A month from now, the focus will be squarely on the 2026 college football season, which features real expectations for the Michigan Wolverines despite all of the chaos of the offseason. The time to lock in is very close, but I wanted to perform one more labor-intensive yet not hugely beneficial "analysis" before we reach the games actually being played.
I suspect I am not alone in watching plenty of highlights over the offseason to kill time. (Drop a random event in the comments: mine is that Giles Jackson apparently returned the second-half kickoff back for a score in that triple overtime escape against Rutgers in 2020 — who knew?!) As I stroll down memory lane, one question kept coming back to mind: which end zone at Michigan Stadium gets more excitement?
To start off this super meaningful exercise, I looked at all home games between 2021 and 2025. Over these 36 contests, Michigan scored an average of 4.2 touchdowns per game, which seems like a pretty good total! Many of these were on the ground, as opposed to explosive passing plays, and some of the ones in September were fairly forgettable, but there are clearly some fun things happening here.
Unsurprisingly, the numbers have fallen a bit post-2023, with 4.7 touchdowns per game during the Big Ten Championship streak falling to 3.7 TD/game in the Sherrone Moore area. Quality of competition plays a role, though that excuse only goes so far. Removing the Group of Five opponents yields the same dropoff, with 3.8 TD/game pre-Moore turning into 2.8 TD/game the past two seasons.
Seeing that the Wolverines scored a bunch under Jim Harbaugh, then less under Moore, is not exactly news. No, the whole point of this effort is to determine if Michigan scores more in the north end zone (left on tv) or the south (right). Prepare yourself for a lot of numbers!
#game #zone #scored
I suspect I am not alone in watching plenty of highlights over the offseason to kill time. (Drop a random event in the comments: mine is that Giles Jackson apparently returned the second-half kickoff back for a score in that triple overtime escape against Rutgers in 2020 — who knew?!) As I stroll down memory lane, one question kept coming back to mind: which end zone at Michigan Stadium gets more excitement?
To start off this super meaningful exercise, I looked at all home games between 2021 and 2025. Over these 36 contests, Michigan scored an average of 4.2 touchdowns per game, which seems like a pretty good total! Many of these were on the ground, as opposed to explosive passing plays, and some of the ones in September were fairly forgettable, but there are clearly some fun things happening here.
Unsurprisingly, the numbers have fallen a bit post-2023, with 4.7 touchdowns per game during the Big Ten Championship streak falling to 3.7 TD/game in the Sherrone Moore area. Quality of competition plays a role, though that excuse only goes so far. Removing the Group of Five opponents yields the same dropoff, with 3.8 TD/game pre-Moore turning into 2.8 TD/game the past two seasons.
Seeing that the Wolverines scored a bunch under Jim Harbaugh, then less under Moore, is not exactly news. No, the whole point of this effort is to determine if Michigan scores more in the north end zone (left on tv) or the south (right). Prepare yourself for a lot of numbers!
#game #zone #scored
1 month ago
