ANN ARBOR – The groans could be heard up and down I-96. When Saturday’s Michigan-Michigan State football game was announced as a night game, no one seemed happy.

This is the third year in a row that the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy begins under the lights (7:30 p.m. ET). Since both teams are 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, it doesn’t feel like a typical primetime matchup. A major network didn’t pick it up; BTN will broadcast.

Michigan as a school doesn’t like night games for a variety of reasons: concerns about excessive alcohol consumption; night rides for fans; possibly bad weather; Long hours for Michigan Stadium employees. However, the kick-off times are determined by the conferences together with their TV partners.

“We have no say,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told MLive last week. “I put it on record and I still feel the same way: For our fans, we prefer the kick-off times to be noon or 3.30 p.m. at the latest. We said we would commit to two home games in the evening. As a good colleague in the Big Ten, we will honor that. It’s not easy for our fans.”

Michigan’s season opener at home took place at night. Although this was a non-conference game, Manuel believes Saturday should be Michigan’s final home game of the year. The following week’s game against Oregon is scheduled for 3:30 minutes, leaving only the Nov. 23 game against Northwestern requiring a start time.

Saturday is at Michigan State sixth Night game of the season. “I’m not here to say that this is the best experience for everyone involved with so many night games,” Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller said, “and I don’t believe it is.”

As for the Michigan-Michigan State game in particular, which takes place at night, Haller shrugged: “We’ll play anytime, anywhere at this school,” he said.

Manuel disagreed. “It’s important (that Michigan State is one of the night games),” he said. “For our fans or their fans, there’s a lot of traveling and a lot of partying – things that happen before and during the game. The later the game, the more concerns about alcohol consumption. We don’t expect any problems, but there is more time for consumption and that creates greater concern.”

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, who has more pressing concerns than kickoff times, dismissed any notion that a night game against Michigan State could be a problem. He called it the “state championship” where “everything is on the line.”

The first night game at Michigan Stadium was 13 years ago and over the years they have become more and more common. But Big Ten country, and Michigan in particular, has an old-fashioned way of thinking. With a game starting a few days before Halloween, Michigan government appears to be afraid of the dark.

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