ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan is back home this week with the Paul Bunyan Trophy on the line, as the Wolverines host Michigan State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Michigan Stadium in the first of their two rivalry games this season.
Michigan arrives at 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten after a 28-21 win at Rutgers on Saturday. The Spartans, who had the weekend off, are 2-6 and still looking for their first conference win at 0-5.
Both sidelines will be new to the series. Kyle Whittingham, 66, is in his first season leading Michigan after three decades at Utah, where he coached in the Utes’ own in-state rivalry, and Pat Fitzgerald is in his first year at Michigan State. After the Rutgers game, Whittingham said he regards the Spartans as the second-most important rivalry on the schedule, praised Fitzgerald as a coach he knows well, and admitted he had not yet had time to study film on them.
The Wolverines have taken the last four meetings, including a 31-20 win in East Lansing a year ago. Their roster is light on homegrown players, with only 16 from Michigan, and many of the assistant coaches followed Whittingham from Utah or other Western programs.
One local exception is the quarterback. Freshman Tommy Carr, who grew up in Saline, made his second start in place of Bryce Underwood at Rutgers and completed 23 of 28 passes for 266 yards with a touchdown throw to JJ Buchanan. He also ran for two scores, the last a 9-yard run with 4:19 left that broke a 21-21 tie and capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ate 7:19 of the fourth quarter.
The 427 yards Michigan gained in Piscataway were its most in a Big Ten game this fall, and the 28 points were a conference-play high, a sign the offense may be finding its footing heading into November.
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