A Night Game In The Big House
Now pretend it's a lot darker
It's been rumored over the past couple days that the Michigan v. Notre Dame game in Ann Arbor on September 10, 2011 would take place under lights in the Big House, but the real serious smoke came this afternoon from the official Athletic Department twitter account:
HUGE Michigan football scheduling announcement today at 2:30pm. Check MGoBlue.com for details later this afternoon.
So, now we know: there will be a night game in The Big House within the next two years. Here's how Michigan has fared in night games, including those against the Irish:
- Michigan is 22-11 all-time in night games. They are 19-5 in away night games, 3-6 in neutral site night games. This will be the first home night game in Michigan history.
- The Wolverines are 0-3 in night games against Notre Dame. They lost 17-23 in 1982, 17-19 in 1988, and 24-28 in 1990. All three games took place in South Bend.
- The first Michigan night game took part in was a 14-0 victory over MArquette on September 23, 1944.
Notes from the announcement press conference:
Coach Rich Rodriguez
Prepared Statement: "Our players have always enjoyed playing night games, and I think it's something that our fans will truly enjoy and embrace. I expect the atmosphere will be electric for this match-up at the Big House."
Night games provide great exposure for the players and the program. Players really like night games. Playing in front of a lot of people both in person and on television is exciting. National TV is great for the University, since games are like a 3.5-hour commercial for the school.
AD David Brandon
Prepared Statement: "This will be an unprecedented game day atmosphere that ours fans have not experienced at Michigan Stadium. It's a great opportunity to showcase out program, University, and Ann Arbor to a primetime viewing audience. This also adds a new chapter to the storied rivalry between our two great programs."
Brandon has been working on logistics for a couple weeks. We know how to string lights, work traffic, etc. The operations team has over a year to prepare to do this at night.Brandon didn't have to touch base with the city.
Michigan is familiar with the concept of playing under the lights (for 3:30 starts, and they've seen how other schools have handled night games. If this goes well, there will probably be one night game per year at Michigan Stadium.
Night games are part of what create a big exciting atmosphere in college football. Of the night game, Bo would say "That Brandon guy believes that change is good and I'm gonna support him."
The Wolverines are 0-3 in night games vs. the Irish in South Bend. This game will be in Ann Arbor. Furthermore, Michigan lost by less than a touchdown in each of the three games.
Big talk for such a short leprechaun.
Indeed... I would LOVE to see your team start off 0-4 in 2011!
i think we should all hope for both teams to be undefeated and highly ranked going in to the contest - imagine that buzz during an all day (and night) tailgate in ann arbor. jjjeesssussss its going to be amazing.
Unusual and bold prediction for how ND will start next season under Kelly. Appears to be fairly accurate though while looking through the crystal ball.
you start making sense and build up some credibility around here, you go and say something like this and I just wanna give you a good kick in the blarney stones. If you're going to post so frequently here, do you have to be such a typical... I'll say it... Notre Dame fan??
it only re-inforces his support of RR.....I love it and I think our head coach does too! Great to be blue!
This is huge like an NFL Monday night game. This is what recruits are looking for. There are only a handful of games on at 8:00 compared to 3:30.
the best news out of the football program in a long long time. i also found it mildly comical that michigan has the power to schedule a night game a year and a half in advance, yet can still muster up so much excitement from a fan base.
my only problem is that i wont be a student for it.
Ah yes, the "night games won't possibly happen for at least 5 years" becomes "Wooooo, night game in 2011".
Amazing what $$$$$$$$$ will do.
Any chance ESPN Gameday chooses Ann Arbor that weekend? I think it's a great move and look forward to it.
That gameday is not in aa for the game. Michigans first night game ever against one of it's most storied rivals in a (most likely) #1 all time vs #2 all time.
Unless both programs crater there is no way they don't come
It is somewhat depedent on how good the two teams. If we are both top 25 teams, then I think we get College Gameday for sure.
We're not playing Texas, we're playing Notre Dame.
(Wikipedia told me Texas is now #2 in all-time wins. If this is wrong, I apologize).
That's going to be great! Night games can be long and take a lot out of you, but they are so much fun and and such a great experience! I've been to night games at osu and penn st. The atmosphere at both places are incredible. I can only imagine what it will be like at The Big House!!! It's gonna be insane!!!
