Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Blake Schuster

College football fans are all making the same jokes about the spy planes flying over Ohio State – Michigan

With all due respect to the folks who try to create the best game day experiences at college campuses across the country every Saturday, Michigan’s athletic department really isn’t doing itself any favors this weekend.

Ahead of an absolutely massive showdown between the Jim Harbaugh-less Wolverines and Ohio State on Saturday, Michigan unveiled its pregame schedule which included a flyover by a US Navy P-8 Poseidon.

The plane itself is nothing fancy to look at. It’s a retrofitted Boeing 737, so if you need a visual image, just look to the sky. There’s probably one flying 30,000 feet or so above you. It’s your basic passenger plane is what we’re saying.

But it’s what the military has retrofitted the plane for that makes the flyover of Michigan-Ohio State notable. Go ahead and guess how the P-8 is used.

Yep, it’s a spy plane.

Per The Navy:

The P-8A Poseidon is the U.S. Navy’s multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft conducting long-range anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). P-8A Poseidon is the replacement aircraft for the P-3C Orion.

Of course it’s a spy plane!

Now, again, flyovers at college games are usually planned weeks, if not months, in advance. You don’t just call up your local military base and ask them to swing by on short notice.

Is there any possible way Michigan’s game day experience team knew the program would be embroiled in a sign-stealing scandal when they booked a P-8 for The Game? Probably not. I mean, if they did, that’s just over-the-top trolling you almost have to applaud.

Almost being the key word. And college fans nearly respected the effort.

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

Comment
byu/doubleUsquared from discussion
inCFB

 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.