ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan's defense of the national championship has fallen woefully short. The Wolverines started the season ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, making them the third college football team since 1991 to be ranked worse than seventh in the preseason poll after winning a national title. Michigan (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) failed to meet those modest expectations, barely becoming eligible to play in a bowl and putting the program in danger of losing six or seven games for the first time since the Brady Hoke era ended a decade ago. The Wolverines potentially can ease some of the pain with a win against rival and second-ranked Ohio State (10-1, 7-1, No. 2 CFP) on Saturday in the Horseshoe, but that would be a stunning upset. Ohio State is a 21 1/2-point favorite, according to the BetMGM Sportsbook, and that marks just the third time this century that there has been a spread of at least 20 1/2 points in what is known as "The Game." People are also reading... Michigan coach Sherrone Moore doesn't sound like someone who is motivating players with an underdog mentality. "I don't think none of that matters in this game," Moore said Monday. "It doesn't matter the records. It doesn't matter anything. The spread, that doesn't matter." How did Michigan end up with a relative mess of a season on the field, coming off its first national title since 1997? Winning it all with a coach and star player contemplating being in the NFL for the 2024 season seemed to have unintended consequences for the current squad. The Wolverines closed the College Football Playoff with a win over Washington on Jan. 8; several days later quarterback J.J. McCarthy announced he was skipping his senior season; and it took more than another week for Jim Harbaugh to bolt to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. In the meantime, most quality quarterbacks wanting to transfer had already enrolled at other schools and Moore was left with lackluster options. Davis Warren beat out Alex Orji to be the team's quarterback for the opener and later lost the job to Orji only to get it back again. No matter who was under center, however, would've likely struggled this year behind an offensive line that sent six players to the NFL. The Wolverines lost one of their top players on defense, safety Rod Moore, to a season-ending injury last spring and another one, preseason All-America cornerback Will Johnson, hasn't played in more than a month because of an injury. The Buckeyes are not planning to show any mercy after losing three straight in the series. "We're going to attack them," Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said. "We know they're going to come in here swinging, too, and they've still got a good team even though the record doesn't indicate it. This game, it never matters what the records are." While a win would not suddenly make the Wolverines' season a success, it could help Moore build some momentum a week after top-rated freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan. "You come to Michigan to beat Ohio," said defensive back Quinten Johnson, intentionally leaving the word State out when referring to the rival. "That's one of the pillars of the Michigan football program. "It doesn't necessarily change the fact of where we are in the season, but it definitely is one of the defining moments of your career here at Michigan." AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. Be the first to knowRed Cat Announces Key Leadership Updates to Accelerate Growth Following U.S. Army Short Range Reconnaissance Program of Record Award
World leaders and VIPs join President Macron for grand Notre Dame reopening ceremonyBy ROB GILLIES, Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Donald Trump that Americans would also suffer if the president-elect follows through on a plan to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products , a Canadian minister who attended their recent dinner said Monday. Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders with the United States. He said on social media last week that he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, attended a dinner with Trump and Trudeau at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on Friday. Trudeau requested the meeting in a bid to avoid the tariffs by convincing Trump that the northern border is nothing like the U.S. southern border with Mexico . “The prime minister of course spoke about the importance of protecting the Canadian economy and Canadian workers from tariffs, but we also discussed with our American friends the negative impact that those tariffs could have on their economy, on affordability in the United States as well,” LeBlanc said in Parliament. If Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, alcohol and other goods. The Produce Distributors Association, a Washington trade group, said last week that tariffs will raise prices for fresh fruit and vegetables and hurt U.S. farmers when the countries retaliate. Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the U.S. should Trump follow through on the threat. After his dinner with Trump, Trudeau returned home without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner. Trump called the talks “productive” but signaled no retreat from a pledge that Canada says unfairly lumps it in with Mexico over the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. “The idea that we came back empty handed is completely false,” LeBlanc said. “We had a very productive discussion with Mr. Trump and his future Cabinet secretaries. ... The commitment from Mr. Trump to continue to work with us was far from empty handed.” Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser. Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “the message that our border is so vastly different than the Mexican border was really understood.” Hillman, who sat at an adjacent table to Trudeau and Trump, said Canada is not the problem when it comes to drugs and migrants. On Monday, Mexico’s president rejected those comments. “Mexico must be respected, especially by its trading partners,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said. She said Canada had its own problems with fentanyl consumption and “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has.” Flows of migrants and seizures of drugs at the two countries’ border are vastly different. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Most of the fentanyl reaching the U.S. — where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually — is made by Mexican drug cartels using precursor chemicals smuggled from Asia. On immigration, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 1.53 million encounters with migrants at the southwest border with Mexico between October 2023 and September 2024. That compares to 23,721 encounters at the Canadian border during that time. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports as well. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing for national security.
Robin Miller, a fixture in the Vacaville community for years, is back home with the Reporter. Miller has rejoined the team at The Reporter as News Editor, bringing a wealth of experience in communications to the position. “We have hoped for years to have Robin back home with us,” said Reporter Executive Editor Jack F.K. Bungart. “Robin knows this community and Solano County like the back of her hand. Her return is great news for us, and even better news for the residents of this city.” Miller completed a double major in Government and Journalism, earning her bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento. For the past nine years, she worked in Marketing and Communications as a social media/online specialist with a local nonprofit healthcare organization. Prior to that she worked 30 years in newspapers, including a six-year stint as Managing Editor of The Reporter. Through those years she never lost her passion for community journalism. “It’s important work and my passion for community journalism drives me to enthusiastically cover local stories, give a voice to those who might otherwise go unheard, and strengthen the bonds in our community through truthful, fair and balanced reporting,” said Miller. On a personal note, Miller and her husband, Matt, raised both of their sons in Vacaville and are thrilled to be brand new grandparents.