The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2021 THE WOLVERINE 7 BY AUSTIN FOX T he Big Ten released its revised college football schedules for the 2021 campaign Feb. 5, and Michi- gan's was altered slightly as a result. The opponents for all conference members remained the same, with the only changes occurring in the form of locations and dates. Two of the most noteworthy as- pects surrounding the Wolverines' new 2021 slate involved the locations of where their two rivalry games against Michigan State and Ohio State will take place. The Wolverines will host the Buck- eyes Nov. 27 in Ann Arbor, as was originally planned. The reason this is noteworthy, however, is because last season's showdown in Colum- bus was canceled, meaning Jim Harbaugh's crew will host OSU in consecutive meetings (the 2019 game was in Ann Arbor) for the first time since 1902 and 1903. Both the venue and date, mean- while, were altered for Michigan's matchup with in-state rival Michigan State. The game will now take place in East Lansing Oct. 30, with the old 2021 slate originally pitting the two against one another in Ann Arbor Oct. 16. That the contest was moved to East Lansing did not come as a surprise, with the Spartans already having played at The Big House each of the past two years. This also means the locations of U-M's rivalry games against MSU and OSU will be offset, one at home and one away, an occurrence that hasn't taken place since 2013. Michigan saw the dates of three of its other 2021 games changed as well, with a trip to Nebraska being switched from Oct. 30 to Oct. 9, a home game versus Northwestern moved from Nov. 6 to Oct. 23, and a showdown against Indiana at The Big House changed from Oct. 9 to Nov. 6. It's also worth noting the clash against the Hoosiers was moved from Bloomington to Ann Arbor, avoiding a third straight trip to Memorial Stadium for the Maize and Blue (they won at IU in 2019, but lost there last season). U-M's three non-conference games remained unchanged, with Western Michigan, Washington and Northern Illinois all coming to The Big House during the campaign's first three weeks to kick off the season. Several other notable takeaways surrounding U-M's new 2021 sched- ule involved the Big Ten West foes Michigan will face and how sporadic the matchups have been over the last six years. For example, the Wolverines will square off against Wisconsin (Oct. 2 in Madison) for the sixth straight season, but they have not played any other West opponent more than twice since 2016. Counting 2021, U-M will have faced West foe Purdue just once since 2016, and Minnesota, Iowa, Ne- braska, Illinois and Northwestern all twice during that span. Furthermore, Michigan's trip to Nebraska Oct. 9 will be just the Wolverines' second journey to Lin- coln since the Cornhuskers joined the conference in 2011, with 2012 be- ing the lone other. NU, on the other hand, has played at Michigan Sta- dium three times over the last decade (2011, 2013 and 2018). ❑ Inside Michigan ATHLETICS Big Ten's Revised 2021 Football Schedules Reveal Date And Location Changes U-M will host Ohio State Nov. 27 in Ann Arbor, meaning the Wolverines will host OSU in consecutive meetings (the 2019 game was in Ann Arbor and the 2020 matchup was canceled) for the first time since 1902 and 1903. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 2021 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (2020 Record) Sept. 4 Western Michigan (4-2) Sept. 11 Washington (3-1) Sept. 18 Northern Illinois (0-6) Sept. 25 Rutgers (3-6) Oct. 2 at Wisconsin (4-3) Oct. 9 at Nebraska (3-5) Oct. 16 Bye Oct. 23 Northwestern (7-2) Oct. 30 at Michigan State (2-5) Nov. 6 Indiana (6-2) Nov. 13 at Penn State (4-5) Nov. 20 at Maryland (2-3) Nov. 27 Ohio State (7-1)