Next up in the opponent preview series is the Michigan Wolverines. After an up-and-down season, which ended in the firing of Sherrone Moore and the first loss to Ohio State since 2019, Michigan decided to hire longtime Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. The Wolverines will look to put years of on- and off-the-field scandals behind them and return to their identity of being tough and physical in the trenches.
Rutgers has had an interesting history with the Wolverines, sealing their first-ever Big Ten victory over UM in 2014 with Kemoko Turay blocking a late field goal attempt to preserve a 26-24 win and prompting a field storm at SHI Stadium. Since then, it has all been downhill, including the infamous 78-0 loss that still leaves a pit in Rutgers' fans' stomachs.
More recently, Knights fans have struggled with much closer losses to the program, which offer a different type of heartache. There was a string of three surprisingly competitive games against a stronger Michigan team, including a 48-42 3OT escape by UM in 2020, a frustrating 20-13 Rutgers loss in Ann Arbor in 2021, and a shocking 17-14 halftime lead for the Knights at home turning into a 52-17 Michigan rout in 2022.
The last meeting between the sides was arguably the most anticlimactic, with Rutgers falling to Michigan 31-7 after an early Christian Dremel touchdown put RU up 7-0. The Knights have not seen the Wolverines since that 2023 meeting, which was the year Michigan won the national championship.
With the history being unpacked, let us turn our attention to this year's Michigan Wolverines and what to expect when Whittingham's team arrives in New Jersey on what should be an interesting Halloween gameday.
#wolverines #rutgers #since #loss
Rutgers has had an interesting history with the Wolverines, sealing their first-ever Big Ten victory over UM in 2014 with Kemoko Turay blocking a late field goal attempt to preserve a 26-24 win and prompting a field storm at SHI Stadium. Since then, it has all been downhill, including the infamous 78-0 loss that still leaves a pit in Rutgers' fans' stomachs.
More recently, Knights fans have struggled with much closer losses to the program, which offer a different type of heartache. There was a string of three surprisingly competitive games against a stronger Michigan team, including a 48-42 3OT escape by UM in 2020, a frustrating 20-13 Rutgers loss in Ann Arbor in 2021, and a shocking 17-14 halftime lead for the Knights at home turning into a 52-17 Michigan rout in 2022.
The last meeting between the sides was arguably the most anticlimactic, with Rutgers falling to Michigan 31-7 after an early Christian Dremel touchdown put RU up 7-0. The Knights have not seen the Wolverines since that 2023 meeting, which was the year Michigan won the national championship.
With the history being unpacked, let us turn our attention to this year's Michigan Wolverines and what to expect when Whittingham's team arrives in New Jersey on what should be an interesting Halloween gameday.
#wolverines #rutgers #since #loss
3 months ago
