Michigan
Michigan has owned the Little Brown Jug. Minnesota will get fewer cracks at it in the bigger Big Ten
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Little Brown Jug is one of the oldest trophies in college football, that classic earthenware Michigan and Minnesota have played for since well before helmets were required on the field.
In this increasingly crowded Big Ten, the gaps between games are only going to grow.
Though Michigan’s dominance in the series with Minnesota has stretched into a sixth decade and both teams have two other rivalries that are much fiercer, the jug is another piece of the rich history of the sport being the pushed to the background by the broadcast-driven expansion and realignment of the major conferences. The two schools have formally contested the trophy since 1909.
When the second-ranked Wolverines (5-0, 2-0) play the Gophers (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday night, they’ll make just their fourth appearance at Huntington Bank Stadium that opened on Minnesota’s campus 14 years ago. One of those visits was without fans during the pandemic in 2020.
“When people get really angry about those rivalries should be protected every single year,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said, “just think outside the box. They’ll still be there. It just makes the game even more important, if it comes around maybe once every four or five years.”
Michigan leads the all-time series 76-25-3, with 42 wins in the last 46 matchups. Minnesota won at Michigan Stadium in 2014, 2005 and 1986, when the Wolverines were also ranked No. 2 and quarterbacked by current head coach Jim Harbaugh. The last time the Gophers triumphantly hoisted the jug on their home field was in 1977, when Fleck wasn’t even born.
When Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington join next season, the Big Ten will have 18 teams and still only nine conference games. The richest rivalries have been protected, with Michigan playing Michigan State and Ohio State each year, and Minnesota annually facing Iowa and Wisconsin, but that next tier of classic matchups will simply be placed in the hopper with all the rest. Each team is guaranteed to host every other Big Ten team at least once in a five-year span.
In the rotations released Thursday by the conference, the Wolverines will host the Gophers in 2024 and return to Minnesota in 2026.
For now, a Michigan team favored by 18½ points according to FanDuel Sportsbook odds will try to keep the College Football Playoff train moving after winning 45-7 at Nebraska last week for a 17th consecutive Big Ten win. That’s the second-longest streak in program history.
“They’re one of the deepest, for sure,” Fleck said. “It doesn’t matter who is in that football game. It just seems like they’re always fresh because they have so many great players and they do such a good job of rotating them.”
CLEAN GAME
Michigan has been penalized just 2.6 times per game and Minnesota is averaging 2.8 flags per game, trailing only Army — naturally, the most disciplined team — in the FBS. The Wolverines were not called for one penalty last week, a first for them in the 21st century.
“There’s a few penalties that weren’t called maybe both ways, but officials were letting the guys play,” Harbaugh said.
BROTHERLY LOVE
Gophers defensive end Danny Striggow, who leads the team and is tied for the Big Ten lead with three sacks, has an older brother, Bobby, who’s a wrestler for Michigan. Another older brother, Jackson, wrestled for the Wolverines, too.
“They are Gopher fans for this week,” said Striggow, who played at Orono High School in the Minneapolis area. ”They are always obviously Gopher football fans, but they are Michigan football fans every other week of the year, until it’s Gophers versus Wolverines. Then they are 100% Gopher fans.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan’s Blake Corum leads the FBS with nine rushing touchdowns. Roman Wilson has eight receiving touchdowns, also the most by a player at college football’s highest level. The Wolverines are also allowing an FBS-low six points per game and have not surrendered more than a touchdown in any game against their lackluster competition.
FOUR IN A ROW
Minnesota running back Darius Taylor won three straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards. Then while he was out with an injury for the homecoming win over Louisiana, Zach Evans took over as the featured ball carrier for Taylor and kept the freshman award streak going for the Gophers.
Leaning on the ground game, even against a Wolverines defense that ranks 13th in the FBS with an average of 85.2 rushing yards allowed per game, will be the way to go for the Gophers. Taylor leads the Big Ten with 532 rushing yards despite playing sparingly in the opener and being sidelined last week.
“It’s an emotional, fired-up type of team,” Harbaugh said. “P.J. does a great job. You can always tell they’re confident no matter what the stakes are, the odds are.”
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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Michigan, contributed to this report.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
Michigan
Top Michigan in-state recruits of all time and how their careers went
The Michigan Wolverines locked up the highest recruit in Michigan football history on Thursday evening with the commitment of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood. He carries a ton of accolades to Ann Arbor, including the highest rated recruit in the state of Michigan’s football history on 247Sports.
From Benny Friedman, to Anthony Carter, to Brandon Graham and Aidan Hutchinson, there is a long list of Michigan football legends that came from the state of Michigan. As Underwood gets settled into Ann Arbor in the near future, we take a look at some of the top Michigan in-state recruits of all time and how their careers went.
1. Charles Rogers – WR – Class of 2000
Before Underwood, the top-rated high school player to come out of the state of Michigan was wide receiver Charles Rogers. Rogers went to Saginaw High School and had a 0.9988 rating.
