Michigan Monday: Game 8 vs. Michigan State
#4 Michigan (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten)
vs. Michigan State (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten)
Game presented by Michigan Medicine
Michigan Stadium / Ann Arbor, Mich.
Saturday, Oct. 29 | 7:30 p.m.
Television: ABC | Radio: Learfield Michigan Sports Network
What You Need to Know
• This will be the 600th game in the 95-year history of Michigan Stadium; 449-133-17 record.
• Michigan and Michigan State will play for the 115th time on Saturday.
• U-M is 7-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1973-74.
• Blake Corum is sixth nationally in rushing; leads the NCAA in rushing TDs and is second in total TDs.
• J.J. McCarthy leads the NCAA in completion percentage and is 11th in pass efficiency.
• Michigan's defense lists in the top 1O in eight categories.
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Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy
• The annual battle on the gridiron between Michigan and Michigan State started in 1898 and has featured some of the most exciting contests in both schools' histories.
• Saturday’s game between the in-state rivals will be the 70th played for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
• The Wolverines hold a 38-29-2 advantage in the trophy game.
• Michigan has won 34 of the past 52 games played between the two schools since 1970.
• The Paul Bunyan Trophy dates back to 1953, when Michigan State entered the Big Ten, and has become the cornerstone of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry since its inception.
• A donation by then-Michigan governor G. Mennen Williams, the Paul Bunyan Trophy stands nearly four feet tall.
• The wooden trophy depicts the figure of legendary folk hero Paul Bunyan astride an axe, with his feet planted over the state of Michigan. On each corner of the state lies a flag emblazoned with the Michigan 'M' or the Spartans. Each year the winner of the Michigan-Michigan State game is awarded ownership of the prize.
Michigan State Game Promotions
• Michigan Football Alumni Recognition - Prior to kickoff, over 150 Michigan football alumni players will be recognized on the field
• Flyover -- US Coast Guard H-65 Helicopters!
• Michigan Marching Band Halftime Show - The Michigan Marching Band is ready to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos!
• Recognitions - Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2022, Mark Messner PFF College Football Hall of Fame
• "Mr. Brightside" Light Show - Activate “Michigan Lights” in the Michigan Athletics mobile app before the game so you can sync and sing along with “Mr. Brightside”
• Football Ticket Redemption - Receive free admission to the Volleyball game vs. Michigan State on Sunday, Oct. 30, and the Men's Soccer game vs. Penn State on Sunday, Oct. 30
• Giveaway - Pom Poms
• On-Field DJ: DJ Truth
• Full Promotions Schedule
In the Polls
• For the eighth straight week, U-M is ranked in the top five of the national polls.
• The Wolverines list No. 4 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and rank No. 4 in the Associated Press Media Poll and following their 41-17 victory against No. 10 Penn State and bye week.
• Michigan began the season ranked sixth in the coaches poll and eighth in the AP rankings.
• U-M finished the 2021 season ranked No. 3 in both national polls, its first top-five finish for the program since 1999 (No. SJ and the highest final ranking since winning the 1997 national title.
• Michigan has been ranked for all but 13 contests under Harbaugh (93 games). The Wolverines were not ranked the first four games in 2015, four games in 2017 and 2020, and the first two games of the 2021 season.
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Wolverines and Spartans
• Saturday’s game will be the 115th meeting in the all-time series with Michigan State.
• The Wolverines lead the all-time series, 71-38-5, and have won 26 of the last 43 games played between the two schools dating back to 1979.
• U-M has compiled a 34-18 mark against MSU since 1970, with winning streaks of eight games (1970-77) and six games (2002-07) during that stretch of 52 games.
• After losing his first game against the Spartans in 1969, head coach Bo Schembechler won 13 of his next 14 games in the series and posted a 17-4 record during his tenure at U-M.
• Michigan won back-to-back games in 2018 and 2019 and Michigan State followed with a pair of wins during the 2020 COVID season and last year in East Lansing.
Series vs. Michigan State: Michigan leads 71-38-5
Series Streak: Michigan State won 2
Last Meeting vs. Michigan State: 2021 - #8 MSU 37, #6 U-M 33
Last Michigan Win: 2019
Game Notes Nuggets
• Michigan is 7-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1974-75. It's the third time under head coach Jim Harbaugh that the Wolverines have started with a 7-0 mark to begin the season (2016, '21).
• U-M is scoring 42.7 points per game and allowing 12.1 points against, on average. The only teams with top-10 rankings in scoring offense and scoring defense are Georgia (second, defense; eighth, offense), Ohio State (second, offense; fifth, defense), and Michigan (third, defense; sixth, offense).
• The only teams with an average scoring differential above 30 points are Ohio State (+34.7), Georgia (+32.5), and Michigan (+30.6).
