What they're saying after Michigan football's destruction of rival MSU
The Michigan Wolverines moved to 8-0 on the year with a 49-0 shutout win over the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday night in East Lansing. Coming off the week that was and a rivalry win, there were plenty of reactions from across the college football world.
The performance drew plenty of reaction from local and national voices. Here is a sampling of what prominent outlets were saying after Michigan’s blowout win.
Ryan Van Bergen, The Wolverine postgame show
Wolverine TV podcast: Postgame reactions to a blowout rivalry win over MSU
”It all came together. I think we’ve been waiting to see if Michigan can play a complete game and we kind of have seen this team progress throughout the season. And of course, you can always reference the quality of opponents in the preseason. But now we’re in the Big Ten schedule and the Big Ten schedule is what it is.
“And that’s definitely not the best Michigan State team that I’ve seen in recent years, but to go out there against a rival in a night game environment at their place and shut them out and run your offense as effectively as I think that offense can run. And just be pristine in all elements of the game, this team is right where you want them to be as you head into a bye week and head into November and November is the home stretch.”
Chris Balas, The Wolverine
Michigan 49, MSU 0: Notes, quotes, and observations after a bludgeoning
Saturday night’s Michigan game at Michigan State, a 49-0 U-M win, seemed destined to go one of two ways before kickoff — blowout or tight game with no in-between. Tuesday, we’d heard how focused the Wolverines were — that while they were calm and composed in front of the cameras and microphones, they were seething inside, hopeful to pull a page out of Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s Fantasyland playbook and “hang 100 on them” if they could.
They had a few great practices, and captains and veterans addressed the team about the importance of the game. Nobody had forgotten the tunnel incident last year, of course, a gang-up type assault on Michigan defensive backs Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green. Those were their brothers, after all — some by blood, in the case of U-M graduate safety German Green — and many felt they’d let them down by not being there to protect them.
The key in an emotional rivalry, though, is to channel that and bring it with dominant, physical, and legal play on the field without crossing boundaries. The Wolverines did it, especially defensively, in throttling the Spartans. For all the talk about sign stealing, etc., this one probably wouldn’t have been a contest even if they told the MSU coaches directly before each play what was coming … and in the third quarter, that might have been the humane thing.
“Our guys really had a single mindset of getting prepared, beating State,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “That was pretty much it. If anybody around the building wanted to talk about anything else, they didn’t want to. They wanted to just talk about the game, preparation, practice, and getting ready to play and execute. And I thought they played their best.
“We’ve got a little saying around here that what you do speaks so loudly, we can’t even hear what you’re saying. I thought our guys did a tremendous job of taking it one play at a time, and they were a real buzz saw. They played really great football.”
Jesse Simonton, On3.com
The Wolverines claimed yet another victim in its march toward their first championship since 1997, pummeling in-state rival Michigan State 49-0 in East Lancing. Jim Harbaugh made sure the Spartans remembered what happened in the postgame fracas in the tunnel last season, opting not to run out the clock late and scoring an eff-you touchdown with eight seconds left in the game.
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy tossed a career-high four touchdowns — three in the first-half — as the junior quarterback continues to climb up Heisman boards with another efficient outing (21 of 27 for 287 yards).
Michigan has again yet to face a defensive snap inside the 10-yard line and safety Mike Sainristil added his second pick-six of the season to his ledger.
David Hale, ESPN.com
College football Week 8 highlights: Top plays, games, takeaways
The biggest story leading into Week 8 was the allegation that Michigan was surreptitiously stealing signs and has been since at least 2021. But for all the attention the story got, it’s worth recapping the key details: A low-level staffer with a military background has emerged as a person of interest in the NCAA investigation into Michigan’s alleged sign-stealing operation, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
His name is Connor Stalions.
Let that sink in. If Jim Harbaugh had hired a ninja named Brock Espionage as the team’s director of [REDACTED], it wouldn’t have been any funnier.
The operation, which was described by a source as “elaborate,” has given Michigan all the insider info it’s needed to beat teams like Bowling Green, Rutgers, Nebraska and Indiana. Those wins can’t just be luck.
Still, we have to assume that at some point last week, Stalions was marched into Harbaugh’s office, where the furious Michigan coach was hunched over his desk, eyes bulging, face red.
Harbaugh: “Dammit Stalions, give me one good reason I shouldn’t have your employee badge and khakis right now!”
Stalions, coolly: “Because, sir … I get results.”
And he’s right! Without Stalions’ alleged advance scouting, surely Michigan wouldn’t have escaped rival Michigan State 49-0. It would’ve been more like 49-3. And instead of throwing for four touchdowns, J.J. McCarthy might’ve thrown for three and rushed for one. And certainly there’s no chance the Spartans would’ve been held to just 190 yards of offense. We have every confidence that, in an honestly played contest, Michigan State gets to at least 200 on a garbage-time scramble on fourth-and-26.
Meanwhile, in a bunker buried deep beneath the Big House, Harbaugh and his staff gather around a table surrounded by monitors showing the all-22 from Buckeyes games. A cacophony of frustration erupts among coaches.
Suddenly, a shadowy figure who looks strangely like James Franklin enters and hands Harbaugh a sealed envelope. Harbaugh opens the letter and slides out a single sheet of paper. It reads: “Marvin Harrison Jr. is really good.”
ESPN staff weighs in with CFP predictions
Andrea Adelson: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Blake Baumgartner: 1. Georgia 2. Washington 3. Michigan 4. Ohio State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Florida State
Bill Connelly: 1. Michigan 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Washington
Heather Dinich: 1. Michigan 2. Washington 3. Ohio State 4. Georgia
David Hale: 1. Michigan 2. Georgia 3. Florida State 4. Washington
Chris Low: 1. Michigan 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. Washington
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Ohio State
Ryan McGee: 1. Georgia 2. Washington 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Michigan 2. Georgia 3. Ohio State 4. Washington
Alex Scarborough: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Ohio State
Mark Schlabach: 1. Georgia 2. Washington 3. Michigan 4. Florida State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Ohio State
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Georgia 2. Michigan 3. Washington 4. Ohio State
Dave Wilson: 1. Michigan 2. Georgia 3. Washington 4. Ohio State
Chip Patterson, CBS Sports
2. Michigan (2): Though scandal and controversy dominate the conversation, the on-field contributions of Michigan football to the sport remain pure domination. It would not be surprising to see the Wolverines continue to pick up some more first-place votes after a 49-0 shutout win against rival Michigan State that stood in stark contrast to the results of many other top-10 teams on Saturday.
Austin Meek, The Athletic
Michigan shuts out Michigan State: 4 takeaways from Wolverines’ easy rivalry win
As usual, Michigan and Michigan State traded a few late hits. Michigan State offensive lineman Spencer Brown was flagged and ejected for throwing Michigan’s Braiden McGregor to the turf and diving at his helmet during Sainristil’s interception return. The Spartans also were flagged for a late hit on Blake Corum, and Michigan had a similar penalty on running back Tavierre Dunlap.
Michigan, which came into the game as the least-penalized team in the FBS, drew seven flags for 65 yards. Michigan State was penalized 11 times for 102 yards. Both teams left the field peacefully, Michigan with the Paul Bunyan Trophy in tow.
Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports
Yahoo Top 10: How much will whirlwind Saturday impact the rankings?
8. Michigan
In the wake of a sign-stealing scandal that has triggered an NCAA investigation, the Wolverines rolled to a romping victory over their archrival, scoring their most points in a game at East Lansing in program history. Think Michigan’s defense played well? MSU started 10 drives in the game. Only two of them went for more than 25 yards.
