Friday, May 26, 2023

Michigan Friday: An Off-Season Win

If it's not recruiting news, there really isn't much to discuss on Michigan Football on Memorial Day Weekend.   So, it was nice to get a small off-season win last night, when it was announced that Michigan @ Penn State would be a Big Noon Game kickoff on Fox.   


Your first reaction might be, "Bob, are you serious?  Who cares what time Michigan plays on the road?"

I do and I think many Michigan fans and Big House Blog inmates' care.  Michigan does not play well on the road at night and especially in Happy Valley during a White Out.  The ball bouncing off Ronnie Bell in the end zone on 4th down, when Michigan was making a comeback, is still vivid in our memory's banks. 

Playing at noon also seems to fit Harbaugh's football sensibilities and his teams are a reflection of himself.   This was a nice little scheduling win in May! 

Please note, I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm also concerned about how Michigan plays out West, when USC and UCLA get here.   That is for another day.  

  • Is he Waffling?  Owen Wafle from Princeton, NJ used to be the first player committed to ND in the 2024 class.  He de-committed on Wednesday and Michigan all of sudden got a blast of predictions to land the 3/4 star DT.  Owen is 6'2 and 290 pounds and most likely projects to playing inside on the defensive line vs. outside.  ND insiders are saying he was "processed" or wanted to break the "if you're committed - you don't visit other schools" rule.  There are a couple clues this might not be 100% accurate.  ND has 0 DT's committed in this class and only took 1 DT in the 2023 class.  Michigan offered the day he de-committed and is planning a visit to Ann Arbor on 6/9.  If Owen commits to Michigan and becomes an All American, will he turn the Big House into the Waffle House? 😃
  • ASU offensive line transfer LaDarius Henderson is enrolled at Michigan.  With admission issues lately with the Basketball team, getting any transfer in the system is an important step! 
  • In a concession to NBC, MSU will host PSU at Ford Field on Black Friday.  I thought it might be fun if Michigan - MSU decided to play a two-year series at Ford Field.  I mean there are 2 tunnels and zero chance of a garbage wind storm. 
  • Sporting News ranked college coaches and Jimmy came in at 4, behind Saban, Smart, and Swinney.  Day is #5 and is Tucker #49.
Have a great holiday weekend everyone! 

7 comments:

Goblu said...

Did anyone else see that CJ Stroud threw some shade on Ryan Day? Saying he was stuck up and angry all the time

Chowman said...

I hate the "Michigan doesn't play well on the road at night" take. Drives my nuts! Sorry, but its a playing scared take by the fanbase. You want to play all these safe games during the regular season and then come CFP or bowl game, we drop our drawers! Find out what you're made of. If you go into Happy Valley for a white out night game and win, then you know you got something. Simply put, if you want to be a Big Dawg, you got to get off the porch! I'd rather find out during the regular season what we really are instead of being fake and finding out in the CFP.

Voice of Reason said...

It seems to me that this Michigan team is growing and getting better but if we deserve to be in a serious discussion for the National Championship then we'll have to run the gauntlet of top teams regardless of where or when they are. The pundits have a pro SEC bias and it's going to be difficult to overcome since we've imploded in the playoffs the last two years, but this is the year that Michigan has to step up and win wherever and whenever they play because they are bringing back loads of experience. If Michigan can't win with this 2023 team, then when will they?

If you remember under the Bo years, Michigan was a very good team and played well on the road but was rarely good enough to the win in the bowl games, especially the Rose Bowl against USC, etc. I think that was because Michigan each and every time was the visiting team playing on someone else's home field, but they've got to overcome that especially since we have 2024 conference expansion out to the coast. That principle, however, is the reason why even Alabama makes a point to try to play big time preconference opponents on a neutral field. In other words, as good as they (Alabama) were, they understood the pitfalls of being the visiting team. Michigan has GOT to take the next step forward. Listen, everyone please enjoy your weekend too. IMHO!!!

szanreno said...

Bo used to tell the television stations "we're playing at noon on Saturday if you want to televise it". No tail wagging the dog there. Football should be at noon. Thats college football, not all this fanfare bullshit. It's a game, not a Broadway show for God's sake...

Chowman said...

Szanreno: as a football fan, not a Michigan fan, but as a football fan I want a marquee match up on Saturday night. This season we're going to be treated to OSU taking MSU to the woodchipper. I love college football on Saturday nights. Now if you're going to the game, I get it, noon starts are the most convenient. But for watching it on TV give me a marquee match up every Saturday night. Besides, if you're going to make a CFP run, you're going to have to play 3 big time night games to win it all. B1G championship, the CFP semifinal and then the final. Noon games should be for Illinois playing Purdue or Rutgers vs Maryland. OSU/Michigan, PSU/Michigan, OSU/PSU 3:30 at least if not the night game!

Unknown said...

The "if your going to the game" comment is the one that sticks out. Because it seems too often they do not think about the ones going to the game. We already put up with the 5 minute TV time outs, and the "there is a tornado warning for our area that could arrive in the next 30 minutes and if we pause the game, go back to your car" when it could have been avoided by starting the game sooner to avoid said storm, but oh we must bow to the TV powers that be. So, I like that they are pushing back on night games in November. It is good for the guy on his couch under a blanket, but not so much for the fan at the stadium enduring 5 minute TV timeouts. But, if they do not care about full stadiums, and the TV contract is king, then we will have night games in November. See last years Illinois game in November. We had a hard time filling the stadium for a noon game and 20 degrees against a top 20 opponent
.

szanreno said...

I go to a number of games every year, no night games. Too much non-game bs to endure. If it's a noon game I'm there, 3:30 is ok depending on ofcourse the opponent. After the game is steak, beer, friends and relaxation time. Football is over for the day...