Players to know
| Player | Stats to Know | |
| Quarterback | Ryan Hilinski | 57/99 (57.6%), 645 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT |
| Running Back | Evan Hull | 95 car, 562 yds (5.92 ypc), 4 TD (93.67 ypg) |
| Wide Receivers | Stephon Robinson Jr.
Malik Washington Bryce Kirtz |
28 catches, 424 yds (15.14 ypc), 2 TD
18 catches, 255 yds (14.17 ypc), 2 TD 19 catches, 203 yds (10.68 ypc), 0 TD |
| Leading Tacklers | LB Chris Bergin
S Brandon Joseph LB Bryce Gallagher |
63 tackles
40 tackles 38 tackles |
| Sacks Leaders | DL Jeremy Meiser
DL Adetomiwa Adebawore DL Jeffrey Pooler Jr. |
4.0 sacks, 20 yds
3.5 sacks, 20 yds 2.5 sacks, 13 yds |
| TFL Leaders | DL Adetomiwa Adebawore
DL Jeremy Meiser DL Jeffrey Pooler Jr. |
7 TFL, 34 yds
6 TFL, 22 yds 3 TFL, 14 yds |
| Most passes broken up | A.J. Hampton Jr. | 8 PBU |
| Interception Leaders | S Brandon Joseph
LB Chris Bergin LB Bryce Gallagher |
1 INT, 26 yds
1 INT, 0 yds 1 INT, 0 yds |
| Field Goals | K Charlie Kuhbander | 4/8 FG attempts |
| Punting | P Derek Adams | 42.38 yds/punt |
| Punt Returns | Brandon Joseph
Raymond Niro III |
4 ret, 114 yds (28.5 avg)
4 ret, 68 yds (17 avg) |
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Predictions
Trent Knoop
I really don’t see how Northwestern will be able to stir up enough offense to come into the Big House and defeat Michigan on Saturday. The Wildcats look really average, at most, on the offensive side of the ball — even with Ryan Hilinski in at quarterback. I will say that Evan Hull has had a good year so far, but he will be going up against a rock-solid Michigan defensive line.
On the other side of the ball, I don’t see how NU can stop the Michigan running attack. This will arguably the toughest competition Northwestern has faced in terms of stopping the run, and it hasn’t handled run defense well so far, so why would it now? I think Corum and Haskins has a huge day. I think Michigan wins pretty big and we see plenty of backups get a shot in on Saturday.
- Michigan runs for over 350 yards
- McNamara throws two touchdowns
- Michigan 38, Northwestern 14
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Isaiah Hole
This is kind of a weird game, in that, to look at the stats above, on paper, the two teams a very similar, save for Northwestern’s run defense, while Michigan is also more explosive running the ball. But, outside of those things, they look relatively similar on paper.
Except, the Wildcats have struggled mightily all season, whereas the Wolverines have mostly dominated all year.
Ryan Hilinski appears to be playing better than Hunter Johnson at quarterback, even though the stats aren’t significantly better. Still, he’s getting better every week. The wide receiver production is also something to be wary of. On defense, Northwestern appears to just straight-up allow what Michigan does on offense, so barring a drastic change, expect the Wolverines to run the ball with impunity while it passes off of that.
Basically, regardless of what the stats above say, if Michigan doesn’t dominate, something went wrong.
- Michigan gets 500 yards of total offense
- The defense forces three Wildcats turnovers
- Michigan 38, Northwestern 14
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