3 trap games for Michigan Football in 2024

2. October 26th, Michigan State @ home

A week before Oregon enters the Big house and a tricky road game in Bloomington, Sparty seeks revenge on its "big brother." They've got a new regime leading them and a legit quarterback who will have been put through the ringer with games against conference favorites Ohio State and Oregon already in the past.

This one won't be as easy as it was a year ago in East Lansing. Michigan football will be seeking its third win in a row over Sparty. They won in 2020 in Mel Tucker's first try in the rivalry. Joe Rossi has the dubious job of replacing Scottie Hazelton who also gave up about 50 to Michigan a year ago, when he was at Minnesota.

You can make a case that Indiana is a trap game too. Curt Cignetti would like nothing more than a signature win, just like Smith to jump start their respective programs. Doing it against Michigan football would lift their coaching career into the stratosphere.

Indiana's transfer quarterback and new coach each had power five conference wins in 2023. Cignetti has never had a losing season, but is skating on thin ice at a job where practically no one ever succeeds.