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Ann Arbor, MI — After a bye week Michigan came into this game against Michigan State refreshed and ready to go. They didn’t play like it though to start the game as within the first five minutes the Wolverines had three penalties called on them. Michigan soon figured out the MSU offense and calmed themselves down to dismantle MSU, winning 44-10.
The offense had themselves a good day against a top 25 defense in MSU as quarterback Shea Patterson seemed to be insulted that MSU took the lead at first 7-0. He looked really well today as the offense was executing on all cylinders and the defense was able to force MSU to air it out as the running game wasn’t working for them.
Check out my five takeaways from the big Michigan victory in the annual in-state rivalry game.
1. The offense has finally bought into Speed in Space
To begin the season we saw some different plays from the Wolverines offense, but nothing was notable as a big change. There was more RPO involved, but nothing that looked like this was a different style of offense. Then after some poor execution, it seemed like Michigan was reverting back to last year’s offense where it was run-heavy.
Ever since the second half against Penn State, Michigan has seemed to have adjusted their offense to the kind offensive coordinator Josh Gattis wanted to have when arriving in Ann Arbor. Today against MSU, we saw the offense look really different and knock out some solid plays against a top 25 defense in MSU, putting up 467 total offensive yards.
Patterson has been playing some good football lately and today was another solid performance by the senior, going 24/33 for 384 yards and four touchdowns. He has transformed as the season progressed as his fumbling issues are behind him, along with the nagging injuries. Patterson has finally been looking like his old self from last season. This was his first-ever 300+ yard passing game at Michigan, something people were expecting out of him this season.
2. The Kicker battle is over
The season-long battle at kicker between Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody seems to have finally finished. While the position started with a rotation between the two kickers, it would then move to Moody having the job for two games straight. After going 1-3 on field goals against Penn State, Notre Dame, and Maryland though, the job looked to be back open as Nordin finished the Maryland game as the kicker and was 2-2.
During the bye week, a big question would be if the rotation would return or if Nordin was able to pull ahead over Moody due to his recent struggles. That question was answered in the first half as Nordin was out for both extra-point attempts and he was the kicker for the 28-yard field goal attempt, which he made.
It seems like Nordin is now the Michigan kicker for the rest of the season unless he starts to struggle, then Moody could be put back in. Nordin finished the game going 3/3 on field goals, his longest from 49 yards out along with being 5/5 on extra-point attempts.
3. Ronnie Bell looks like the number one wide receiver
Despite receiving a lot of unneeded hate after dropping the game-tying touchdown against Penn State, wide receiver Ronnie Bell has exploded onto the scene as a clear number one receiver in this offense this season. All the talk before the season was about the trio of Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, and Tarik Black at wide receiver. There was the chatter of Bell having an impact, but nobody expected this kind of result.
Today against MSU, Bell led the team in catches and receiving yards, finishing with nine for 150 yards. So far this season, Bell has 35 catches for 610 yards and while those numbers aren’t earth-shattering they are still impressive for a player who was looked at like the number four option heading into the season.
This offense uses the speed of the wide receivers effectively and Bell is possibly the fastest wide receiver on the team. Collins is a big man, and Black and Peoples-Jones are quick but don’t have the type of separation that Bell can have. 2020 with these four wide receivers could be really special as the team seems to have grasped the offense Gattis has tried to implement.
4. Jim Harbaugh finally gets back-to-back wins over Michigan State
For the first time since 2006-2007, Michigan has won back-to-back games against MSU. From 2008-2011 MSU went on a four-game winning streak. Michigan got a win in 2012, but then MSU went on a three-game win streak from 2013-2015. Since 2015 when Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor, the away team has won each game and neither team won back-to-back games.
That changes this year and now Harbaugh has a winning record over the Spartans as he is 3-2 in this rivalry game. Fans were tired of being beaten by MSU and Harbaugh was brought in to regain control of the rivalry, along with the Ohio State one but that hasn’t been done yet.
MSU is in rough shape for their future, with multiple players transferring, multiple seniors graduating and with their head coach Mark Dantonio on the hot seat possibly, Michigan might be in the driver seat with this rivalry for the next few years. This two-game winning streak could be the beginning of another long one for the Wolverines.
5. While it wasn’t 94 yards, Michigan’s defense contained MSU’s offense
Last year, the big talk after the game besides the pre-game antics by both teams, was how the Michigan defense held MSU to just 94 yards of offense. MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke didn’t play well at all and seemed to be playing injured. This year Lewerke was healthy and despite him playing better, MSU wasn’t able to move the chains besides on two drives against the Wolverines.
Lewerke finished the game going 17/30 for 166 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, along with 13 carries for 12 yards. The rushing attack for MSU couldn’t get the ball moving either, as the team finished with 54 rushing yards on 30 carries. The defense also blocked a punt in the fourth quarter from linebacker Khaleke Hudson to help set up a touchdown from Patterson to Collins to put Michigan up 34-10.
Michigan overall held MSU to 220 yards of offense and while that isn’t overly impressive, the two interceptions and the blocked punt were huge as they gave Michigan more time with the football. The defense did allow two solid drives by the Spartans, but on the second one, the Wolverines didn’t break as they held MSU to a field goal. After Michigan figured out the MSU offense after the touchdown, they were able to contain it for a majority of the game.