Michigan Monday: Game 6 at Minnesota
#2 Michigan (5-0, 2-0 B1G) at Minnesota (3-2, 1-1 B1G)
Huntington Bank Stadium / Minneapolis, Minn.
Saturday, Oct. 7 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Television: Peacock & NBC | Radio: Learfield Michigan Sports Network
What You Need to Know
• This will be the 98th meeting for the Little Brown Jug; U-M has a 72-23-2 record for the trophy.
• Michigan holds a 76-25-3 advantage in the all-time series with Minnesota.
• The Wolverines have won 30 of their last 33 games.
• Roman Wilson leads the NCAA in receiving TDs (8) while Blake Corum is tops in rushing TDs (9).
• U-M is the least penalized team in the country (18.6 yards per game).
• Michigan leads the NCAA in scoring defense (6.0 avg.); held its first five opponents to less than seven points.
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U-M Looks to Retain Nation's Oldest Trophy
• The Wolverines look to retain possession of the "Little Brown Jug" when they face Minnesota in the 98th battle for the oldest trophy game in college football history.
• The Wolverines have a 72-23-2 edge in "Little Brown Jug" games.
• Michigan continued to maintain possession of the Little Brown Jug in the last meeting, securing a 49-24 victory over Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium in the season opener of the 2020 COVID season.
• U-M will play its second night game of the 2023 season when it travels to Minnesota on Saturday. This match-up will be the 74th night game in school history.
• The Wolverines are 10-0 against the Gophers at night, posting a 9-0 mark in Minneapolis and 1-0 record at Michigan Stadium.
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Wolverines and Golden Gophers
• This will be the 105th meeting between Michigan and Minnesota.
• The Wolverines hold a 76-25-3 advantage in the all-time series and have won 25 of the last 27 games played between the two schools.
• U-M has a 34-12-1 mark against Minnesota in games played in Minneapolis, including a 3-0 record in games at Huntington Bank Stadium.
Series vs. Minnesota: U-M leads 76-25-3
Series Streak: U-M won 3
Last Meeting: 2020 (#18 U-M 49, #21 MN 24)
Last Michigan Win: 2020
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Michigan When Ranked vs. Minnesota
• This will be the 55th time that Michigan enters a match-up with Minnesota ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press national poll.
• The Wolverines have compiled a 44-9-1 record in those contests, including a 27-2 record in the last 29 games when ranked in the AP poll.
• U-M has compiled an 8-2 record against the Gophers when both teams enter the game listed in the top 25 of the AP poll.
• Michigan lost the first four games played between the two schools when ranked in the polls (1939-42) but has rattled off a 44-5-1 record since that time.
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Game Notes Nuggets
• The Maize and Blue is in the midst of a 17-game conference winning streak, two shy of matching the program record (19) set from 1990-92. The current streak is tied for the fifth-longest in Big Ten history.
• The Wolverines are averaging a scoring margin of +28.4 across their five wins this season, the fourth-highest figure in the country and the best in the Big Ten. U-M's rate of 0.4 punts per score is the sixth-lowest nationally and best in the Big Ten.
• U-M's 0.564 points per play on offense is the best rate in the Big Ten (No. 10 overall). The Wolverine defense allows 0.111 points per play against, the lowest rate in the nation.
• Ten (10) players have made their first starts as Wolverines this season, including four on offense (AJ Barner, LaDarius Henderson, Myles Hinton, Drake Nugent) and six on defense (Rayshaun Benny, Kenneth Grant, Keshaun Harris, Quinten Johnson, Keon Sabb, Josh Wallace).
• Michigan holds top-10 PFF grades and ranks in eight of 13 major team categories: overall team, No. 2 (96.8), offense, No. 4 (92.2), receiving, No. 6 (85.0), run-blocking, No. 4 (80.2), defense, No. 5 (91.7), run defense, No. 4 (91.6), tackling, tied-No. 10 (81.5), and pass rush, No. 10 (80.6).
• After facing a deficit for the first time this season against Rutgers (7-0 at 14:00 Q1), U-M scored 31 unanswered points to close the game two weekends past. U-M then opened the matchup with Nebraska by scoring the first 38 points, giving the Wolverines 69 uninterrupted points across 119:43 of Big Ten play, until Nebraska's 74-yard touchdown at 4:17 in the fourth quarter last weekend.
• In J.J. McCarthy's 18 starts, the U-M offense has registered 175 drives in which the quarterback starts and finishes the possession (excludes kneel-downs). The Wolverines have points on 105 of those drives (60 percent) with 76 touchdowns (43.4 percent) and 28 field goals.
• Through five games, McCarthy has completed 83-of-105 pass attempts for a completion percentage of 79.0, third-best in the country. He also ranks fifth in pass efficiency (191.6) and 11th in yards per pass attempt (10.34) and leads the Big Ten in all three categories.
• McCarthy's 79.0 percent completion rate is not just on easy throws. It comes paired with an average depth of target (ADOT) of 10.6 yards downfield, the fourth-deepest average in the Big Ten.
• McCarthy's season-long YPA is buoyed by a 14.9 YPA figure on play-action concepts (24-of-29 for 432 yards) -- the fourth-longest average in the nation according to PFF College (min. 15 play-action attempts).
