Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Michigan Tuesday: Night Grass

Ann Arbor's own Bob Seger has a song titled "Night Moves" it's not about football and outside of Bob being from Ann Arbor it really doesn't have any relevance to Michigan State week.  I just needed a way to start this post.  


I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered?
Started hummin' a song from 1962
Ain't it funny how the night moves?

Michigan Football's night moves have been well documented in the past.   Michigan has been working on its night game preparation and we've seen better results of late.   The Minnesota night game was good and so were both Big Ten Championship games.  Bowling Green was not great and of course we know about the CFP.  

The more alarming stat is how Michigan plays on grass.  Michigan has lost 3 games since 2021 and all 3 were on grass fields.  Two of those three games were at night.  I was strongly on the record that the Fiesta Bowl grass was trash and slippery and even though they replaced it for the Super Bowl, it was still awful.  

Per Jimmy's presser yesterday on preparing to play on grass: 

We’re going to practice on grass this week. And we’ve had success on grass. The last game we lost was on grass, but the only thing different to do - is not doing anything different, we’re going to prepare to practice on the grass like we’ve done in the past. I think it’s the best we can do.

MSU should already have Michigan's attention, but when you combine a night game atmosphere, the tunnel incident, and a grass surface it should be ramped up 10x.  

As we know, MSU might relate to this verse..........

When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing' in

  • Urban Meyer says he has no desire in coaching again.  Like everything, you can't trust those words.  I bet if a big enough college program came knocking that desire would come right back.
  • JJ was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week 

6 comments:

Chowman said...

Hope I don't eat these words: but there's no way that Michigan should lose to MSU. Michigan has way more talent and depth at every position. I'm more worried about injuries than a loss. The only thing MSU has to play for is ruining Michigan's season, and they are not above doing so at any cost and any means!

I understand some people will say its a rivalry game, but this MSU team is bad! Really bad. They were expected to be bad before Tuck coming got fired for punching the clown!

Do I expect MSU to come out on fire for the first 5-10 minutes? Most likely, but I wouldn't rule out the Rutgers game having crushed their soul. Again, I expect MSU to come out and give us their best shot, but if something goes wrong, turnover early, I can very easily seeing them fold their tents and checking out for the rest of the season until they can hit the transfer portal.

szanreno said...

Saw this on-line...

Watching Michigan this year has been like watching a psychopath drown a ferret in a bathtub. At first there’s a lot of thrashing around, the ferret draws some blood, and you start to think “Hey, that little guy just might make it out of here.” But then the psychopath’s grip doesn’t loosen, in fact it tightens. The thrashing about slows and the ferret begins to accept its fate, culminated by an anticlimactic gurgle.

Goblu said...

Hahahaha… love it

Chowman said...

szanreno,

Yeah they use the boa constrictor analogy during last weeks broadcast. Michigan just can't be stupid. Don't be goaded into a bad unsportsman penalty. Don't push cause its a rivalry and try to do too much. Just let the game come to you, cause eventually you'll grind them down. Again, if Michigan gets a quick score, especially off a turnover, I can see this MSU team quitting early.

szanreno said...

True, and as you said above "there is no way". I'm still uneasy. This is the game I always want more than any other... Go Blue!

Rudy said...

Sparty will be using a QB who will be starting his 2nd game. Minter will mix it up to confuse and scare the youngster. Their run game has squat. I suspect Adrenalin and hate alone will fuel them in the first quarter but then the grind will be on and they’ll succumb. Again, the over/under on cheap shots is high. Sparty will try to sweep the knee of JJ.