Michigan Football Bowl Notes: U-M vs. Florida State

Dec. 19, 2016

Quick Hits

• Michigan is making its third appearance in the Orange Bowl after U-M played in the 1976 and 2000 games.

• This will be the third overall meeting between Michigan and Florida State; it will be the first bowl game played between the two programs.

• Jake Butt, Jourdan Lewis and Jabrill Peppers earned consensus first team All-America honors.

• A total of 22 Wolverines received All-Big Ten recognition, including all 11 starters on defense.

Wolverines and Seminoles

• This will be the third meeting between Michigan and Florida State. The series is tied, 1-1, with both previous game being played at Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines posted a 20-18 victory during the 1986 season, and the Seminoles won a 51-31 affair during the 1991 season. The two school will be meeting for the first time during the bowl season.

Florida State University

• This will be the third time that Michigan and Florida State meet on the gridiron but the first meeting in a postseason bowl game.

• Both previous games were played at Michigan Stadium, with each school claiming a win.

• The first-ever meeting was a top-20 matchup in 1986; QB Jim Harbaugh led the fifth-ranked Wolverines past the No. 20 Seminoles, 20-18, as tailback Thomas Wilcher scored on a seven-yard run with 1:27 left in the contest.

• Top-ranked Florida State won a high-scoring affair between top five teams during the 1991 season, beating No. 3 Michigan by a 51-31 score.

• This is the first matchup between head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jimbo Fisher.

Michigan vs. ACC Schools

• Michigan has compiled a 2-1 record all-time against the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in bowl games.

• The last time the Wolverines faced an ACC school was in the 2012 Sugar Bowl, a 23-20 overtime victory against Virginia Tech.

• The two other Michigan-ACC bowl matchups came in the 1994 Hall of Fame Bowl (42-7 win over North Carolina State) and the 1979 Gator Bowl (17-15 loss to North Carolina).

• Michigan has a 29-9 all-time record against schools currently playing in the ACC.

Florida Bowling

• This will be the 16th time that Michigan plays a bowl game in the state of Florida.

• The Wolverines have won six of their last nine bowl appearances in the state of Florida.

• U-M has compiled a 9-6 bowl record in the Sunshine State and has won eight of its last 13 bowl games in Florida.

• The Wolverines are 3-0 against schools from the state of Florida in bowl games played in the Sunshine State; defeated the Florida Gators in the 2003 Outback and the 2008 and 2016 Citrus bowls.

Wolverines from the Sunshine State

• U-M has 11 players on the roster from the Sunshine State (see below).

• Junior center Mason Cole has started 37 consecutive games along the offensive line and earned All-Big Ten second team honors this season.

• Freshmen Josh Metellus, Devin Bush and Devin Gil attended Flanagan High School and made the move to Ann Arbor together last year.

U-M Players from Florida

LB Devin Bush (Pembroke Pines/Flanagan)
OL Mason Cole (Tarpon Springs/East Lake)
TE Nick Eubanks (Plantation/American Heritage)
LB Devin Gil (Pembroke Pines/Flanagan)
RB Karan Higdon (Sarasota/Riverview)
DE Shelton Johnson (Delray Beach/Atlantic Community)
LB Reuben Jones (Lakeland/Lake Gibson)
WR Eddie McDoom (Winter Garden/West Orange)
S Josh Metellus (Pembroke Pines/Flanagan)
LB Jameson Offerdahl (Fort Lauderdale/Cardinal Gibbons)
QB John O'Korn (Fort Lauderdale/Thomas Aquinas)
LB Josh Uche (Miami/Columbus)

U-M in Appearances and Victories

• The Wolverines list among the top FBS teams in both bowl game appearances and victories.

• Michigan will be making its 45th all-time bowl appearance, which ranks 11th in total bowl appearances.

• U-M has played in 11 different bowl games during its history, winning 21 bowl games, which lists tied for the 15th-highest total among FBS schools.

• The Wolverines are fourth among current Big Ten schools in appearances and ranks third in victories.

Harbaugh in Bowl Games

• This will be Jim Harbaugh's fourth bowl game as a collegiate head coach.

• He will be making his second appearance in the Orange Bowl as a head coach.

• Harbaugh enters the Capital One Orange Bowl game with a 2-1 record in bowl games.

• He led Stanford to the Sun Bowl against Oklahoma (L, 31-27) and the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech (W, 40-12) during his final two seasons with the Cardinal.

• Last season, Harbaugh's squad posted a 41-7 victory over Florida in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl.

University of Michigan Athletics

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