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Published Nov 21, 2019
By The Numbers: U-M’s 34-Point Win Was Its Sixth Largest Vs. MSU Since WWII
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Austin Fox  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer

Saturday's 44-10 beatdown of MSU was the 112th all-time meeting between the Michigan Wolverines' football program and the Michigan State Spartans, with the first one occurring all the way back in 1898 when the Green and White were still known as Michigan Agricultural College.

This past weekend's victory marked the 19th time the Maize and Blue had ever beaten the Spartans by at least 30 points, but just the ninth time since World War II came to an end on Sept. 2, 1945.

It also stood as Michigan's sixth-largest margin of victory against the Spartans since 1945, and the second biggest since 1986.

The only bigger triumph since '86 was the 49-3 obliteration at The Big House in 2002, which at the time started a string of six straight wins against MSU under head coach Lloyd Carr (1995-07) that ran through 2007.

Senior quarterback Shea Patterson set some records of his own in last weekend's annihilation of the Spartans, with his 384 passing yards standing as the most that any Michigan signal-caller had ever compiled against Michigan State. Current New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady held the previous record, throwing for 285 yards during a 34-31 loss at MSU in 1999.

Patterson's 384 yards also marked the fifth most in a game in program history, with the contest standing as just the 23rd time a Michigan quarterback had ever thrown four touchdown passes in the Wolverines' 140 seasons of football.

The 34-point margin of victory was the Maize and Blue's 15th largest ever in the rivalry, though nine of those 15 occurred prior to 1927.

Each of the 19 Times Michigan has Defeated MSU by 30 or More Points
YearFinal ScoreMargin of VictoryHost

2019

W, 44-10

34

Michigan

2002

W, 49-3

46

Michigan

1985

W, 31-0

31

MSU

1983

W, 42-0

42

MSU

1976

W, 42-10

32

Michigan

1973

W, 31-0

31

MSU

1947

W, 55-0

55

Michigan

1946

W, 55-7

48

Michigan

1945

W, 40-0

40

Michigan

1926

W, 55-3

52

Michigan

1925

W, 39-0

39

Michigan

1923

W, 37-0

37

Michigan

1922

W, 63-0

63

Michigan

1921

W, 30-0

30

Michigan

1920

W, 35-0

35

Michigan

1912

W, 55-7

48

Michigan

1907

W, 46-0

46

Michigan

1902

W, 119-0

119

Michigan

1898

W, 39-2

37

Michigan

Michigan's six largest margins of victory all time against MSU (48 points or more) all occurred before 1948, with Fielding Yost's 119-0 shellacking of the Spartans in 1902 topping the list. Yost owns eight of Michigan's 14 biggest defeats of Michigan State, coaching the Wolverines from 1901-23, and then again from 25-26.

Bo Schembechler (1969-89), meanwhile, took down the Spartans by at least 30 points four separate times, though it has only occurred twice since he retired following the 1989 campaign.

Gary Moeller (1990-94) never accomplished the feat, and Carr only did so once (49-3 in 2002) despite posting an overall record of 10-3 against the Green and White.

Saturday was the first time with Harbaugh at the helm, and he became just the sixth coach in school history to beat MSU by at least 30 points, joining a list that includes Carr, Schembechler, Fritz Crisler (1938-47), Yost and Gustave Ferbert (1897-99).

By The Numbers: Michigan At Indiana

1st And only regular-season game of the year with a 3:30 p.m. start time for Michigan. Eight contests started (or will start, in the case of the Ohio State showdown) at noon ET and three began at 7:30.

2 Turnovers in U-M's last four games, including two turnover-free outings in wins over Notre Dame and Maryland. The Wolverines gave the ball away nine times through their first three affairs, and 13 times in their first six.

5:26 PM Is when the sun is scheduled to set on Saturday in Bloomington, meaning the entire second half of the game will be played in darkness. Forecasts are also calling for a 60 percent chance of a rain/snow mix, to go along with highs of 38 degrees and maximum wind gusts of eight miles-per-hour.

8.7 Has been the average margin of victory for Michigan in its last four meetings with Indiana, with none coming by more than 11. The two meetings in Bloomington (2015 and 2017) under Harbaugh have each gone into overtime, with U-M pulling out a 48-41 double-overtime triumph in 2015, and a 27-20 win in 2017.

11-Point margin of victory last season for the Wolverines on Senior Day over the Hoosiers (31-20), marking Michigan's closest home game of its undefeated 7-0 campaign in Ann Arbor. Heading into the 2018 home finale with IU, U-M had won its previous six home contests by at least 21 points, and doing so against the Hoosiers would have marked the first time the Maize and Blue had come out on top in all of their home clashes in a season by such a margin since 1901.

16 Touchdown passes for Patterson on the year, which are tied with Illinois redshirt junior quarterback Brandon Peters for the fourth most in the Big Ten. If the senior throws six more scores and 443 more yards this year, he'll become the first U-M signal-caller in school history to put together two separate seasons of 22 touchdown and 2,600 passing yards (those were Patterson's exact stats last year).

369 Receiving yards for wide receiver Jeremy Gallon in Michigan's 63-47 win over Indiana in 2013, which stands as the school's all-time record. Gallon not only set the mark that afternoon, but shattered it by 123 yards (Roy Roundtree's 246 yards against Illinois in 2010 had been the previous record). Quarterback Devin Gardner threw for 503 yards (most in a game in program history) against the Hoosiers that afternoon en route to 751 total yards from the Wolverine offense.

1928 Was the last time U-M played MSU as late in a season as it did last Saturday (Nov. 16). The 1928 matchup between the two rivals occurred on Nov. 17 and resulted in a 3-0 Wolverine victory.

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