For anything to survive it must change. University of Michigan Football is no exception. Not all change is good but it is inevitible. I applaud Brandon's willingness to change. Before his hiring, Martin flat out said " no night games".
We should consider a way that older folks with tix who will not be going to the night game can get their tix to younger U of M fans who want/need tix. I'm betting that with a younger crowd in the stands, we kick the noise up a few dB and rock the big house. Any recruit in attendance would go crazy.
And count on RR recruiting hard to it!
I also like the fact that Michigan can start competing for evenings against the SEC, Big 12, etc. We need to be everywhere and bold about it. The only thing I have been disappointed about the Martin era is not getting Michigan on more of a national platform. I know we already do a good job of it - but this is the era of soundbytes and youtube. We must do more.
I give kudos to Martin in other areas, but fear we are losing awareness throughout the nation.
About time we changed that.
Am I the only person who thinks this is a weird time to announce it? I don't get why they announced it at a time when it is going to get buried by all the basketball scores instead of being one of the top college sports stories of the day. Does anyone besides Michigan fans care right now? I don't think this would have been the case if they had announced on Monday, or yesterday.
Since pretty much every other school already schedules home night games, I can't imagine this would make any sort of national headlines.
why it would make headlines. Michigan is one of the only major programs NOT to have a night game, so of course it would make waves.
Well, it is already the latest headline on the ESPN college football page. I don't think it would lead SportsCenter or anything, but it's going to be the top college football story on a day when people only care about college basketball.
March 19th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^
on the bottom line as the only NCAAF story. It is also on Dr. Saturday's blog
they were just too excited to hold it in. Or they had just finalized it and didn't want it to wait.
I am thankful that Michigan football is moving into the 21st century. I wanted a night game at the Big House soo badly. Now if we could get our fans to actually participate in a maize out, it would be insane.
It's on the front pages of both si.com and espn.com. Michigan football can announce anything they want to whenever they want to.
I guess I'm thinking about it the same way that corporations think when they announce bad news on Friday. Sure, it's still going to be in the headlines, but not as many people notice because of the weekend/March Madness.
It's HUGE news and it's on the front of espn.com and cbssports.com!
I think I heard Sam Webb mention this morning that they had to release it because it was starting to leak.
Where are all the guys with the 12 yr old jokes when you need em...
My brother has already called me from Boston, he'll be here! I can't wait!
Atmosphere will be terrific. Love night games in September when it isn't too cold yet. So much better than roasting in the sun.
I guess I don't understand the excitement. Is it about the ability to tailgate longer before the game?
Have you watched a night game? The energy is at a different level!
I have never noticeably discerned that while watching a game on TV. I would think day games would generally be louder due to more ambient noise. Why would fans be louder at night than during the day? Maybe because they're rowdy from drinking all day? I honestly don't enjoy sitting next to drunkards. To each their own.
Its not so much the noise and the drinking. There is a lot of build up before the game. A lot of the fun is the anticipation of watching other games all day, and then having your team be the center of attention. It may not necessarily be louder at night, but the dark sky and the lights on the field set the stage in a way that makes it almost look surreal. All focus is directed towards the action. Its a lot more fun to attend night games IMO.
Valid point. I will definitely be bringing my camera with me to this one.
travels closer to the ground at night, due to the sinking effect of cold air, which makes it louder for those of us who aren't airborne.
I'm fairly positive about the prospects of a night game at Michigan Stadium. The atmosphere should be both unique and electric and I have no doubt the networks will do their best to promote the game--it should have great publicity.
My one major disappointment with this is that the Notre Dame series will more or less continue in its present form with the current agreement running through 2031. Obviously, if ND joins the Big Ten Conference or there's some other major shakeup in college football, there could be changes in the agreement.
But barring that, this means Michigan will play Notre Dame as its major non-conference opponent for sixteen years straight (from 2002 through 2017). That's the longest consecutive stretch of games between the two programs since the series was restarted in 1978 (other breaks in the series were in 1983/4, 1995/6 and 2000/1).
