The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/917835
JANUARY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 11 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS "Saw Coach D [Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio] comments on continuing to 'focus' on how 'he' can beat Michigan. Congrats on turning around a 3-9 team, plagued with off-field issues. Good for B1G to have him back." — Jim Harbaugh on Twitter, in response to Dantonio's comments regarding whether or not MSU was snubbed out of the Outback Bowl. It was re-tweeted more than 3,670 times and favorited 11,752 times. "I just feel that if Michigan is going to be an NCAA team, [fifth-year senior point guard] Jaaron Simmons is going to have to be the guy who will elevate." — Former Michigan basketball player and current ESPN analyst Tim McCormick "It's always a good thing to have competition. I've always been one that believes competition brings out the best in people. I think that's probably where Coach Harbaugh is going with it — he can bring in some great players from Ole Miss, guys who have already kind of proven themselves and they'll be great additions to the team. I feel like for football, you shouldn't let your feelings get hurt. If you have someone coming in and they're better than you and play over you, they're just better than you. It is what it is." — U-M fifth-year senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst on the possible addition of transfers from Ole Miss "While Michigan lost a majority of its skill offensive players from the 2016 team, [sophomore running back Chris] Evans returned as its lead- ing rusher. As he did last season, Evans showed flashes this fall, rushing for 661 yards and adding 146 yards receiving, but it was actually [junior running back] Karan Higdon who became the lead back for the Wol- verines as the season progressed. This one … surprises me as I didn't see Higdon being the bell cow. Evans was a three-star athlete out of high school because he could do so many things and potentially play running back, wide receiver or defensive back. He's done well in the Michigan offense and had a solid year but didn't break out." — Rivals. com national director of recruiting Mike Farrell, revisiting his preseason prediction that Evans would be one of the nation's breakout players — Austin Fox THEY SAID IT Former ESPN analyst Mark May on Twitter during the Michigan- Ohio State game Nov. 25 "The officials in the @OhioStAthletics @UMichFootball game will never give Michigan a fair shake. It's embarrassing." PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN MICHIGAN SET TO PLAY NOTRE DAME AT NIGHT IN SEASON OPENER On Dec. 7, Michigan announced that its season opener against Notre Dame next year will be a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on NBC. The game is scheduled for Sept. 1, 2018, and will be played at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. It will be the first time the teams have met since the 2014 season, when Notre Dame beat Michigan 31-0 in South Bend. The last four meetings between the two schools have all been night games — 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Michi- gan is 2-2 in those four games, win- ning both home games and losing the two road games. Michigan played in three night games in 2017, the most in school history — at home against Michigan State and Min- nesota, and on the road at Penn State. The two home night games were the most ever played by U-M. The Wolverines will host one night game in 2018 and have several pos- sible opponents to pick from. They could, however, play at night on the road more than once next season. Michigan leads the all-time series with Notre Dame, 24-16-1. The two schools will play again in 2019, but in Ann Arbor Oct. 26 — which comes in the middle of Big Ten play. The agreement between the pro- grams has not been extended past 2019 at this time. — Andrew Vailliencourt The last time Michigan and Notre Dame met was Sept. 6, 2014 in South Bend, a 31-0 loss for the Wolverines. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA