Michigan Football: 5 things we learned from win over Wisconsin

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan football delivered a statement on Saturday in Madison that was loud and clear and here are five things we learned from the Wolverines win over Wisconsin. 

A few months ago, the idea of Michigan football going into Madison and beating Wisconsin didn’t seem all that possible, not the way the Badgers dominated U-M in 2019 and 2020.

But this is a different Michigan football team and it’s a different Wisconsin team too.

This time around, it was the Wolverines that dominated — that won in the trenches — and eventually built a 38-10 lead in the fourth quarter before Wisconsin fans headed for the exits.

Michigan only rushed for 112 yards, but that came against the nation’s best run defense and after Saturday, it’s safe to assume the Wolverines can at least manufacture some semblance of a running game against just about anybody.

And even though the Badgers weren’t ranked, following losses to Penn State and Notre Dame, neither of those teams took it to Wisconsin like Michigan football did in what was truly a statement win for head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines.

Here’s what we learned.

Time to believe in Jim Harbaugh again

All season long, Harbaugh has had a new bounce to his step, hell he even got away from wearing khakis every week and like the blue pants Michigan has donned twice, it seems to be working.

The hiring of Mike Macdonald was huge, more on that later, but every hire feels like a home run right now. And the culture has changed.

Aidan Hutchinson talked about how the culture wasn’t right the past few years. Well, when you saw Michigan football players taking part in ‘Jump Around’ the annual fourth-quarter tradition, you could feel the energy, the mood, and the excitement.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1444377245771079684

The guys on this football team, play for each other and it shines through on the field. They believe in each other and their head coach believes as evidenced by early gambles on fourth down.

Harbaugh played to win and finally, this Michigan program feels like it’s getting to the place where it was supposed to be under Harbaugh all along, and remember, through five games, the Wolverines have not trailed for a single, solitary second.