I'm pretty confident that we'll beat Notre Dame by 21+
So for some reason I've been up since 6:30AM on a Sunday, which is the earliest I've woken up in about 6 months. Because it's a really boring time of year in general, I decided to kill time by doing a bit of research on our first opponent of the year.
Their QB looks shaky as hell, and he might not even be the starter in two weeks. They lost their two best OL to the NFL, and have a very young and inexperienced group. They lost their DC. Their RB went to the NFL, and is being replaced by "RB by committee" of two guys who were both injured most of last year(and one of those guys will likely miss our game for disciplinary reasons).
The only thing that is moderately scary about this game is that it's on the road at night, but with the exception of Hoke's blowout game before getting fired, we always seem to play pretty well at Notre Dame. Personally, I'm thinking a 21+ win is in order here. The type of game where Michigan controls from start to finish, and the game is never really in doubt after Q1.
August 12th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
Cool.
Btw, have a question for you and the board. Has Michigan ever won by 21 or more, on the road, in a night game against a ranked opponent?
August 12th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^
Thanks, Buzz Killington
August 12th, 2018 at 1:54 PM ^
Indeed!
August 12th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
I certainly can't think of any such victories off the top of my head.
Does it matter what past Michigan teams have and have not accomplished when discussing the 2018 version?
August 12th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
Well kinda. If you predict something that's never happened in the 150 billion years of Michigan football then the odds of it happening are sure stacked against you no?
August 12th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
Past results don't indicate future success.
Fwiw, I would bet a pretty hefty sum of money that we don't win by 21+. Especially if we have players suspended. It's going to be a slog of a game.
August 12th, 2018 at 10:59 AM ^
We're not going to have players suspended.
August 12th, 2018 at 6:28 PM ^
Do we know that for sure? If they're being investigated it seems like a pretty real possibility.
August 12th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
Well kinda..
There was no way Shea was going to be eligible this year.
Or how "The Horror" never happened.
Or UM never missed a Bowl game from 1976-2018.
That said, I doubt UM wins by 21 but it could happen.
August 12th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
Down voted for making an uninformed inflammatory comment.
Based on actual rivalry games in South Bend the odds (if you base them on history) are 1 in 10.
August 12th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
This is a strange argument. Michigan's never beaten a Notre Dame team with a player named Brandon Wimbush as its quarterback. So, if you predict a win on Sept 2, then you "predict something that's never happened in the 150 billion years of Michigan football" and so "the odds of it happening are sure stacked against you no?"
Whether or not something has ever happened isn't, by itself, a good argument about it happening in the future.
August 12th, 2018 at 1:29 PM ^
It’s also a false comparison. Michigan has never played a team quarterbacked by Brendan Wimbush. But they have played games at ranked Notre Dame and night games vs. ranked teams on the road.
August 12th, 2018 at 1:41 PM ^
Lol. Are you deliberately making a terrible argument or are you just bad on accident? Even more hilarious is that you received upvotes!
August 12th, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
Tell that to Han Solo.
August 13th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
There's a first time for everything....
I mean, before the Germans attacked Pearl Harbor, had they ever done that before???
August 12th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
Well, Michigan beat Rutgers on the road, at night 78-0, and... oh, you said ranked opponent and not rank opponent. Never mind.
August 12th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
They were ranked. #24 according to NAIA.
August 12th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
I don't think they would have been ranked #24 by the NJHSAA
August 12th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
One of the few moments where I wish WD was around.
August 12th, 2018 at 7:11 PM ^
He has 25 log in names, he's here.
August 12th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
2006 UM (#11) @ ND (#2)
47-21, glorious, truely glorious
Sorry not @ night
Current spread is UM by 2.5
August 12th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
I was at that game and you're right-it was glorious!
August 12th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
So was I. Watching Woodley stiff arm a would be tackler and rumble into the end zone with a fumble recovery will forever be etched in my mind.
August 12th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
So you missed Pat Haden's "Oh Wide Open" call in real time ;)
"So Bill Lewis enjoying this new communication to help his defense be a bit more effective on the field....Oh Wide Open."
August 12th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
I was there...great day
August 12th, 2018 at 2:25 PM ^
Fun watching Mike Hart run in that clip, he just did not go down on first contact.
He may not have been the fastest of guys, but he was quick getting to the hole.
August 12th, 2018 at 6:51 PM ^
That was what made him so great, he always fell forward; and almost never fumbled.
August 12th, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^
Look at that beautiful run blocking, and solid QB protection. Haven't seen a Michigan offensive line play with that level of competence in almost two decades. Before the rich rod years, that was a given a Michigan.
August 12th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Basically ten years, not “almost two decades” — the 2007 team had a decent OL, same left side as 2006, with some younger talent at center and on the right.
But yeah, it does feel like twenty years have passed since then...
August 12th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
Yes it does. That was the last game that Michigan beat a ranked team on the road, period. Of any ranking, by any margin.
To end that 12-year drought with a 21+ point win against a rival, Top-10 team, at night, would be a rather emphatic way to do it.