Since about the mid-90s, Michigan has generally played a solitary non-conference opponent from a major BCS conference--and for the most part, that's been Notre Dame (off the top of my head, UCLA, Washington and Oregon have been the exceptions). Part of the reason was the introduction of Penn State to the conference. The other part is the BCS setup--a Big Ten team essentially has to win out in order to get to the national championship game.
I realize David Brandon can't change scheduling agreements overnight, so its understandable to me about the fact that the next break in the schedule is the 2018/19 seasons. But why is the series resuming again in 2020 (and running through 2031)? Why doesn't Michigan have a variety of major non-conference opponents from the BCS conferences on the schedule (even if its only one per year) instead of playing Notre Dame for the next 20 of 22 years?
I have no problem with Notre Dame being in the mix of teams on Michigan's non-conference schedule. But there's a score of teams that I'd like added to that list--Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, LSU from the SEC; Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska from the Big XII; Florida State, Miami-FL and Virginia Tech from the ACC.
I understand the tradition between the two programs. I certainly understand that the networks like the game (ratings, easy to promote, etc.) Heck, I can even understand that the travel costs are minimal and that both teams essentiallly keep all their home gate receipts (advantage Michigan).
But I would like to see a little variety in the non-conference schedule and this would have been an opportunity for Brandon to do something about it. I will be curious to see who is on Michigan's non-conference schedule in 2018/19--I hope its a great opponent (and perhaps one that UM hasn't played before in LSU).
We'll see. This may all be moot once the Big Ten finishes its expansion plans. If Notre Dame joins the conference, then that opens up future slots in the non-conference schedule and perhaps we'll see some variety in UM's OOC opponents. Fingers crossed.
This is a genius move, if RR is still here. If not, it's a national tv game that will highlight another new coach at UM. Yikes. I don't think anybody wants that.
This gives us more than a year to build or buy an inflatable Wolverine head to cover the tunnel.
I say we pack the tunnel with REAL wolverines.
Haha
I wonder if we can have special fireworks made that make a giant M over the stadium that hangs in the air...and then the planes for the flyover blast through it!
a polar bear is flying the plane.
If you could present me with a picture of this, I would pay you money for it.
...but for whatever it's worth, i prefer the 12noon start times and don't really care i the games are on tv or not. actually, i prefer them not on tv because of those annoying tv timeouts.
Well there are many of us alumni that live outside of Michigan and are unable to attend the games. This is 2010 not the 1930s. All UofM games need to be on TV without question. I'd prefer them to all be on ABC/ESPN for the largest possible coverage, but we have the BTN out her in Hawaii, so it all works out in the end.
Have there been any UM games in the last few years that are actually not on either Big Ten Network, ABC, or one of the ESPNs? I realize the whole country may not get the Big Ten Network, but those games are still "on tv."
This is so awesome and about 20 years overdue. It's about time. This is going to generate so much excitement for the program. People will be talking about it months in advance and it will make an awesome game for the big undecided recruits to visit for. RichRod might even be able to use it as a tool for the class of '11.
Well, it looks like Brandon is not dragging his feet in putting his stamp on the program. It is a vote of support for his coach. It turns the page and gets people talking about something else other than the two losing seasons and the NCAA investigation.
As for what I think of it, I will get used to it. I like watching the "white out" night games in Happy Valley as a night game event. It is the only, I repeat, ONLY "[insert your school colour here] out" that really works for me as an "event." Other than that, the only good thing about a night game is it another 3+ hours of football to watch. I think there is something good about holding out and being the last program not to have night games. Tradition is not a bad thing. Being a part of that tradition is a good thing.
What tradition is there in never playing at night? If you could list the best Michigan traditions, where would "not playing night games" rank compared to the M Club Banner, the fight song, and the winged helmets?
I like a night game or two. If we make it so say Notre Dame or some other quality team (like back when we used to play Oregon as well) is our night game and it is in early Sept, I'm all aboard. Change of pace, all day to party, let's do it.
Now if we do this in say late Oct when it is 10 degrees out once the sun goes down, no thank you.
I went to the Penn State - Michigan game in the '06 season, it was absolutely freezing, but that just means people drink even more to stay warm.
That place was absolutely nuts, most intimidating atmosphere I've ever seen, but I gained a lot of respect for the Penn State faithful that night.
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