Sights of Michigan at Rutgers
Previously in the 'Sights of' series: Sights of the NCAA Hockey Tournament
This past Saturday was the first battle in the War on Rutgers. Thousands of wolverines made the trip and, well, quite frankly all of them made it out alive. Actually, is there still even a war? At some point when your band starts playing the opposing team's fight song, you have to declare an unconditional surrender. This was Helms Deep if the Rohirrim never arrived. Many Michigan fans predicted a blowout and, with the uncertainty of a category 4 hurricane sweeping the East coast, decided to stay home. But I made the trek and snuck behind enemy lines to bring you the inside scoop on the war coverage.
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Welcome to the birthplace of college football
Walking around the encampments- er, the tailgaters, was definitely a positive experience. Within 10 minutes I was invited to a pig roast.
Unfortunately I did not have time to partake, but it looked delicious:
Post-game look at the Rutgers offensive line?
Most tailgates looked just like any other Big Ten tailgate that I've seen. Most Rutgers fans were very friendly and shared their space with the many Michigan fans that were there. You could feel a sense that they kind of knew what would happen but wanted to make the best of it anyways. But wait what's this?
I don't know what an Ash Woopin' is but I'm sure it's harmful for the person doing the Ash Woopin'
Michigan fans were not in short supply. They predicted 500-600 just at the alumni tailgate.
This guy storms the field on this stallion after Rutgers scores touchdowns. The only other time I saw the horse was when Rutgers "scored" the pick-six and the knight was ready to do his charge. Following the review, they put the horse away.
Fire makes everything cooler, I guess
When the knight dismounted his steed, he came down to the field to fire up the crowd.
Look at how fired up they are.
Let's wander over the other side of the field, shall we?
You know the game is out of control when you have an entire section cheering for a photographer.
Why this tropy was here I'm not entirely sure. Maybe they were paying tribute to their claimed 1869 National Title.
Bold prediction: this is the only time this trophy will be on this field.
Many of you may have heard about the Rutgers cannon. It fired before the game, after the game, and right before they reviewed the Rutgers pick six. But after every Michigan touchdown, Michigan fans began chanting "SHOOT THE CANNON!"
They were not amused.
The game in summary:
In a move that I'm sure was able to win over many of the couple hundred recruits that came to visit, the Rutgers band began to travel around the stadium playing 'The Victors' for the many Michigan fans in the stadium.
And by the 4th quarter, most of the student section had disappeared:
The Army ROTC push-up board did not get used.
When the dust settled, only one army remained:
And they're not done yet.
-Patrick Barron
October 10th, 2016 at 10:48 PM ^
That unused ROTC push-up board is about as depressing as it gets.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:47 AM ^
October 10th, 2016 at 11:11 PM ^
October 11th, 2016 at 7:36 AM ^
It looked to me like Jabrill was showing his M gloves to the Michigan fans in the South endzone. The official ran over right away to slow his roll and prevent any kind of stupid taunting penalty. I didn't notice any interaction with the cannon folks who were thoroughly depressed by that point.
October 11th, 2016 at 9:55 AM ^
That moment terrified me. I know the cannon was shooting blanks but they could still severly injure or even kill someone standing in front of it were it to go off. I assume the cannon operators were trying to get Peppers away from the end of the barrel. Treat every gun as if it were loaded and all that.
October 12th, 2016 at 9:44 PM ^
October 10th, 2016 at 11:13 PM ^
This is great stuff- thanks for this, OP.
October 11th, 2016 at 3:04 AM ^
October 10th, 2016 at 11:13 PM ^
I'm a little surprised they included Urban on the Wanted poster. Doesn't Rutgers consider OSU their soulmate?
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October 11th, 2016 at 7:38 AM ^
They have to include Urban if they are serious about building a wall or moat around the state of New Jersey. If they can't a single top twenty recruit in the state, the weekly beatings will continue.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:07 AM ^
They included Franklin on that poster, too...
