By Dara Kennedy
While the national media ignores Michigan at Rutgers as a low-tier Big Ten matchup, it is actually a high-stakes psychological trap game with a bizarre historical loop. Six years ago, a failing Michigan team traveled to Piscataway to play a lowly Rutgers team and viewers were treated to a triple-overtime thriller. This Saturday, the exact same bottom-of-the-league setup awaits. It will be hard for Michigan to blow this game. Rutgers reportedly will be without starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan against Michigan on Saturday. Star wide receiver KJ Duff (undisclosed) is considered doubtful for that game
But beneath the records crisis lies a deeply personal family drama playing out on the sidelines for Michigan, forcing a legendary football dynasty to confront its own heavy legacy under the high pressure and expectations of an entire university, its fan base, alumni, donors and of course, a looming Ohio State. It is the most compelling hidden drama of the weekend.
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Give Me a Second
Wait… Ima need a minute.
There are wins.
There are losses.
And then there is Michigan. Arguably, the most anticipated college program to watch across all sports.
With more than 55 national championships, more than 400 conference titles across women’s and men’s athletics, and more than 330 individual NCAA titles, Michigan is absolute, comprehensive athletic dominance.
Michigan is one of a select few programs that finishes in the Top 10 nearly every single year of the Directors’ Cup, the national ranking of overall athletic success. That’s 24 times in the award’s 32 years.
OK, enough bragging about the best university. Ever.
My point, and it took me a second to get here, is that the University of Michigan is ‘The Gold Standard of Consistency.’
And what’s been golden with this football team this season is the consistent lack of clock management. My Wolverines started 3–0 and have since lost three of their last five, including a close contest against the reigning national champions.
Michigan opened its football season on September 5 with a heart-stopping 13–12 victory over Western Michigan that was anything but ordinary.
With the clock showing zero and the around-the-way, rarely-seen-on-primetime school appearing to have defeated the Michigan Wolverines for the first time since the teams first played in 1917, the final play allowed Michigan’s high-profile (I didn’t say paid), now-benched QB Bryce Underwood a chance to throw a game-winning Hail Mary.
If your heart is Blue, you restored your breathing. If you were everyone else in the nation, you turned Bronco maroon, watching the potential first win in nine tries slip through the pylons.
Yes, my heart stopped along with many watching, but in two blinks and an Oh S*it, I was back to normal and, quite frankly, relieved to have a pulse, no matter the pace.
But wait a second. The refs did the right thing in this case.
I’ve spent years working in live broadcasting, from presidential elections and business news to NFL sidelines, NCAA and championship sports. I understand what a few seconds can mean when the clock is running and decisions must be made in real time.
In television, seconds can determine whether a story makes air or an interview gets cut off. On election night, final seconds impact votes. In financial markets, the closing seconds can change a company’s valuation.
But in sports, a second or two adds fervor and emotion. Even the smartest, most astute fan can swing between rage and reverence.
You can know the rules, understand the replay process, and appreciate why officials need to get the timing right. None of that prevents your heart from stopping when the result suddenly changes.
Then came Iowa, all pumped up to take down Michigan in A2. No traveling trophies between the schools, just bragging rights for the Hawkeyes and pride for the Wolverines.
The luck that helped Michigan escape Western Michigan converted into the final seconds that gave Iowa the chance to win. And they did that with a 91-yard drive, winning 20–19 with zero seconds left on the clock, giving Coach Kirk Ferentz his first win at Michigan since 2010 and his first against Michigan since 2016.
Was it karma or poor clock management by the Wolves? Two things can be true at once.
The clock had come full circle.
But ever since the opener, it hasn’t been our friend.
Carr Family Values
The Indiana Hoosiers hobbled into Michigan Stadium after having their 22-game winning streak snapped by the Shuckeyes a week prior.
And for the 335th consecutive time, more than 100K people filled the Big House, cheering on true freshman replacement quarterback Tommy Carr, making his first start in front of brother, CJ Carr, the 6-1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish starting QB, at the school where grandpa, Lloyd Carr, the program’s third-winningest coach, led his 1997 team to a 12–0 record, a Rose Bowl title, and a national championship. We were all hoping our defense would level up against Ohio State’s and beat IU, too.
But no. The Wolverines played right down to the wire before tying the game at 6–6 as time completely expired to force overtime, only for the Hoosiers’ two-play score to hand Michigan another loss. We maximized the final seconds of regulation just to fall to 1–3 in conference play for the sixth time since 1967.
Michigan vs. Rutgers Is Crossroads Game
Michigan now has the same league record as its next opponent, Rutgers, which has had just three winning seasons since joining the league. Compare that with Michigan, which has had only five losing seasons in the last 60 years.
The Wolves also sat with one win and three losses twelve years ago, in 2014, two years after Rutgers announced it was leaving the Big East to become the 14th team in the Big Ten and, you guessed it, the last time they beat Michigan.
Why does this matter? Because history has a sneaky way of repeating itself.
But the 2020 season most mirrors today’s state of emergency. That pandemic-shortened year, a 49–11 blowout loss to Wisconsin dropped the Wolverines to 1–3. Desperately needing a spark, Michigan traveled to Piscataway to face a matching 1–3 Rutgers team and escaped with a triple-overtime, season-saving victory.
That was in New Jersey. So is this weekend’s matchup.
Understand consistency and gold standards now?
This is the height of mediocrity for Michigan in the heavily stacked and powerful Big Ten.
It’ll take a Knicks-style championship run or Michigan basketball national-title-run resilience to make it to Indy.
But, as we’ve seen, it’s possible.
And the good news is, at least they’re consistent. Because Michigan is the Gold Standard…
Let’s hope Halloween is more treat than trick for the Victors so they can bounce back and crawl into a bowl game. A feat they’ve not missed in a full regular season since, take a guess, yes, 2014.
