PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Shea Patterson only threw for 124 yards against Wisconsin but added 90 yards on the ground, the most by a Michigan passer since Devin Gardner ran for 121 against Penn State in October of 2013. “He finds another thing to be really good at every single week,” coach Jim Harbaugh said.
–RB Karan Higdon again topped the 100-yard rushing mark, gaining 105 against the Badgers. That’s the senior’s fifth straight game of triple-digit yardage — not including when he missed the Week 3 win over SMU — and helped him become the 23rd player in school history to reach 2,000 career yards.
–K Quinn Nordin was 3-for-5 on field goals last week, the first time he’s missed multiple tries in a game since the 2017 opener against Florida (when he was 4-of-6). The junior is 11-of-14 on the season.
SERIES HISTORY: Michigan leads Michigan State 69-36-5 but in recent years the Wolverines have usually been on the losing end. Michigan State has won eight of the last 10 meetings, including last year in Ann Arbor, but Michigan won 32-23 in East Lansing in 2016.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think we could all use a break from the cliches that have been plowed so thoroughly on both sides.” — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, when asked about the past social media barbs that both his team and Michigan State have flung at each other leading up to their games.