• U-M has scored points on its opening possession in six of seven games this season, including three straight at Iowa, at Indiana, and against Penn State. Five of those six scores were touchdowns. U-M is outscoring its opponents by a cumulative tally of 159 to 37 in the first half with only four offensive touchdowns allowed.
• Michigan's +214 cumulative scoring differential trails only Ohio State (+243) and Georgia (+228) for the best in the nation. It's the same figure posted by the 1976 squad through seven games, and the 2016 team (+238) is the only U-M team with a better mark since 1905.
• Blake Corum has 666 rushing yards and six touchdowns across four Big Ten games thus far, averaging 5.87 yards per carry in conference play. Across his last 12 Big Ten games (dating to 2021), Corum has totaled 1,198 yards and 10 touchdowns on 5.95 yards per carry.
• Corum ranks second in the country in rushing yards (901), 28th in yards per carry (6.17), and first in total touchdowns (13). He also ranks second in the country in first downs (57), trailing Marshall's Khalan Laborn (60) on 43 fewer carries.
• Corum has produced 11 of Michigan's 39 explosive offensive plays (20-plus yards). He has at least one run of 20-plus yards in six of seven games this season; Colorado State limited him to a 19-yard rush.
• PFFCollege credits Corum with 37 missed tackles forced on 146 carries this season, tied for the second-most among Big Ten backs (Chase Brown, 54).
• So far this season, the offensive line has paved the way to an average of 6.22 yards per sack-adjusted carry, and 6.9 yards per play overall.
• The U-M offensive line has permitted 31 negative plays on 479 offensive snaps (just over four per game), or on 6.5 percent of all offensive snaps. When the line does allow a sack, it comes on an average of 5.10 seconds to throw, the second-most time to throw among those with 120-plus dropbacks.
• Opponents have hurried or sacked a U-M passer 14 times (nine sacks, five hurries) across 28 quarters of play. U-M ballcarriers have lost just 61 yards on 284 non-sack rush attempts.
• J.J. McCarthy's completion percentage remains the best in the country among qualified passers at 77.1 percent (111-of-144). Six of his nine passing touchdowns have come against the blitz and he averages 14.3 yards per attempt on play action.
• McCarthy has accounted for 10 touchdowns overall with a 6.2 touchdown percentage through the air. His season-long yards-per-attempt figure (9.01) ranks 15th in the nation. He also ranks 11th in pass efficiency (170.6) and has an NFL passer rating of 118.9 this season (10th).
• When McCarthy starts and finishes a Michigan drive, U-M has produced 27 touchdowns and 10 field goals on 55 possessions, translating to points on 67.27 percent of drives. In his six starts, the team has scored in 29 of 32 red zone trips (90.6 percent) with 26 touchdowns.
• Ronnie Bell leads all pass catchers in receptions (35) and yards (429), while Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson are tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns (three). Six different players have at least one touchdown catch.
• U-M has some of the nation's most efficient pass-catchers. Wilson (3.42 yards per route run) and Bell (2.62) each rank top-50 nationally among wide receivers with at least three targets per game, and Wilson is third in the Big Ten. Luke Schoonmaker is 15th in the country among tight ends.
• U-M boasts a pair of scorers in the top 10 in the country -- Corum (11.1 points per game) is second in all of FBS competition and kicker Jake Moody (10.3) ranks sixth.
• Mike Morris leads the team in TFLs (7.0) and sacks (5.0). Morris has 22 combined sacks, hits, and hurries (pressures) in true pass rush sets -- fourth-most in the nation -- on 137 pass rush snaps. The three players with more than his 22 pressures have 184, 221, and 253 pass rush snaps, respectively.
• Mike Sainristil has been one of the Big Ten's best slot coverage players, allowing one reception very 13.2 snaps in coverage in that part of the field.
• Among punters with at least one punt per game (seven), Brad Robbins' 4.37-second hang time is the best in the country, according to PFFCollege. He is the only punter in the nation above 4.3 seconds. The average among Big Ten punters who meet the same qualifications is 3.90 seconds.
• Robbins' special teams partner Jake Moody has allowed nine returns on 50 kickoffs this season (18 percent return rate). When opponents do attempt a return, they start at their 16-yard line on average.
• Moody is closing in on the top-five all-time scoring list at Michigan. He is currently tied with Remy Hamilton (sixth) with 280 points. also cracked the top 10 in career scoring at U-M with 265 points (seventh). An even dozen points will give Moody fifth place outright, and then he can focus on passing Mike Gillette (fourth all-time, 307 points) for most points ever by a Michigan kicker.
• PFF ranks Michigan as the No. 3 team in overall grade; second in rushing grade; third in special teams and tackling; fourth in run defense; fifth in total offense; seventh in total defense; 10th in pass coverage; 15th in pass rush.
• Easily the most well-represented state on the roster, there are 37 Wolverines on this year's team who are natives of the Wolverine State.
