above is a shot when the sun came out at the end of the game—I think there were about five minutes left when the clouds broke. I haven’t seen the telecast yet but I hear they got really sappy with their description of the scene. It was…
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Michigan Stars and Stripes-Themed Sideline Gear – Here’s a Look
From my contact at the Hill and Knowlton, the PR firm representing adidas, here’s how the sideline shirts will look on Saturday at Notre Dame: Follow MVictors on Twitter
