EUGENE — The next stop for No. 1 Oregon’s undefeated campaign is a trip to the biggest sports venue in the country: Michigan Stadium.
The Ducks (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) are preparing for a hostile environment against the Wolverines on Saturday (12:30 p.m., CBS), particularly when they’re on offense, which practiced using a silent snap count on Tuesday.
“We’ll see how it goes,” left guard Nishad Strother said. “We thought Utah was going to be super loud last year as well. Maybe we can just go out there and quiet the crowd early. That’s the plan.”
Officially, capacity of The Big House is 107,601, though Michigan is averaging a nation-leading 110,663 per game — more than twice Autzen Stadium’s official capacity of 54,000, though Oregon is also averaging beyond capacity (59,066) this season.
Michigan (5-3, 3-2) has won 25 of its last 26 games at the Big House, with the lone loss coming to Texas earlier this season, with 111,170 in attendance.
No. 1 Oregon (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) at Michigan (5-3, 3-2)
- When: Saturday, Nov. 2
- Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich.
- TV channel: CBS
- Stream: Watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a cable provider, use your login information to watch this game on cbssports.com.
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Dan Lanning has coached in several of college football’s biggest venues, but this week’s trip to Ann Arbor will be his first time at Michigan Stadium.
“That’s one of the things that I think is exciting about being in this conference, is getting the opportunity to play at some historic places,” Lanning said. “This is certainly a historic place.”
The Wolverines are 3-16-1 all-time against No. 1 teams, with all three wins coming at Michigan Stadium, though the last was on Sept. 8, 1984, against Miami.
Oregon won its last trip to Michigan in 2007 (39-7), though neither team was ranked in that matchup.
While six Oregon players remain from the 2021 win at Ohio State and experienced playing in front of 100,000 people as the road team, only a couple of UO players have played at The Big House, including defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, who transferred from Michigan State. Harmon never beat UM in three years while at MSU, including a 29-7 loss at Michigan Stadium in 2022.
“Don’t like ‘em,” Harmon said. “I’mma leave it there. Don’t like ‘em.”
Defensive players also have a different experience than their offensive counterparts on the road when it comes to noise.
“Surprisingly it’s not that loud,” Harmon said. “When I’m on the field it’s not loud for me; their offense (is) on the field. So to me it’s not loud.”
— James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.