Fearless Forecast: No. 18 Michigan vs. Northwestern
Northwestern returns to its home-away-from-home, Wrigley Field, to take on No. 18 Michigan and try to win the George Jewett Trophy for the first time in school history.
The trophy is named for George Jewett, the first African-American to play Big Ten football, and who played at both schools (this was in the 1890s, by the way, and well before the transfer portal). Michigan has been playing Northwestern since 1892, and the all-time record between the two “rivals” is as lopsided as you might imagine: Michigan leads 60-15-2 and has won the last eight in a row. The trophy was just established in 2021 to reward the winner, and Michigan won both games, which were each played in Ann Arbor, Mich., by a cumulative score of 83-13.
Not only has Northwestern never won the trophy, ironically, Jewett would never have won it, either. When Jewett played for Michigan in 1892, they lost to Northwestern, 10-8. When he transferred to Northwestern in 1893, they lost to Michigan, 72-6, though Jewett scored the lone touchdown for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats can certainly hope that the change of venue and playing closer to Evanston might change their fortunes, but history is against them there, too. Northwestern is 0-6 all-time at the “Friendly” Confines, and 0-5 since 2010. Head coach David Braun is 0-3 at Clark & Addison since taking the job in 2023, losing both games the Wildcats played there last season.
But history is for books and football is played on grass. On Saturday, it will be the well manicured surface of a 111-year old ballpark.
These teams both have strong running games and rock-solid defenses. Michigan is 7-2 (5-1 Big Ten), while Northwestern is 5-4 (3-3). They’ve played three common opponents: both teams beat hapless Purdue and lost by double-digits to USC, while Michigan won at Nebraska by a field goal while Northwestern lost there by a touchdown scored with 2:44 to go.
Can the Wildcats buck history, get a bowl-bid-clinching sixth win and take the George Jewett Trophy home to the Walter Athletic Center for the first time? Or will Michigan claim its ninth straight win over the Cats and take it back with them to Ann Arbor?
WildcatReport’s staff weighs in with our picks.
MORE FROM MICHIGAN WEEK: Behind Enemy Lines: No. 18 Michigan | Jackson Carsello puts it all together for final season l Notebook: Braun shoulders blame for USC fake punt, readies for Michigan
Matt Shelton (7-2)
It’s time to put the fearlessness in the forecast. I’m picking the Wildcats to get their second upset of the season as double-digit underdogs.
Michigan is ranked and coming off a bye, though they are hampered by a series of injuries. Star running back Justice Haynes continues to be week-to-week, safety Rod Moore is day-to-day and linebackers Jimmy Rolder and Jaishawn Barham are up in the air, per Sherrone Moore‘s weekly presser.
Wrigley Field will certainly trend more towards maize than purple, but the Wolverines are still just 2-2 on the road, and true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood has struggled away from Ann Arbor. Add in that the storied rivalry with No. 1 Ohio State looms just a couple weeks away and Michigan might have spent their bye week looking ahead, thinking of how to spoil Ryan Day‘s season than beat the team that’s up next.
The Wildcats have lost just three games in a row one time under Braun. They will be starving for their sixth win to lock up bowl eligibility and to avenge an embarrassing 50-6 loss at Michigan last year.
I think the offense gets an early score on script, the defense remedies their tackling issues from the Nebraska and USC games, the heat gets turned up on a young Wolverine team and the Wildcats squeak out their first win at Wrigley.
Prediction: Northwestern 21, Michigan 17
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Louie Vaccher (6-3)
Northwestern and Michigan are very similar teams this season. They both rely on the running game and defense to win games. You can be sure that both teams will want to establish the ground game on Saturday.
The problem — at least from Northwestern’s perspective — is that Michigan has a better rushing offense (223.8 ypg to 181.4 ypg) and rushing defense (86.1 to 142.8) than the Wildcats. And, as usual, they have better personnel at most positions. Those aren’t statistics that spell success for the guys in Purple.
I think the defense will keep Northwestern in the game for a while, and if the Wildcats win the turnover battle they might be able to pull off the upset. But alas, they’re struggling in that area, too — the Wildcats are -5 in turnover margin, tied for 110th in the nation.
I think the Wolverines pull away in the second half in a tight, relatively low-scoring affair and the Wildcats will fail to notch their vital sixth win for a third straight week.
Prediction: Michigan 24, Northwestern 17
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