Michigan Football: 3 reasons Wolverines will beat Northwestern

Strength vs weakness

When you look at the statistics heading into this matchup on Saturday, one thing stands out: Michigan has the best rushing offense in the Big Ten, while Northwestern has the worst rushing defense.

Talk about a mismatch or what should be one anyway.

Michigan football leads the Big Ten with 246.5 yards per game and the running game has been a staple of the offense all season, reaching at least 100 yards in every game.

Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins are one of the top running back duos in college football and Northwestern is allowing 205 yards per game on the ground, as well as 5.4 yards per attempt and has allowed a league-worst 14 rushing touchdowns.

The Wildcats do a pretty solid job against the pass, and that goes beyond their total yardage numbers, but Michigan should be able to control the line of scrimmage and that should lead to some play-action passing down the field, which has been successful more often than not.