• McCarthy is up to 37 career passing touchdowns, tied with Todd Collins for ninth-most all-time at Michigan. He is one of two Big Ten quarterbacks with double-digit passing touchdowns through five weeks this season (Tagovailoa, Maryland). McCarthy's 7.6 career touchdown percentage ranks fourth-best all-time at Michigan.
• The run game entered last weekend's matchup with five explosive runs (20-plus yards) but no explosive running play touchdowns. Against Nebraska, the Wolverines recorded two explosive run touchdowns in the first half with career-long rushing touchdowns from McCarthy (21 yards) and Kalel Mullings (20 yards).
• Blake Corum is up to 2,917 rushing yards, good for 10th all-time at Michigan and 156 yards shy of passing Billy Taylor for ninth. In eighth place is Rob Lytle (3,317 career rushing yards). Corum's 40 career rushing touchdowns place him fifth all-time at U-M.
• Corum is one of five players in Michigan history with at least 40 career rushing touchdowns, along with: Mike Hart (41), Denard Robinson (42), Tyrone Wheatley (47), and Anthony Thomas (55).
• Corum is tied as the national leader in rushing touchdowns (nine) while Roman Wilson is tied for the national lead in receiving touchdowns (eight). The duo ranks tied-third and tied-12th, respectively, in total points scored.
• Wilson's eight receiving touchdowns are the most by a Wolverine since Donovan Peoples-Jones in 2018. Jehu Chesson (nine, 2015) has the most among Harbaugh-era wide receivers.
• Three Wolverine pass catchers are among the Big Ten's leaders in yards per route run: Wilson (3.75) ranks 16th in the country and first in the conference, Cornelius Johnson (2.67) ranks seventh, and Colston Loveland (2.23) is 12th among players with at least 12 targets. Among tight ends, Loveland's figure ranks No. 9 across the country (minimum 12 targets).
• Efficient offensive play has led to one of the country's best conversion rates on third down (56.6 percent, fifth) and team pass efficiency ratings (182.59, 11th).
• Through five weeks, Michigan averages 55.44 percent of second-half possession time. The only Big Ten schools with a higher rate are Penn State (58.99) and this weekend's opponent, Minnesota (55.95).
• Michigan's offensive line has allowed only three sacks on the season, the fifth-fewest nationally. With that unit as the engine, no team permits fewer negative plays per game (two) than the Wolverines.
• The Wolverine defense ranks among the nation's best in rushing defense (13th), passing yards allowed (12th), total defense (fourth), red zone defense (first), and scoring defense (first).
• U-M has allowed 30 points across five games for an NCAA-leading 6.0 points allowed per game, the lowest average scoring against through five weeks since 1997 (5.2). Opponents are averaging 0.61 points per possession against U-M (six scores on 49 possessions).
• Prior to this one, the last season in which U-M held each of its first five opponents to seven points or fewer was 1941. The 30 cumulative points U-M has allowed is the fewest through five games since 1985 (21 total points allowed).
• On the season, U-M has allowed 57 first downs, the second-fewest in the country, and only one more than the national leader (Miami). On average, teams reach a first down by passing 6.4 times per game, the fifth-lowest rate in the country and lowest among ranked teams.
• The defense has held opponents to three plays or fewer in 41.1 percent (21-of-51) of possessions against, with three turnovers forced in the first three plays of drives and 18 three-and-outs including at least one in every half of every game.
• Opponents are averaging 4.6 rushing first downs per game against the Wolverines, the seventh-fewest in the country. U-M is one of two Big Ten programs allowing fewer than six per game (Penn State, 5.3).
• Kris Jenkins (90.3) is the fifth-highest-graded front-seven run defender in the country (minimum 40 run defense snaps) and the only Big Ten representative in the top 15.
• When considering only the Big Ten, U-M has four players in the top 16: Jenkins, Derrick Moore (ninth), Braiden McGregor (13th), and Jaylen Harrell (16th). Only U-M and Northwestern are represented with multiple players in the top 10.
• The 14.2 completions per game U-M's pass defense is permitting are the second-fewest among ranked teams (Notre Dame, 13.6) and seventh-fewest overall, despite U-M facing the most pass attempts per game (24.2) among ranked teams and ninth-most overall.
• On the season, opponents are 0-for-9 attempting to convert a fourth down against the Michigan defense. Opponents average 1.2 red zone trips per game, the fewest in the country.
• The NCAA-leading 2.6 points per half that U-M is allowing across first halves so far this season are a full 1.7 points less than the next-closest teams (Rutgers, Ohio State, 4.3).
• Ten (10) different players have recorded at least a share of a sack so far this season, led by Jaylen Harrell (2.5). Harrell's 21.7 percent pass rush win rate is the 16th-best in the nation and first in the Big Ten among players with at least six pass rush snaps per game, and Derrick Moore (19.6) ranks fourth in the league, 28th nationally. Braiden McGregor (15.6) is 15th in the conference.
• Moore boasts the fifth-best pass-rush grade (90.4) among defensive linemen with at least 40 pass-rush snaps. Harrell ranks 12th (89.5), making U-M the only school with a pair of representatives in the top 15.
• Punter Tommy Doman is averaging 4.50 seconds of hangtime per attempt, the best average of any punter in the country. U-M's net punting (42.6 yards per attempt) ranks 20th nationally.
• The Wolverines are also among the best kickoff return defense units in the country, allowing 14 yards per return attempt.
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