ecu

Bryan Fuller and I both sat this game out for some family time, David Wilcomes picked up the mantle this weekend.

Full Album Link:

Michigan Football vs Bowling Green 2023 (David Wilcomes)

I pointed out yesterday that this weekend was probably the least enthusiastic I've felt for a football Saturday (at least in the Harbaugh era), but that this feeling was still, you know, fine. I tailgated for eight hours, drank some cheap champagne while watching some noon games on my phone, saw a bunch of friends. It was delightful. The game was frustrating but fine. I watched the end of the Rocky Mountain showdown on the floor of the Detroit airport at 1:30 in the morning. I think a lot of us are burned out from two straight years of non-meaningful non-conference schedules. But much like a pizza (and some other unnamed metaphors), even when it's not that good, it's still pretty good. 

If there's ever something we'll remember this game for, though, it was the stadium lights. The new maize and blue strobe lights were put into effect and boy did the stadium operators try to get their money's worth.

One criticism of the Rutgers Shi Stadium experience (real words I just typed) were the strobe lights after a touchdown. They were a bit much. I don't think we've gone full Rutger, never go full Rutger. But we are fully flirting with Rutger ideations. 

I sat in my seat for a few minutes after the game had ended and they just... kept on going.

 

The game has ended and the lights have been doing this for like a solid two minutes pic.twitter.com/qSjVqnRQtz

— Patrick Barron 🐻🦬🏈 (@BlueBarronPhoto) September 17, 2023

 

Some people found it to be overkill, others loved it. I felt like they were a bit much but this does look really pretty:

 

i’m coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine pic.twitter.com/vPKa2MxnZi

— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) September 17, 2023

If nothing else it made for some fun lighting.

What did you think of the lights? Fun? Overkill? Just right?

Anyways, I'm ready for conference games. You're ready for conference games. Kris Jenkins is ready for conference games.

I think we're all ready for some meaningful games now. But in the meantime, photos!
 

Social Media Accounts:

David Wilcomes
Website: davidwilcomesphotography
Twitter: @dwilcomesphoto
Instagram: @davidwilcomes

[Head coach NUMBER FOUR after THE JUMP]

Full Album Links:

Michigan Football vs UNLV 2023 (Patrick Barron)

Michigan Football vs UNLV 2023 (Bryan Fuller)

By now you've seen the smiley faces everywhere that JJ McCarthy has branded, the reminder to just go out there, have fun, and smile more. It was a beautiful little gesture that took a seven year old to remind us. A friend that I tailgate with brings an extra sharpie just in case anyone would like to draw their own smiley face for the game. After all, it's just sports, right?

At the UNLV game, for JJ, it was about more than just sports.

Yesterday, JJ McCarthy replaced his signature smiley face with something more powerful, the number 47 to honor his childhood friend, Ryan Keeler. Ryan died of arrhythmia this past February at the age of 20. JJ and Ryan played football in high school together and Ryan would go on to commit to Rutgers and eventually transfer to UNLV for the 2023 season. Saturday was supposed to be a fun reunion, instead it was an emotional day. A more in-depth story can be found at the Michigan Daily and is worth the read.

They talked about it on the broadcast, and then this happened.

Call it fate, coincidence, divine intervention, or what have you, there's no denying the poetic beauty of throwing a 47 yard touchdown pass immediately after CBS highlighted the significance of JJ's gesture. 

Players were asked about it at the post-game press conference but they ended up getting a bit choked up. 

There was no shout out to Jim Harbaugh this week via hand gesture, train formation, or "FREE HARBAUGH" shirts, just tribute to the memory JJ's friend.

Sometimes it's just sports. Sometimes it really is more than that.

Full Album Links:

Exactly 300 photos this week! 

Michigan Football vs UNLV 2023 (Patrick Barron)

Michigan Football vs UNLV 2023 (Bryan Fuller)

About the Photographers

If you'd like to support us, one of the simplest things you can do is follow us on social media (links just below) where we post way more photos than here. In the offseason I also do a LOT of wildlife/national park photography. While we're not allowed to sell any of our sports photos per our credential agreement (sorry to anyone who reached out asking about one), I sell prints from my adventures which I sell on FineArtAmerica. You can buy prints (or just look at some pretty pictures) here: Patrick Barron Art Collections Or if you'd like, you can simply support me by buying me a coffee!

Social Media Accounts:

Patrick Barron:
Twitter: @BlueBarronPhoto
Instagram: @BlueBarronPhoto
Instagram (BUT WITH BEARS): @BlueBarronPhoto_Wild 

Bryan Fuller
Twitter: @FullOfTwitt
Instagram: @BryanFullerPhotography

[I do the same bit as last week after THE JUMP]

Full Album Link:

Michigan Football vs ECU 2023 (Patrick Barron)

Michigan Football vs ECU 2023 (Bryan Fuller)

EDITOR'S NOTE - I am breaking in a new laptop that has been crashing a lot lately so I'm still finishing my photos. Keep checking back to see new photos in my album over the next 24 hours! -Patrick

Hello and welcome to another season of MGoPhotos of the Game! For those of you not in attendance who refused to pay a subscription fee to a service named after a free-roam zoo animal, or for those of you who just like… even just tried to use Peacock and missed a good chunk of the game, we’ve got your sideline footage covered with over 300 photos!

Please watch three minutes of ads to continue reading. Huh? Oh, sorry. This game conditioned me.

I'll be honest, by the 4th quarter I was somehow able to get enough press WiFi and cell service to stream the Colorado vs TCU game on my phone and spent a good bit of time during media timeouts watching it. I'm sure many of you wish you could have done the same at a game that spiritually ended an hour sooner.

This was not exactly the most exciting game. The next couple of games are, well, not projected to be “exciting” games. At least more of you will have it on a real tv channel. But game one is still game one and many of us were going feral for the return of college football. That first time Blake Corum touched the ball again was special (now let's never speak of it again). JJ and Donovan and Kris and Mike[s] were all there. Jesse Minter has never lost a football game as a head coach.

There were a few special things of note worth photographing. For one, the new scoreboards. They’re big. Really big.

There are some opinions about these that will be more elaborately talked about in the podcast.

With Harbaugh's suspension, players came off the bus swinging.

AND THE RETURN OF THE BESTEST BOY. HIS NAME IS VICTOR. HIS JOB IS JUST... FRISBEE.

Huh? Oh yeah. The football part. That happened, and we got to see our guy shine.
 

Mike Sainristil led the 2023 Michigan Wolverines out of the tunnel and proceeded to catch the first interception of the season.

Is there a lot for the team to clean up? Sure.
Could this game have gone even better for Michigan? Sure.
Was it a lovely Saturday regardless? You bet.

Not everyone in the Big Ten could say that this weekend.

LAST AD I PROMISE

If you'd like to support us, one of the simplest things you can do is follow us on social media (links just below) where we post way more photos than here. In the offseason I also do a LOT of wildlife/national park photography. While we're not allowed to sell any of our sports photos per our credential agreement (sorry to anyone who reached out asking about one), I sell prints from my adventures which I sell on FineArtAmerica. You can buy prints (or just look at some pretty pictures) here: Patrick Barron Art Collections Or if you'd like, you can simply support me by buying me a coffee!

Social Media Accounts:

Patrick Barron:
Twitter: @BlueBarronPhoto
Instagram: @BlueBarronPhoto
Instagram (BUT WITH BEARS): @BlueBarronPhoto_Wild 

Bryan Fuller
Twitter: @FullOfTwitt
Instagram: @BryanFullerPhotography

[No more ads, but ~5 less plays after THE JUMP]