This Week in Michigan Football: Brady Hoke Press Conference
10/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Michigan to Travel for First Meeting With Rutgers
• Michigan faces its first conference road game of the season this week at Rutgers. The game is the first meeting between the two oldest non-Ivy League football programs in the country. Rutgers fielded its first team in 1869, and Michigan first competed in 1879.
• Michigan is making its third trip to New Jersey and first since a 21-0 win at Princeton on Oct. 31, 1931. The only other time the Wolverines have played in New Jersey was a 13-4 defeat at Princeton on Nov. 4, 1881, in U-M's third season.
• U-M ranks first in the Big Ten and tied for third in the NCAA with an average of 3.40 penalties per game, and the Wolverines' average of 31.40 penalty yards per game is second in the conference and tied for eighth in the country.
• The Wolverines rank second in the Big Ten and ninth in the NCAA in total defense, allowing an average of 283.4 yards per game. That total includes 105.4 yards of rushing defense, which ranks fifth in the conference and 22nd in the nation, and an average of 178.0 yards of passing defense that is third in the Big Ten and tied for 20th in the country.
• Michigan is holding its opponents to an average of 3.01 yards per rush, which ranks sixth in the Big Ten and 23rd in the NCAA. The Wolverines have held three of their five opponents to an average of 2.2 yards per carry or fewer. U-M allowed Utah to rush for a 2.2 avgerage on 37 carries, held Miami (Ohio) to an average of 1.38 yards per rush on 24 attempts and kept Notre Dame to a 1.74 average on 31 rushes.
• The Wolverines are tied for fourth in the Big Ten and for 11th in the NCAA, allowing their opponents an average of 15.6 first downs per game.
• Michigan is one of seven teams in the nation perfect in red-zone scoring opportunities this season. The Wolverines have scored a touchdown on 83.3 percent of their trips to the red zone (10-of-12), which ranks first in the Big Ten and fourth in the NCAA.
• The U-M defense has 31.0 tackles-for-loss through the first five games of the 2014 season, the team's highest total through the first five games of a season since registering 32.0 in 2009.
• The Wolverines have collected 18.0 tackles-for-loss in the last two games, the highest two-game total for a U-M defense since recording 18.0 at Illinois and vs. Nebraska in 2011.
• Michigan has held three of its five opponents to their lowest scoring output of 2014.
Michigan-Rutgers Connections
• Rutgers linebacker L.J. Liston hails from Grand Blanc, Mich. and attended Hargrave Military Academy.
• Rutgers quarterback Giovanni Rescigno hails from Warren, Mich., and attended De La Salle High School, the same high school as Michigan quarterback Shane Morris, U-M wide receiver Jack Wangler and Wolverine linebacker Jared Wangler.
• Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers and Rutgers defensive back Talib Abdur-Ra'oof are both from East Orange, N.J.
• In total, three Michigan student-athletes are from New Jersey. In addition to Peppers, U-M offensive lineman Juwann Bushell-Beatty is from Paramus, N.J., and U-M offensive lineman Greg Froelich is from Maplewood, N.J.
• Five Rutgers student-athletes -- wide receiver Leonte Carroo, defensive linemen Razohnn Gross and Darius Hamilton, punter Aidan Murray and quarterback Gary Nova -- attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School, the same school where Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers spent his freshman and sophomore years of high school.
• Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers played for Rutgers tight ends coach Anthony Campanile at Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, N.J. Campanile was Peppers' offensive coordinator for two seasons.
