Michigan made things difficult, but ended up getting back in the win column on Saturday afternoon with a 28-21 win over Rutgers. It was probably a game that the Wolverines don’t want to dwell on too much, given how much closer it was than expected, but fortunately there won’t be much time to dwell on it anyway with one of the most important games of the season on deck.
Next Saturday, the Wolverines will welcome in Michigan State to the Big House and go for their fifth consecutive win over the Spartans.
Thus far, it hasn’t exactly been a season to remember for either side. Michigan State sits at just 2-6, but Michigan hasn’t really given itself much room to talk with how far below expectations it’s performed this season. Both are under the leadership of first-year head coaches, and setting the tone in a rivalry game could be a great boost to morale at this point in the season.
“This is a rivalry that I’ve been watching and cheering for Michigan for my whole life. Just to be a part of this game is going to be really special,” said Michigan quarterback Tommy Carr on Saturday after the win over Rutgers.
If there’s anyone on Michigan’s roster that knows a thing or two about the in-state rivalry, it’s Carr, whose grandfather, Lloyd, went 10-3 against the Spartans as Michigan’s head coach from 1995 to 2007. Growing up in the area also plays a big role, with players from all across the state, like Carr, a Saline native, having had some exposure to the rivalry even before taking the field and playing in it.
Of course, the Michigan-Michigan State game has gotten some national attention in recent years too for its chipiness and off-field intensity, and perhaps it’s shaped the perspective of those who didn’t grow up living and breathing it.
“All I know is it’s a dirty game,” said freshman running back Savion Hiter, a Virginia native, on Saturday.
Most notably, players were involved in an altercation in the Michigan Stadium tunnel after the Wolverines’ win in 2022, an incident that ended up with seven Spartans facing criminal charges for varying degrees of assault. Then in 2024, there was another dust-up on the field in the game’s final seconds after some pushing and shoving between Michigan State’s Anthony Jones and Michigan’s Colston Loveland.
Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham will also be getting his first taste of the rivalry after coming over from Utah, where he’d spent the last 31 years of his coaching career. He’s been a part of major rivalries before against BYU, but perhaps not with the degree of volatility that the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Trophy takes on.
Whittingham faced some backlash earlier in the offseason for downplaying the nature of the Ohio State rivalry and not needing to “hate” the other side, and was asked on Saturday about his knowledge of Michigan State as well.
“I know it’s clearly the second-most important rivalry that we have,” Whittingham told reporters after the game. When asked about the Spartans again postgame on the radio, he added that the ensuing rivalry game is “not the biggest one, but it’s a big one.”
Surely his comments about Michigan State should add some more fuel to the fire for the Spartan side, given the seriousness with which it treats the matchup every year. And with Michigan not yet proving that it’s capable of easily putting away lesser opponents this season, it could come back to haunt the Wolverines if they once again come out looking unprepared as they did against Rutgers on Saturday.
Michigan did show some signs of life on offense on Saturday against Rutgers, so perhaps getting another week’s worth of reps and playing in front of the home crowd can help the Wolverines to put it all together against the green and white. We shall see when the teams square off at the Big House.
