Michigan
Northwestern
Michigan Monday: Game 5 at Northwestern
9/24/2018 12:10:00 PM | Football
#14/#15 Michigan (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at Northwestern (1-2, 1-0 Big Ten)
Ryan Field • Evanston, Ill.
Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018 • 3:30 p.m. CDT
Television: Fox
Radio: Michigan/IMG Sports Network
Monday, Sept. 24
• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
• Coach Harbaugh Weekly Press Conference | Watch
• Inside Michigan Football Radio Show (7 p.m. at Pizza House) | Listen
• This will be the 75th meeting between U-M and Northwestern.
• The Wolverines have won five straight against the Wildcats.
• Michigan's defense is third nationally in total defense and pass defense.
• Shea Patterson ranks 18th in the NCAA in completion percentage (70.1%) going 61-87 for 709 yards and 7 TDs.
• Devin Bush leads the defense with 32 tackles, 5 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks.
• U-M has two special teams TDs this fall: 99-yard kickoff return by Ambry Thomas and a 60-yard punt return by Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Wolverines and Wildcats
This will be the 75th meeting between Michigan and Northwestern. The Wolverines hold a 57-15-2 advantage in the all-time series and have won 32 of the last 36 games played between the two schools. U-M has a 22-7 mark against Northwestern in games played in Evanston, Ill.
Series vs. Northwestern: Michigan leads 57-15-2
Series Streak: Michigan won 5
Last Meeting vs. Northwestern: 2015 (W, 38-0)
Last Michigan Win: 2015 (W, 38-0)
Michigan vs. Northwestern in Evanston
• This will be the 30th game between the two schools in Evanston.
• Michigan holds a 20-7 advantage in games played at Ryan Field and is 22-7 all-time in games against Northwestern in Evanston.
• U-M has won six straight games at Ryan Field and has victories in 14 of the last 16 games played at the venue. Since 1965, the only losses came during the 1996 and 2000 seasons.
In the Polls
• U-M heads into its Big Ten road opener against Northwestern ranked in the top 15 of both national polls.
• The Wolverines are listed No. 14 in the Associated Press rankings and moved up six spots to No. 15 in the Amway Coaches poll.
• Michigan began the season ranked 14th in both national polls.
Wolverines Making Noise
• Shea Patterson has thrown three touchdown passes in each of the past two games. Through four weeks, he is completing 70.8 percent of his passes (46-of-65) for 589 yards and seven touchdowns.
• Patterson completed 60.7 percent of his passes at Mississippi (238-of-392), showing growth in that area of his game.
• More than one in every 10 attempts from Patterson results in a touchdown. He has thrown seven touchdowns on 65 pass attempts (10.7 percent), which would rank fourth all-time in a single season at U-M.
• Donovan Peoples-Jones leads the offense with 14 receptions for 159 yards and four touchdowns. Those 14 receptions have come on 18 targets, all from Patterson.
• After scoring his first career receiving touchdown against Western Michigan (Sept. 8) this season, Peoples-Jones has made a weekly trip to the end zone part of his gameday itinerary. He had a stretch from the second quarter against SMU (Sept. 15) to the third quarter against Nebraska (Sept. 22) during which he totaled four touchdowns in six quarters (three receiving, one via punt return).
• Peoples-Jones is closing in on 1,000 all-purpose yards for his career. He has 913 through 16 career games.
• His 60-yard punt return touchdown last weekend earned him co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors. It was his first career Big Ten Award and the second by any Wolverine this year (Ambry Thomas).
• Devin Bush is pacing the defense with 32 tackles and 2.5 sacks, almost exactly on pace with the 33 tackles he had registered through four weeks in 2017, on his way to a team-best total of 102.
• Chase Winovich has 7.5 tackles-for-loss through four games, the same exact total he had through four games in 2017 when he finished with a Big Ten-best 18.5 tackles-for-loss.
• Dating back to last season, Winovich has had at least 0.5 tackles-for-loss in 12 straight games and 16 of his last 17 contests overall.
• A 12-yard loss that Winovich generated on Saturday against Nebraska matched the second-best single-game TFL yardage total for his career. Winovich has generated a 12-yard loss twice in four games for opposing offenses this year.
• Winovich needed just 14 pass rush snaps to hit Nebraska's quarterbacks three times last weekend, per Pro Football Focus College.
Chase Winovich needed just 14 pass-rushing snaps to register 5 total QB pressures against Nebraska today. pic.twitter.com/21MWACsaaE
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 23, 2018
• Karan Higdon has a rushing touchdown in each game he has played in so far this season. Higdon is averaging 7.9 yards per carry, No. 1 in the Big Ten and No. 8 nationally.
• Higdon has seven 100-yard rushing games in his career. Only once has he accomplished that feat in fewer carries than he needed against Nebraska (12; needed just eight carries for 106 yards against Illinois in 2016).
• In fact, four of Higdon's seven career 100-yard rushing games have come with 13 or fewer carries. He has averaged 8.06 yards per carry in those four games, combined.
• Ben Mason scored three touchdowns on six carries against Nebraska. He is up to six touchdowns for his career on just 12 carries, continuing a trend of efficient fullback production under Coach Jim Harbaugh. In 2016, Khalid Hill scored 10 touchdowns on 25 runs, or 40 percent of his carries.
• In making a 50-yard field goal on Saturday, Quinn Nordin continues to entrench himself in the U-M record books. It marked his third career made field goal of at least 50 yards, which ties Bob Bergeron (1984-87) for the second-most 50-yard field goals made in a career at U-M. The all-time leader is Hayden Epstein (1998-2001) with four.
• Punter Will Hart averaged 59.3 yards per punt last weekend, the best single-game punting average in U-M history (minimum three attempts). Hart's average is 52.6 yards on 11 punts this season, which would rank No. 2 in the NCAA if he had the qualifying amount of attempts.
Game Notes Nuggets
• The defense is No. 3 nationally allowing 240.3 yards per game and is also third nationally with just 139.3 yards per game. Both those marks lead the Big Ten and are familiar ranks for Don Brown's unit.
• The defense ranks top-10 nationally in tackles-for-loss (9.3 per game) and top-15 nationally in rushing defense (101.0 yards per game allowed), pass efficiency (98.24 rating) and scoring defense (14.3 points per game average).
• The 14.0 tackles-for-loss U-M produced against Nebraska are the most for a Michigan defense in a single game in the recent era (immediately available statistics date to 1997).
• U-M ranks No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten with 45.55 yards of net punt average. U-M's 15.75 yard average for kick return defense allowed is also an elite mark, ranking 14th nationally, despite being extremely close statistically to last year's No. 1-ranked unit (15.0 yards per return).
• Ten true freshmen have seen their first collegiate action this fall: Michael Barrett, Ronnie Bell, Hassan Haskins, Aidan Hutchinson, Jalen Mayfield, Ryan McCurry, Cameron McGrone, Jake Moody, Christian Turner and Ben VanSumeren.
