ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Going into Saturday’s game against Northwestern, the most that Michigan football had scored in the 2024 season was 30 in Week 1 against Fresno State. And the most Northwestern had given up was 41 to Indiana.
But on Saturday, both dams broke.
The Wolverines didn’t just surpass the 30 points put up in the first week of the season, and it didn’t just cross 40 points — it managed to get to 50, winning the game, 50-6. Though most the first half was OK, the deluge started late in the second quarter. Michigan got the ball back with just under two minutes, drove down the field, and scored. The Wolverines started with the ball in the second half, and, again, drove down the field and scored. Suddenly, the maize and blue had control of the game, despite Northwestern trailing by just four points before that sequence of events starting late in the second quarter.
It was the first time all season that this Michigan team looked like the Michigan team we’ve seen in the past three years. Plays were made in all three phases, marking what head coach Sherrone Moore admits was the most complete game the team had thus far in his tenure.
“I would say so, for sure,” Moore said. “The totals will say so. The stats on defense: we had eight tackles for loss, six sacks, 25 guys had tackles. On offense, putting up 50 points and being balanced — over 200 yards rushing and almost 200 yards passing. So, yeah, I’d say complete for sure.”
So, why did it come in this game?
It should be noted that Northwestern isn’t exactly a world-beater. This loss eliminates the Wildcats from bowl eligibility. But the team from Evanston has played many teams tough. Though with a moribund offense much like Michigan has had, the Wildcats have dominated one Big Ten team from start to finish, with a trip to Maryland.
But this was more about Michigan and what it was able to do. And Moore saw a team that was still fighting in the bye week to improve, one that hadn’t given up, and one that was playing with pride and finally executed the action items that have been on the to-do list all season long.
“We really locked into the little things,” Moore said. “We called it buy-in week. Again, I said that was Max Bredeson’s idea — I’m not going to take the credit for that.
“So I thought all the guys did a really good job of doing the little things and attacking. And it really started that Monday. We had a scout team practice, and that’s probably the most energetic practice, especially on a Monday we’ve had. And then coming in after a loss, for those guys to be like that and to buy in like that — meant a lot. It talks about the culture and where these guys are and where we are. They just worked on the little things, and then this week they practiced really well with a lot of energy. So it was fun to be a part of.”
Of course, you cannot deny the mojo that the maize and blue have had this week.
Michigan captured the attention of the entire college football world by flipping Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 player in the entire 2025 class, from LSU. Underwood made his debut in Michigan Stadium on Saturday as a commit to the program, so it’s not surprising that the energy being felt in Ann Arbor translated to the football field.
However, Moore says that it had much more to do with preparation than energy provided by the recruiting news. But still, this was much more akin to what Michigan is supposed to look like, and Moore was glad to see it.
“That’s the standard we want,” Moore said. “We want to recruit at a high level. Regardless of who the recruits are or who we recruit, that’s separate to our team. That’s the future team. For us, it was about our preparation for Northwestern. It’ll be about our preparation for Ohio State (next week).”