2018 Michigan gameday #13: vs. Florida (Peach Bowl)

Just a few minutes after I post this the Wolverines will kick off their final game of the 2018 season.  While the destination isn't the one they ultimately had in mind thanks to a stunning collapse against the hated Buckeyes, an 11-win season is up for grabs, as are bragging rights, pride, and plenty more.

#7 Michigan's (10-2) Peach Bowl opponents are very familiar to this team:  #10 Florida (9-3).  This will be the fifth meeting in the series, and the Wolverines are undefeated to this point.  The programs faced off in 2003's Outback Bowl, the '08 Capital One Bowl (a nice sendoff for Lloyd Carr and my favorite draft class), 2016's Citrus Bowl, and the season opener in 2017.  Yep, Michigan's meeting the Gators for the third straight year.

The Wolverines will be without a number of their stars today as those players heal up or prepare for the draft, but it'll be nice to have the very effective Shea Patterson under center after last year's subpar bowl appearance.  Outgoing DE Chase Winovich will also be around, opting to play in his final appearance for the Wolverines, a move that's earned him a ton of respect (not that I blame any of the potential draftees for skipping the game).

These teams obviously know each other well and the line appears to be around six points in favor of my guys, so as is usually the case I have no idea what to expect, but I hope coach Jim Harbaugh's guys wash some of the bad taste of The Game out of their mouth's with a big win to finish the season off on a positive note.  Skin the Gators!

LET'S GO BLUE

2017 Michigan gameday #1: vs. Florida (Dallas, TX)

As I write this there's under an hour until kickoff in Dallas (sigh) between my Wolverines and the Florida Gators to open up Michigan's 2017 season.  College football (a.k.a. best football) is back and I couldn't be more excited, and a top-20 matchup with an SEC team that got thumped by my alma mater the last time they played just adds fuel to the fire.

Go ahead and focus on nonsense like the all-maize uniforms or coach Jim Harbaugh's "antics" if you'd like, but I'll be enjoying the start of another high-energy season, not wasting my time on any of that.

Let's.

Go.

Blue.

2015 Michigan gameday #13: vs. Florida

mgoblue.com

Happy new year, everyone!  January 1 is not just a day of celebrating flipping the calendar over to another year--it's also the day when I commemorate another new beginning:  the inception of this here blog!  It was four years ago today that I spun off this new blog from TMV to highlight all things Michigan, and somehow I'm still going strong.  Thank you to everyone who follows, reads, comments, and sends me more Wolverines cards to feed my addiction!

With that out of the way, there's more business to get to.  The Wolverines have made it back into a bowl game, and better yet they're playing on New Year's Day, the traditional and best day for bowl games.  Michigan's 9-3 record has earned them a matchup in the Citrus Bowl against 10-3 Florida, a game that looks pretty even on paper thanks to each team's excellent defense.

Of course I still have happy memories of the last time these two played, eight years ago in the Capital One Bowl.  In Lloyd Carr's final game as Michigan's head coach, the Wolverines stunned everyone by coming out in a spread offense and putting up 41 points to Florida's 35, defeating the heavily-favored Gators led by Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer.  It was the last hurrah for my favorite draft class, helmed by Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Mario Manningham, Jake Long, Adrian Arrington, and others.

The Wolverines are favored by four points today, but as we all know by now that doesn't mean anything.  I hope our seniors, including grad transfer QB Jake Rudock, get to go out as winners and bring first-year coach Jim Harbaugh a bowl victory to put a nice bow on an unexpectedly resurgent season.  Let's start 2016 on a high note and ride that momentum to a top recruiting class and an even better season this fall!

LET'S GO BLUE!