The Michigan football team is off to an exceptional start to the 2023 season as they are currently 8-0 and ranked #3 in the country. The Wolverines have cruised so far this season, and their last win came in dominating fashion against rival Michigan State football. Last season, the two teams squared off under the lights in Ann Arbor, and Michigan came out with a 29-7 victory. After the game, two Wolverines players were beaten by a group of Spartans, and the situation led to multiple suspensions for Michigan State players. That incident was on the mind of the Michigan football team leading up to this year's game.

Before the game, a lot of Michigan football players said that the team has put the incident behind them and that they were not thinking about it. Obviously, that was all for the cameras, and that was a huge motivator for this team going into the game. The Wolverines wanted to prove something against their rival, and they did just that.

“We came into that game (against Michigan State) — we wanted to make a statement before the bye,” Michigan captain Trevor Keegan said, according to an article from Blue By Ninety. “I think really, the thing that happened last year in the tunnel, that really motivated us (Michigan football) as well. You know, guys were like, ‘Don’t let it distract you’ and things like that. You know, ‘We’re over it.’ Nah, we weren’t over it. We wanted to come in there and really beat down on (Michigan State). So it was nice — it was a good time.”

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Michigan jumped on the Spartans early and often in that one, and they ended up pulling their starters hallway through the third quarter when the score was already 42-0. The Wolverine ended up shutting out Michigan State in East Lansing as Michigan went on to win 49-0. It's safe to say that the Wolverines did indeed make a statement.

Michigan was on a bye week after taking down the Spartans, but they are back in action this weekend at home against Purdue.