Rogers went to Michigan State and cemented himself as one of the best college wide receivers of all time. From 2000-02, Rogers broke the school record for most touchdowns in a career with 27, breaking the record held by former Spartans wide receiver and baseball legend Kirk Gibson, as well as the school record for most receiving yards in a single game with 270. He also broke Randy Moss’ NCAA record of 13 consecutive games with a touchdown catch
During Rogers’ junior season, he put up 1,351 yards and 13 touchdowns, winning the Biletnikoff Award and Paul Warfield Trophy as the season’s outstanding college football receiver. He was a unanimous All-American.
The Detroit Lions drafted Rogers No. 2 overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. While his NFL career was known by many as an extreme let-down, Rogers will forever be remembered as an all-time great Spartan.
2. Dante Moore – QB – Class of 2023
Dante Moore is still waiting for his career to blossom. Moore attended Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, where he earned a 0.9980 rating as the No. 4 player in the 2023 class. He went to UCLA, but had a rough first season with 1,610 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Moore entered the transfer portal and is now with the Oregon Ducks, sitting behind Dillon Gabriel this season. He is expected to take the reins next year for Dan Lanning’s offense. Moore’s career is still young, but he was another example of the growing pains that come with starting a true freshman quarterback.
3. LaMarr Woodley – LB – Class of 2003
LaMarr Woodley was the highest in-state recruit to commit to Michigan before Underwood, earning a 0.9972 rating out of Saginaw High School in 2003. Woodley was named a captain in 2006 and he broke out for the Wolverines. Woodley collected 12 sacks as a senior and won the Lombardi Award as the best lineman, offensive or defensive, in the country. His 12 sacks led the Big Ten and was eighth in the nation. After his senior season, Woodley was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and a unanimous All-American.
After his Michigan career, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Woodley with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Woodley played in 110 NFL games, making 58 sacks, 229 solo tackles and nine forced fumbles. WooHeley played for the Steelers from 2007-2013, the Oakland Raiders in 2014, and finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals in 2015.
4. Kelly Baraka – RB – Class of 2001
There were many success stories on this list, but running back Kelly Baraka was the one outlier. Baraka was a consensus five-star from Portage Northern High School. With a 0.9940 rating, he was supposed to be the next great running back to play at Michigan…but that never happened.
The former high school All-American was arrested twice for marijuana possession before his freshman year and was suspended for the season by then-head coach Lloyd Carr. Still, he was set to return for the 2002 season and bring a style of speed Michigan hadn’t seen in the backfield since Tyrone Wheatley. That never happened, though, and Carr eventually kicked him off the team because of his off-field issues.
5. Brandon Graham – ILB – Class of 2006
Brandon Graham had all the accolades in the world coming into his freshman year at Michigan. At Crockett Vocation Tech in Detroit, Graham was named to the USA Today All-America first team, and was the Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year. He had a 0.9930 rating as a five-star. Graham became the first player from the state of Michigan to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Graham had a dominant career at Michigan. Graham became the first defensive player in school history to be voted Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player twice (2008, 2009), he shared the 2009 Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten’s MVP, and he was named to the 2008 All-Big Ten second team and 2009 All-Big Ten first team.
In four seasons in Ann Arbor, Graham posted 138 tackles, 56 tackles for loss, 29.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries and three pass breakups. His 56 TFLs and 29.5 sacks rank second in Michigan history, and he is tied for second at Michigan in career forced fumbles.
After an outstanding career with the Wolverines, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Graham 13th overall in the 2010 draft. Graham is still playing at a high level for the Eagles 14 years later, and he has 2.5 sacks in 2024 at 36 years old.
Michigan
LOOK: Valiant, Bryce Underwood launch merchandise shop for Michigan Football fans
Michigan landed the biggest fish of them all on Thursday night when Bryce Underwood stunned the world when he announced he was flipping his commitment from LSU to the Wolverines. It sent shockwaves around the country and Michigan is trending for several key recruits who might come into the fold with Underwood staying home.
But for those pessimistic fans — or rival fans clinging to hope he doesn’t come to Michigan — it appears the deal is as good as done. Valiant and Underwood revealed a new ‘Bryce Underwood Shop’ where fans will be able to preorder Underwood merchandise as soon as he signs his Letter of Intent on December 4.
There are currently four options to choose from. You will be able to order a signed trading card, or a choice of two different T-shirts.
At the bottom, Underwood has a message to Michigan fans:
Hey, I’m Bryce Underwood, a quarterback from Michigan, and I’m so pumped to take the next step in my football journey at the University of Michigan! During my high school career, I was lucky enough to lead my team to multiple state championships, and I’m proud of the records we set along the way. Football has always been my passion, and I’m grateful for the recognition and opportunities it’s brought me. Now, I can’t wait to represent the Maize and Blue and give everything I’ve got for this amazing program and its fans!
This will be one hot shop when it opens on December 4.
– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –
WATCH: Bryce Underwood launches ‘Hometown Hero’ Michigan commitment video
Three keys to Michigan Football defeating Northwestern
Predicting every Big Ten football final score in Week 13
Michigan
Michigan flips Belleville QB Bryce Underwood from LSU. What does this mean for the Wolverines?
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