Michigan Monday: Game 8 at Michigan State

#6 Michigan (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) at #7/8 Michigan State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten)

Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, Mich.
Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021 • 12:05 p.m.
Television: Fox
Radio: Learfield Michigan Sports Network

Monday, Oct. 25

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Coach Harbaugh Weekly Press Conference | Watch

Inside Michigan Football Radio Show (7 p.m.) | Listen

• Michigan and Michigan State will play for the 114th time on Saturday, with the Wolverines seeking their 20th win at Spartan Stadium.
• This will be the fifth time that the rivalries meet when both teams are ranked in the top 10.
• The contest will be the 69th meeting for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
• U-M ranks top-15 in the country in both scoring offense and scoring defense this season, listing 15th in offense and second in defense.
• U-M's tandem ranks in the top 35 nationally in rushing: Blake Corum (19th) and Hassan Haskins (34th).

Wolverines and Spartans

• This will be the 114th meeting between Michigan and Michigan State.

• The two programs have met every year since 1945, a streak of 76 consecutive seasons. With the exception of 1943 and 1944, when the series was suspended due to World War II, the Wolverines and Spartans have met on the football field every year since 1910.

• The Wolverines hold a 71-37-5 advantage in the all-time series and have won 26 of the last 42 games played between the two schools.

• MSU won last season's match up, 27-24, in Ann Arbor, with U-M winning the previous two match ups between the two schools: a 44-10 affair in Ann Arbor (2019) and a 21-7 victory in East Lansing (2018).

• The Wolverines have compiled a 21-14-2 record on the road against the Spartans, including a 19-14-2 mark at Spartan Stadium.

• Head coach Jim Harbaugh has led the Wolverines to victory over the Spartans in three of the past five games and is 3-3 overall against the in-state rival.

Series vs. Michigan State: Michigan leads 71-37-5
Series Streak: Michigan lost 1
Last Meeting vs. Michigan State: 2020 (MSU, 27-24)
Last Michigan Win: 2019

Television Coverage

Fox will broadcast the game to a national audience. Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (color) and Jenny Taft (sideline reporter) will call the game.

Paul Bunyan Trophy

• Saturday's game will be the 69th meeting for the Paul Bunyan Trophy

• Since the battle for the trophy began in 1953 with Michigan State's inception into the Big Ten, Michigan holds a 38-28-2 advantage in the series and quest for the coveted trophy.

• Michigan has won 34 of the past 51 games played between the two rivals since 1970.

• A donation by then-Michigan governor G. Mennen Williams, the Paul Bunyan Trophy stands nearly four feet tall.

In the Polls

• Michigan remained at #6 in both polls this week following its 33-7 win over Northwestern (Oct. 23).

• After their 38-17 win at Wisconsin (Oct. 2), the Wolverines returned to the top 10 for the first time since late in the 2019 season.

• The Michigan State game will be the program's 30th game as a top-10 team under coach Jim Harbaugh.

• U-M has been ranked for all but 13 contests under Harbaugh (79 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.

Game Notes Nuggets

• The Wolverines are 7-0 for the second time under head coach Jim Harbaugh (2016) and the fifth time since 1980.

• Saturday's game against MSU will be the 18th match up when both teams enter the game ranked in the AP poll, and will mark just the fifth time that both teams are listed among the top 10 teams in the country at the time of the match up.

• The Michigan roster includes 35 student-athletes who call the Wolverine state home, more than any other state.

• U-M ranks top-15 in the country in both scoring offense and scoring defense this season, listing 15th in offense (37.7 points per game) and second in defense (14.3 points allowed per game).

• The offense has produced 34 plays of 20-plus yards with an even balance of 17 passing, 17 rushing. The Wolverines have scored eight touchdowns of 50-plus yards this season, and have scored in 23 of a possible 28 total quarters of play.

• The offensive line continues to shut down opposing pass rushers and limit negative plays. The unit leads the Big Ten having allowed just 14 tackles for loss (1.71 average, No. 1 NCAA) and three sacks (0.43 average, No. 2 NCAA) all season.

• Running backs Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins both went for over 100 yards rushing against Northwestern last weekend (Oct. 23). They also accomplished that against Washington earlier this year (Sept. 11), making them the first duo since 1994 to both hit 100 yards rushing in two separate games in the same season (Tim Biakabutuka, Tyrone Wheatley). They are just the fourth set of teammates to do that since 1940.

• The pair continues to pace the offensive attack that has a run game ranked No. 5 in the country (253.3 yards per game). They are tied with each other to rank 10th nationally in rushing touchdowns with 10 apiece.

• The Wolverine tandem ranks in the top 35 nationally in rushing yards per game: Corum (19th, 104.1) and Haskins (t-34th, 86.0).

• The defense is up to No. 11 in total defense, keeping teams under 300 yards per game (299.0). Northwestern was limited to its lowest offensive output of the season (233 yards), the fourth time in seven games U-M has helped set a season-low in total offense.

• The defense lists top-25 in seven major categories: rushing defense (24th), pass defense, third-down percentage allowed (20th), pass efficiency (22nd), total defense (11th), first downs (eighth) and scoring defense (second).

• U-M has a 10:4 turnover ratio this season and has a defensive interception in three straight games. Eighteen (18) total players have at least one pass breakup (36 total). That is the highest number of players with at least one PBU in a single season since 2003.

• After two weeks without a sack, Aidan Hutchinson registered a share of one last weekend (Oct. 23), upping his total to 6.0 on the year (11th, NCAA). He's the Big Ten leader in that category. David Ojabo shared the sack with him last weekend and now has at least a share in three straight games.

• Kicker Jake Moody averages two field goals and 10 points per game, making him the No. 11 scorer in the country. Moody's 70 points so far this year lead the team.

• Punter Brad Robbins continues to be a weapon in the field position game. Robbins has yielded just 21 return yards on 22 punts, averaging 45.9 yards per attempt with 10 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line and only one touchback.

• The duo's success has led to excellence in special teams, including the nation's No. 2 kick return defense (11.57-yard average) and No. 9 net punt coverage unit (43.59-yard average).

• Both return men are among the nation's best as well, with Corum ranking 15th in kick return yard average and A.J. Henning ranking 16th in punt return average.