Who knew? I would have sworn that Michigan would have played at least one home night game before, but it's never happened in the 130-year history of the program. Well, that's about to change. The university announced Thursday that its 2011 home game against Notre Dame, scheduled for September 10, will be the first night game ever held in the Big House.The Wolverines have played 33 night games in their history, all of them on the road. They're 22-11 in those games. That's well below their overall .739 winning percentage, but it's not bad for a road record. There have been three previous night games in the Michigan-Notre Dame series, all of them in South Bend, and all of them Irish victories.
This year's game in South Bend won't be played at night, but it will carry an extra load of drama. Rich Rodriguez is widely believed to be sitting on the hottest seat in all of college football. (Personally, I don't think he's even on the hottest seat in the Big Ten.) This will be Notre Dame's first season under Brian Kelly, and all he's done is win every single place he's coached. The Irish were solidly mediocre last season while the Wolverines were eyewateringly bad. This year's game will theoretically give everyone a chance to measure how far both teams have come.
I say "theoretically" because that's what many of us thought about last year's Michigan-Notre Dame game, which had more twists, loops, and disorienting moments than any episode of "Lost." It looked like Michigan was back (I certainly thought so) but by season's end it was clear the Wolverines still had a lot of wood to chop.
Next year's primetime game in front of a national audience will either feature a new Michigan coach or a Wolverine program on the rise. It's a good move for both schools, but Michigan stands to gain the most.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Seriously, why make college football fans watch the Toilet Bowl in primetime. Notre Lame is a joke who plays the easiest schedule in the country year-in and year-out (ie the Armed Forces, Duke, Washington, Washington State, Michigan, Stanford, and the list goes on and on) only to be rewarded with an excellent bowl if they have a decent record (2007- 41-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl). Then you have Mi-shit-gan a program I can somewhat respect cause at least they're in a conference is heading down a similar path as Notre Lame in that they believe they're entitled something due to what their name used to mean and that no legitimate college football superstar grows up dreaming of playing for either of them unless perhaps they live in one of those two shit hole states and were brainwashed at a young age to think they're in a cool place and want to stay home and play for a shit school.
Get ready to laugh App State beats Mi-shit-gan on the road and Navy beats Notre Lame, I rest my case.
Easy to understand, nobody is watching the game any more. The ratings are taking a beating so let's MAKE people watch and not have ANY other game on at that time frame. How sad to see these two historic schools fall to mediocrity and have to try so hard to regain any respect for themselves,,,lol, oh yeah, I'm so sad,,,,lol,,,,GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!
Every program goes through a period of drought. ND and Mich are no exception. They will both rise up to the prestige they once were and are completely capable of winning another national championship in the VERY near future. Brian Kelly baby, HEAR COME THE IRISH!!!!!!!!!!!!