Rutgurs and Iowa Confirmed as Night Games

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The Big Ten Conference Office and its television partners announced Monday (May 2) the primetime games for each of its platforms, with two of the University of Michigan's four conference road contests selected for an evening starting time.

The Wolverines will play its Big Ten road opener against Rutgers on Oct. 8 at either 7 or 8 p.m. EDT. This will be the team's second-ever appearance at High Point Solutions Stadium in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Scarlet Knights won the inaugural meeting in primetime, 26-24, on Oct. 4, 2014.

The final primetime tilt on Michigan's regular-season schedule will be played at Iowa on Nov. 12. The Wolverines and the defending Big Ten Western Division champion Hawkeyes will battle at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST from Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. This will be the second time that the two schools have met in primetime, with Iowa winning the match-up, 30-28, on Oct. 10, 2009, at Kinnick Stadium.

The television network for the Rutgers and Iowa games will be selected at a later date. The games could be shown on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.

The Wolverines have compiled a 29-20 all-time record in night games.

gopoohgo

May 2nd, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^

Rivalry standpoint, yeah, OSU will be tough.  Meyer always recruits well, but they will be returning 7 starters.  New RBs, WRs, and most of the O-line, most of the D-line and secondary.

Night game at Kinnick, team returning 15 starters, defending B1G West champions, Michigan bringing in a 1st-year starting QB in a place that has always given Michigan teams fits going back to the Bo days.

 

somewittyname

May 2nd, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^

The truth is, Tressel had Carr's number, albeit he was a cheater. OSU was "punished" by the NCAA with one throwaway year and then an upgrade from Tressel to Meyer. Meanwhile, between the gaming pass Carr by, premature self-canibalization of our coach, a bogus NCAA punishment, Dave Brandon and everthing that came after, they pulled away from us.

Of course we lost the games we lost. The reasons above are why.

aratman

May 2nd, 2016 at 3:18 PM ^

This idea that the game passed by never made any sence to me.  he was 11-2 his next to last season, An OSU victory away from a national championship game.  He also had a winning record his last year with a walking MASH unit.  The Carr being passed by thing came from the Rich Rod hire who we were told had a schematic advantage because he ran the best offense ever created ever even though, If you look at it, winning games has to be the measuring stick.  He didn't.

Running a very similar offense to Carrs now.

somewittyname

May 2nd, 2016 at 5:15 PM ^

2006 was built upon recruits from years before and ended with the defense getting torn apart by two good offenses. That season was bracketed by a 7-5  season (worst of his by record) and a final season that featured the horror and absolute destruction by the ducks. Our inability to handle the spread has been well documented. Our conservative strategy keeping us in games we shouldn't have been in has been well documented. His poor recruiting at the end has been more than well documented.

It doesn't take much projection to see that the glory years had past. I'm certain things would have gone better than under RR and Hoke, but playing second fiddle to OSU would have still been the status quo.

In reply to by somewittyname

Jack Harbaugh

May 3rd, 2016 at 8:27 AM ^

No shit it was built upon recruits from years before. That's how football works. Our 2006 class was ranked 10, 2007 was 8 and 2008 was 11. So, the recruiting didn't even drop off. RR completely mishandled the situation upon being hired, end of story.

UMxWolverines

May 2nd, 2016 at 11:34 PM ^

We lost pretty much all meaningful games we played the last few years...2003 Oregon, Iowa, USC, 2004 Notre Dame, OSU, and Texas, 2005 a lot, 2006 our defense got torn apart by OSU and USC, 2007 you know about the first two games. At some point you have to realize we're Michigan and we can't keep consistently losing those type of games. You're gonna drop a game here and there. I don't have Alabama expectations, but when it's 3+ losses every year besides 1997, 1999, and 2006 that's too much.

somewittyname

May 2nd, 2016 at 12:01 PM ^

I'm sure everyone is aware of how much OSU lost, and I'm not discounting it, but they were also obviously insanely talented to begin with--to the point where I think Beck had his hands tied trying to please too many egos.

So while maybe now they are at least in the same stratosphere as the rest of the B1G in terms of talent, they still have Barrett at the helm and their monster 2014 class should be coming into its own. Urbz late season adjustments to Beck's playcalling also stand out as indication that their offense will likely be as powerful as ever. I'm not sure about their defense, but they do bring in Nick Bosa who sounds like a college-ready terror.

As Iowa goes, I still think they were about the 4th best team in the conference last year. They return a lot, sure, but they also are the sort of team I feel more comfortable playing than a high powered spread. Long story short, I'll say OSU, Iowa, then MSU are hardest three games in order.

 

MichiganTeacher

May 2nd, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^

I'd put Sparty ahead of Iowa. To me there's The Game, then there's a big drop in difficulty to Sparty, then almost the same size drop in difficulty to Iowa.

unWavering

May 2nd, 2016 at 12:54 PM ^

They return 7 starters, but the guys who are replacing those that left are probably better than the returning starters for almost every other team we play. Not to mention, by the time we play them, they will be experienced.

I don't understand how you can overlook any Urban Meyer-coached OSU team. They will be great until further notice. I would be shocked if they had 2 or more losses heading into The Game.