119-18-3 home record on turf
119-18-3 was Michigan home record on artificial turf. Man I hope we can have another run like that.
http://www.umich.edu/stadium/history/
Michigan resurfaced the field with artificial turf in 1975 and 1982. Michigan played its last home game on artificial surface against Minnesota on Nov. 17, 1990, winning, 35-18, bringing the Wolverines' artificial turf home record from 1969-90 to an impressive 119-18-3.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:39 PM ^
uh... it's artificial turf now. It's newer, better stuff, but it's still artificial.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:46 PM ^
Yeah, it was resurfaced in 2003 with FieldTurf. We are 50-25 since the resurfacing.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:38 PM ^
Your statistic is counting road games, too. At home we're 34-11 since the 2003 FieldTurf installation. If last year could magically be stricken from the record, we'd be 32-6.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:42 PM ^
they went with natural grass for awhile... Check out Charles Woodson running the punt back against OSU.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:53 PM ^
I like how you needed to reference the Woodson punt to remind us Michigan Stadium once had grass. I suppose you could also recall the doormat-sized chunks of turf that ripped up when someone made a cut to remind us.
September 24th, 2009 at 2:43 PM ^
after that punt return the grass was no longer "natural" -- it had been blessed.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:00 PM ^
I still have a piece of the 40 yard line sod from that game in a plastic bag (I avoided being maced although my buddy Vince wasn't as lucky).
September 24th, 2009 at 2:03 PM ^
I know the new field turf is artificial but I don't consider it "artificial" in the same way. It doesn't play the same way at all.
September 24th, 2009 at 2:16 PM ^
it is nice to have an artificial surface that doesn't treat your skin like sandpaper when you slide on it. And who doesn't like to have their cuts and jukes accentuated with a small cloud of black rubber bits?
September 24th, 2009 at 10:01 PM ^
its not as fun when you tackle someone and slide after you hit the turf and get rubber pellets in the eye.
its also not cool when you're weekly sunday morning pick up games are disrupted for a month straight because they have to fix the fieldturf because the hash marks are slowly moving towards the sidelines....
September 24th, 2009 at 10:13 PM ^
And who doesn't like to have their cuts and jukes accentuated with a small cloud of black rubber bits?
sniff. You mean they're not little black clouds of "awesome"? :-(
September 24th, 2009 at 2:19 PM ^
3-0 so far with the exterior of structures done.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:13 PM ^
Just wait until they get those cooshie seats in the boxes done so we can move some of the quiet folks indoors and fill those seats with loud, young fans. Completed stadium will be worth at least a 20% boost in the winning percentage. In fact, we may never lose at home again...
September 24th, 2009 at 3:14 PM ^
the summer before Bo's first season. From the same reference:
Based on evidence that artificial turf could withstand any type of weather and required less maintenance than grass, the Regents of the University of Michigan approved the installation of artificial turf at Michigan Stadium. In July 1969, a total of 88,285 feet of Tartan Turf were installed at a cost of $250,000.Artificial turf was something of a novelty, the first installation was in 1965: AstroTurf for the newly-built Astrodome.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^
The reason they originally went back to grass was that they thought being a turf team gave them a disadvantage on natural grass. The current turf is supposed to combine the best of both worlds.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:28 PM ^
I think it had more to do with player safety. The old turf was brutal on players' joints.
September 24th, 2009 at 11:16 PM ^
When I lived in Vegas, while taking bids on landscaping our backyard, one company advertised that they used the same turf that was used in Michigan Stadium. Naturally (or is it artificially), they won our business.
September 25th, 2009 at 11:21 AM ^
and some WIN for you, sir.