August 12th, 2018 at 1:17 PM ^
Fuckin A Right!
Love your attitude and memory, love the OP for his early Sunday epiphany, and love the fact we are less than 3 weeks from stomping the hapless Irish and Plumb Face in front of their asswipe fans under the lights, w Touchdown Jesus frowning in the distance.
To hell w Notre Dame - and Go Blue!!!
August 12th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^
Romans 2:11
For God does not show favoritism."Touchdown Jesus will be signaling many a Michigan scores.
August 12th, 2018 at 8:30 PM ^
Win The Fucking Game. Road victory against a rival at night for the opener and everyone’s mindset in Michigan’s locker room goes from “we might be real good” to “we won’t lose”. Football is a mental game as much it is physical. Emotion and momentum turn athletes into champions. Defense is going to need to give Shea and the offense a Week 1 break on the road with a drunk ass crowd.
That said...21+!
August 12th, 2018 at 4:09 PM ^
That was the same day as Bondermans gem against the Yankees. Watched both at BWs with my brothers. Glorious day it was.
August 12th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
It was a night game if you were watching at a sports bar near Piccadilly Circus, as I was.
August 12th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
Not only Michigan, but how many times (period) has a ranked team playing a home night game lost by 21+?
August 12th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
If Oklahoma hadn't lost some first half fumbles, they would have won by more than 21 points in Columbus last year. That game was nowhere as close to the final 31-16 score.
Yes, I know it's not 21 points. But I wanted to bring up the game anyway because....fuck OSU.
August 13th, 2018 at 12:34 AM ^
I agree with the last sentiment of course, but ...
Go back one year earlier and OSU won 45-24 in Norman against a ranked OU team. That was the game with the crazy Noah Brown catch.
The 1995 Colorado Buffaloes won two such games:
43-7 in Madison vs a #21 ranked Wisconsin, and 38-17 vs a (Howard Schnellenberger-led) #10 Oklahoma team in Norman a few weeks later. Neither of those teams finished with a winning record, so their rankings were inflated.
August 13th, 2018 at 1:16 AM ^
Here is the complete list of College GameDay games held at night (6 pm local start or later) where the road team won by 21+ points and the losing team was ranked at the time. (Though only two of these were upsets, ranking-wise.)
- September 16, 2017: #3 Clemson at #14 Louisville, 47–21
- November 28, 2015: #5 Oklahoma at #9 Oklahoma State, 58–23
- October 19, 2013: #5 Florida State at #3 Clemson, 51–14
- September 24, 2011: #2 LSU at #16 West Virginia, 47–21
- October 24, 2009: #7 TCU at #16 BYU, 38–7
- September 30, 2006: #1 Ohio State at #13 Iowa, 38–17
- September 3, 2005: Notre Dame at #23 Pittsburgh, 42–21
- October 2, 2004: #8 Auburn at #10 Tennessee, 34–10
- November 10, 2001: #4 Florida at #14 South Carolina, 54–17
- October 24, 1998: #5 Florida State at #23 Georgia Tech, 34–7
- November 9, 1996: #10 Alabama at #11 LSU, 26–0
- October 14, 1995: #6 Tennessee at #12 Alabama, 41–14
- September 30, 1995: #4 Colorado at #10 Oklahoma, 38–17
August 12th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
To be fair, outside of Alabama and Utah, have we really opened a season on the road against a ranked team?
August 12th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
1997 PSU was sort of a night game (3:30 in November). Good times.
August 12th, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
Beat Notre Dame by 26 on the road in 06.
Penn state 97.
Honestly, have we even played that many ranked teams in road night games? Other than last year penn state, I can’t think of the last one before that
August 12th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
Yes of course they have. Do your own homework if you're going to make an uniformed statement.
In fact I believe they’ve beaten ND twice by 21 or more at South Bend. The last time in 2006.
And that makes the odds more like 1 in 10.
August 12th, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^
Hate to say it but the last one I remember was PSU in 1997
August 12th, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
The '97 team crushed highly ranked Penn State on the road. Was an afternoon game though. Did the Big Ten even do night games in the 90s?
Closest thing I can think of.
That game was the game that got people around the nation to realize the Michigan was for real in '97. Penn State was ranked no. 2 going into that game.
August 12th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
MGrowOld, I have my days and usually it's people like you that make them terrible when I'm overtired. As I age I am starting to figure out your type, and you are a type, don't kid yourself. I have a part time job of customer service retail for extra cash and let me tell you, no people are more pathetic than some of the men over 50. I don't know how old you are but I'm guessing you're close. What it is it about you guys that you are always so negative and miserable? I think every one of you sorry sons a bitches should get checked and treated for mood disorder or something. If someone is excited about something, don't rain on their parade because you're a sorry excuse for a normal man! Happy Sunday jackass!
August 12th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
This guy fucks.
August 12th, 2018 at 7:39 PM ^
Lol. I love Russ Hanneman.
August 12th, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^
Thin skinned, much? I'll make sure to avoid whatever retail store you work at. You know dissenting opinions is what makes life interesting.