Michigan feasted on Rutgers. The Wolverines' 78-0 road win Saturday was the program's largest margin of victory since 1939.
And now, the fans feast -- for a cheap price.
On Friday, Ruth's Chris Steak House in Ann Arbor unveiled its "Score Big" campaign. For the rest of the season, Ruth's Chris will take Michigan's margin of victory on a Saturday and apply that as the percentage of the discount on food Sunday-Thursday of the following week. As cited in the example on the restaurant's Facebook page, this means a 20-point Wolverines' win equates to 20 percent off the food bill.
Well, after Michigan won by a lot more than 20 against Rutgers, Ruth's Chris was saved by the fine print: The promotion was capped at 50 percent. But Michigan's domination still meant the restaurant would be serving food at half off for five days. Also in the fine print: The discount excludes alcohol.
According to ESPN.com's Dan Murphy, all reservation slots are booked through Thursday, and the restaurant is now turning people away. Extra employees have been brought in from a Grand Rapids location.
Don't feel bad for the restaurant. The staff is milking the free publicity.
"I love this," general manager Buzz Goebel told Murphy. "It's kind of scary, but you can't buy this kind of advertising. If we execute perfectly, we're in good shape."
Ruth's Chris would be in better shape if it waited another week or two for the promotion. Michigan has a bye this Saturday and Illinois at home the following week. Then it has five games against teams with winning records: Michigan State, Maryland, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State.
The Wolverines are 6-0 (3-0 Big Ten) and ranked No. 4 in both the AP and Coaches polls.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
