Michigan/Michigan State week

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#18 Michigan 36 Indiana 33

Go Blue!

Alumni Honorary Game Captains for the Homecoming Game

The Alumni Honorary Game Captains (.pdf) for today's Homecoming Game vs. Indiana are none other than WR Anthony Carter (!), QB John Wangler and RB Butch Woolfolk. This season, of course, marks the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Homecoming Game vs. Indiana which Michigan won 27-21 on Wangler's legendary touchdown pass to Carter as time ran out on the clock.



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30-year Flashback: '79 Homecoming Game vs. Indiana

( HT: WolverineHistorian).

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Homecoming Game Week vs. Indiana

Michigan has announced that NO BAGS will be permitted in the Stadium this Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009 for the Homecoming Game vs. Indiana. That means NO PURSES, NO DIAPER BAGS, NO FANNY PACKS, NO LUNCH BAGS, NO BINOCULAR CASES. No bags of any size will be permitted in the game, unless allowed by written permission of a medical professional. Patrons planning to attend the game are asked to leave everything at home and bring only their identification and seat tickets or official credentials. Binoculars will be allowed provided they are not in a case and are worn around the owner's neck. Non-pocket seat cushions, cell phones, and clear, sealed water bottles also will be permitted. Any permitted items brought to the stadium are subject to search. Stadium gates will open at 10 a.m. Arrive early if you want to make kickoff because long waits are anticipated. Go Blue!

EMU Game Week

Basking in the glow of the victory over Notre Dame, Michigan now has to prepare for cross-town opponent Eastern Michigan coached by former Def. Coordinator Ron English. To get ready for the clash with Eagle Nation, you can read the game notes (.pdf). Saturday's game will kickoff at Noon and will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network with Wayne Larivee (play-by-play), Chris Martin (color analyst) and Charissa Thompson (sideline reporter). Ms. Thompson is pictured at right in a photograph I took on October 13, 2007 at Stadium & Main following the Homecoming Game vs. Purdue. Not wanting to risk the issuance of a restraining order against me, I'm going to refrain from trying to obtain another photo this year. Go Blue!

Notre Dame Game highlights

Also, the Big Ten Network highlights are here. Go Blue!

Michigan 38 #18 Notre Dame 34

In front of 110,278 fans today at The Big House, Michigan pulled out a stunning come-from-behind victory against rival Notre Dame by the score of 38-34. Here is a video of some of the highlights. Go Blue!

Michigan vs. Notre Dame- 30 year flashback

It was thirty years ago this month that Notre Dame traveled to Ann Arbor for an early season showdown between the two legendary programs. Michigan could not settle on a starting quarterback and rotated between John Wangler (#5) and B.J. Dickey, the better runner. The Wolverines also had concerns about the kicking game as walk-on Bryan Virgil handled the field goal kicking duties. Option QB B.J. Dickey got the start for the Wolverines but Michigan was only able to muster a field goal and a single touchdown through 3 1/2 quarters of play. Trailing 12-10 late in the game, Coach Schembechler inserted John Wangler into the game at quarterback. Wangler promptly drove the Wolverines from their own 42 , with 2:02 to play, down to the Irish 25 with seven seconds remaining. Kicker Bryan Virgil came on to attempt a 42-yard field goal for the win.



Fast forward thirty years to September, 2009. Notre Dame is traveling to Ann Arbor this week and the Wolverines are rotating quarterbacks (#5 Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson, the better runner) and they still have questions about the kicking game with a walk-on field goal kicker in Jason Olesnavage. Hopefully, if the game comes down to a last second kick, Olesnavage will nail it through the uprights. I don't want this game to haunt me for the next thirty years. Go Blue!

Week Two: Notre Dame game week

It's rivalry week as Notre Dame game week got underway with the Monday Press Conference. Here are the game notes (.pdf) for this Saturday's showdown. Michigan leads the series vs. Notre Dame 20-15-1. This Saturday's kickoff is at 3:36 p.m. and the broadcast is by ESPN on ABC with Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Matt Millen (color analyst), and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter). If you're not going to the game, and you don't want to listen to Millen, then you can check in on the radio broadcast on the Michigan Sports Network with Frank Beckmann (play-by-play), Jim Brandstatter (color analyst), and Doug Karsch (sideline reporter). Go Blue!

Michigan 31 Western Michigan 7

In front of a Labor Day weekend crowd of of 109,019 at The Big House, Michigan started the 2009 season off strongly with a decisive 31-7 victory over the Western Michigan Broncos of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). This was Michigan's first season opening victory in the past three years. Following are the game summary, box score, play-by-play recap, drive chart, player participation chart, audio (Coach Rodriguez, DE Brandon Graham, QB Tate Forcier), photos (MGoBlue; Detroit News; Detroit Free Press gallery one-41 game pics and gallery two-19 pre-game pics; Ann Arbor.com-slideshow; MVictors.com- pre-game pics & game/post-game pics; UMGoBlue.com), video (Big Ten Network; Michigan Rewind; game highlights by WolverineHistorian). Much analysis to follow when I'm done getting that RAWK MUSIC out of my head that was piped into the Stadium yesterday. Go Blue!

Game Day

It's game day! As has been widely published in the last 48 hours, true freshman Tate Forcier will get the start at quarterback. Forcier will be only the third true freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for Michigan in the program's 130-year history. (Note: The others were Rick Leach in 1975 and Chad Henne in 2004).

The Alumni Honorary Captains (.pdf) for today's game are OL Joe O'Donnell (1960-1963), LB Erick Anderson (1988-1991) and WR Mercury Hayes (1992-1995).

Kickoff is not until 3:36 p.m. today. Need something to read while you are tailgating? Try the 26-pages of Game Notes (.pdf) which can be found here.

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Coach Rod- Fit to lead?

During his Press Conference yesterday, Coach Rod looked like a broken man. Charitably, many people characterized him as being "emotional". More specifically, he appeared disheartened, confused, and disillusioned. What he did not look like was a leader of men. Bo and Lloyd were always unflappable. No matter the situation, neither Bo or Lloyd ever lost focus on the task at hand- leading the players to victory. Bo and Lloyd would each cast aside distractions and keep on task. Neither of them ever broke down. In contrast, Coach Rod has clearly let the allegations get the best of him. He was an emotional wreck. Despite his assertions to the contrary that this will not be a distraction, this situation will take away from the task at hand (winning on Saturday) simply because it is too much for Coach Rod to handle. He is clearly overwhelmed. A broken man is not in a position to lead others to victory. Coach Rod needs to pull it together and fast. It's game week. Go Blue!

*Note: Photo of an "emotional" Coach Rod from his 8-31-09 Press Conference from MGoBlog.com

*Note 2: Photo of Coach Schembechler from collection of Bentley Historical Library, U-M.

*Note 3: Photo of Coach Carr by Rashaun Rucker/Detroit Free Press.