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Daily briefing: On Michigan-Michigan State, maybe the biggest upset ever and Nick Saban’s 70th

Ivan Maiselby:Ivan Maisel•10/29/21•

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BoMcMillinCentre
QB Bo McMillin, who later became a successful coach, scored the only touchdown in Centre College's epic upset of mighty Harvard in 1921. (Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

A big one in East Lansing

No. 8 Michigan State welcomes No. 6 Michigan to Spartan Stadium on Saturday in what appears as if it will be a classic Big Ten showdown of unbeatens, and not merely because the thermometer will struggle to reach 50 degrees. For one thing, the enmity in this rivalry has remained high in recent years, even as both teams have struggled to maintain the pace set by Ohio State in the Big Ten East. For another, the Wolverines and the Spartans have both transformed into run-first, run-downhill teams. Michigan’s run/pass ratio is 2/1, and Michigan State’s is 4/3. I’m leaning toward the Wolverines because they have played a better schedule to date.

Remembering Bo McMillin and Centre

Friday is the centennial of the first great upset in college football. On October 29, 1921, the Centre College Praying Colonels of Danville, Ky., defeated mighty Harvard 6-0, breaking a three-season, 25-game unbeaten streak (22-0-3). Centre, which had an enrollment of about 260 (reports vary on the actual total), won thanks to the ball-handling, hip-swiveling wizardry of quarterback Bo McMillin, who scored the game’s only touchdown. The game helped McMillin become a consensus All-American. He went on to a long, distinguished coaching career (leading Indiana to its first Big Ten championship in 1945) but remains best-known for the Harvard game. The Harvard Crimson wrote a story 10 years ago about the upset with this quote: “I’d rather be Bo McMillin at this moment than the governor of Kentucky,” Edwin Morrow said after the game. Morrow was the governor of Kentucky.

Happy birthday, Nick Saban

Speaking of anniversaries, Nick Saban hits the big 7-0 on Sunday, and I’m not referring to any speed limits. His 60s were pretty good for Saban — he went 130-12 (.915), won five national titles, had two Heisman winners and developed 32 NFL first-round draft choices. Yeah, I’d say that was pretty good. Here’s the funny thing: His 60s started off with a loss, that epic 9-6 overtime home loss to LSU in 2011. Saban’s Tide won the next eight against the Tigers. His first game as a 70-year-old coach will be against LSU (again) at Bryant-Denny Stadium (again).