Is the Michigan fan base the only one in football that regards Franklin as a total failure? Serious question... I know a few PSU fans that think he deserves another year to overcome the scholly restrictions and get his own kids in. They don't see the impending RR/Hoke-like train driving through the tunnel from the locker room onto the field, lke we do.
October 11th, 2016 at 9:59 AM ^
Will PSU fans be upset if they finish 9-3 or 8-4? The only "certain loss" left on their schedule is OSU. The rest of their games appear to be very winnable for them. Purdue and Rutgers are sure wins. And Iowa, Indiana, and MSU are certainly not going to be huge spreads either way.
October 12th, 2016 at 4:56 PM ^
PSU fans would be ECSTATIC to finish 8-4 after the way the season started.
As for other fanbases, one look at Off Tackle Empire seems to suggest that most everyone views Franklin is not a success at PSU, except for some PSU fans.
October 14th, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^
of Pelini and a floor of Hoke. I dont see how anyone can argue that. If PSU fans are ok with that then I guess good luck.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:50 AM ^
Great pics. The bleachers with the chain link fence make it look like a high school field.
October 11th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^
These pics are great! The best part about the "shoot the cannon" chant is that it started (at least where I was sitting, in the endzone where the cannon was) is that it started on the play where Rutgers got the pick ultimately-overturned pick-6. It was kind of amazing karma for us obnoxious Michigan fans.
October 11th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
Here's the 360 shot that they took:
October 11th, 2016 at 10:33 AM ^
October 11th, 2016 at 12:42 PM ^
Some parts of the stadium looked like the strip pattern was maize and blue with red sections interspersed.
October 13th, 2016 at 1:21 AM ^
They must have announced when they were taking the giga photo. Check out the guy in the red Rutgers hoodie flipping the bird, next to the dabbing kid. http://pano.ly/44xw
October 14th, 2016 at 12:32 AM ^
Wearing the "Stripe the Birthplace" shirt just makes the shot all the better.
October 11th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
The thing that really stood out to me was the Game Day Experience Despiration that just sort of permiated everything.
-SMOKE for the players to make their entrance
-FIRE blazing near the mouth of the tunnel
-FIREWORKS shooting out of one endzone scoreboard
-A SIREN coming from the upper deck of the opposite endzone scoreboard
-A CANNON firing... at random and without notice before the game
It was this hodge-podge of cliched sports venue gimmicks that just all seemed to be thrown out without any real rhyme or reason.
The cannon was the only thing that seemed "organic." Everything else felt like some assistant AD happened by an NFL stadium garage sale and just picked up whatever he could. "We'll figure out how to incorprate it all later..."
October 11th, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^
Don't forget the way-too-loud speakers on the scoreboard. It felt like I was at a rock concert with bad music.
They SERIOUSLY need to turn the volume down on those things.
October 12th, 2016 at 1:37 AM ^
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October 11th, 2016 at 10:32 AM ^
OP, can you comment on how the rain affected the game? It looked like heavy rain was a big neutralizing factor on our first three drives, and then the rain let up and the football started. But I don't think they said anything about that in the tv commentary (were they even at the game?) Did the end of the rain coincide with the start of the domination?
October 11th, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^
About. I think it might have still been raining when Peppers had his 60 yard scamper. But it stopped not long after that.
October 11th, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
Can someone explain why the trophy was there? I know they thought it was their national championship, but I didn't think they were serious... also, that's the old trophy, isn't it?
October 11th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
Could someone explain why a college football championship trophy is a piece crystal glass??????? Was it someone's grandmother or little kid who picked that out? Inevitably that is going to fall or get knocked over and shatter into a few thousand little pieces.
This is even harder to explain thant the Land Grant college trophy or the infamous Cy-Hawk trophy.
October 11th, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^
The "Scarlet Knight:" Doesn't wear scarlet, looks like someone repurposed a knockoff Sparty costume.
October 12th, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^
So we can see that the student section cleared out early, as did much of the stadium. What about the 200 some-odd recruits? I assume they were required to stick around the entire game?
October 12th, 2016 at 9:46 PM ^
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