Michigan football beat Michigan State by 22 points and should have won the game by much more. Here are five things we learned from the Wolverines’ win.
Jim Harbaugh and Michigan football waited way too long to beat Mel Tucker. The Wolverines also didn’t beat him by nearly enough on Saturday, but as I said, we’ll take it.
The Spartans were beaten down on the field for four quarters and especially in the second half. Like little brothers will do, they threw a fit in the tunnel and some Michigan State players could actually get arrested for their assault of multiple Wolverines.
It was ugly but as Jim Harbaugh said, you can always expect the extracurricular stuff with Michigan State. It starts with the head coach (Mel Tucker) and his pathetic lack of leadership. He acted like he didn’t even know it happened at his press conference.
At any rate, here are five things we learned from Michigan’s win over Michigan State.
1. Tuck ain’t coming
Even a lot of Michigan State fans wanted Tucker to be fired, but it’s clear, the man hasn’t met expectations.
Yes, he got off to a hot start (if you forgot about his initial losing season) by starting 2-0 against Michigan, but outside of that, and one of those wins was extremely lucky, he’s been a failure.
The only team that has been outscored by more points in the Big Ten since Mel Tucker arrived is Rutgers and in the last 13 games, the Spartans are 6-7 and all seven losses have come by double digits.
For goodness’ sake, they had a shot to play Ohio State in a game that had the Big Ten East potentially on the line and got beat by seven touchdowns.
Tucker got $95 million because of one lucky victory over Michigan. He’s 16-12 overall and while he’s great at social media photos and looks cool with a cigar, those things don’t win games and it’s pretty clear now that the Spartans made a huge mistake giving him the contract they did.
On the other hand, Michigan football has won 20 of its last 22 games. Here’s more on a historically good run by Harbaugh and the Wolverines.
2. Jim Harbaugh is doing incredible things
This is exactly the Michigan football program we all pictured when Jim Harbaugh was hired and it’s humming along as well now as it ever has.
Just soak in some of these impressive numbers.
Michigan football has won 20 of its last 22 games. In the Big Ten conference, it has won 14 of the last 15. U-M has also won its last game against every team in the Big Ten.
That’s pretty impressive in its own right. I know the Wolverines ended some losing streaks to Ohio State, MSU, and Wisconsin, but knowing there isn’t a single team in the conference with a win over you in the last meeting is the definition of dominance. It’s very Urban Meyer and Ohio State-esque.
Not only that, the Wolverines are running away from people. They beat Penn State and Michigan State by a combined 46 points and punted once. The Wolverines have trailed once in the second half all season and it was only for a matter of minutes.
If it wasn’t for red-zone woes, they would have won each of the last two games by 30 plus, and frankly, the Spartans were lucky to lose by only 22.
This is a historic run and Michigan has now won its last game against Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Penn State and the 15-point win over the Buckeyes was the closest margin.
Yes, Ohio State is going to be a huge challenge but regardless, this stretch has been one of the best in the modern era of Michigan football history and we have Jim Harbaugh to thank for it.
3. Blake Corum can win the Heisman Trophy
If Michigan football doesn’t have Blake Corum, the second half could have been a lot dicier. On a few different occasions, the soon-to-be All-American running back converted third down and medium with incredible runs.
One run in the second half, which came on a first down, saw Corum get contacted in the backfield and still run through a slew of Spartan defenders for a first down.
For the second straight game, he went over 160 yards (177 vs Michigan State) and caught a touchdown, as well as rushing for a touchdown. Corum has five straight games with at least 120 yards and is already over 1,000 total with at least four games to go.
His combination of vision, tough running, and dazzling moves is incredible and he’s making an argument to go down as one of the best running backs the Wolverines have ever had. He’s at least in the mix and if he goes off in a win over Ohio State to cement a 12-0 season, I could easily see him winning the Heisman Trophy.
Hendon Hooker’s campaign will be tested this week but a loss to Georgia will hurt his chances greatly. C.J. Stroud is the other top contender but if Corum and the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes and Blake has a huge day, it will have the same effect as last year when Aidan Hutchinson blew by him for second place.
It’s all in front of Corum, just like it is for this Michigan football team.
4. The red-zone offense has to improve
The one negative thing we learned in this game is that Michigan football still needs to figure out how to score in the red zone more efficiently.
Michigan kicked five field goals against Michigan State and while that will work against most teams in the Big Ten, it won’t against the Buckeyes. Last season, we saw Ohio State kick field goals at key times against Michigan and it cost them.
The Wolverines can’t allow the same thing to happen. The coaching staff needs to do a better job with the play-calling and too many times the offense moves backward on the first play. I’d love to see some play-action and the old-school boot to the tight end.
We saw Lloyd Carr run that a million times but if you are dominating on the ground, it tends to work. I’d also love to see Andrel Anthony and Cornelius Johnson get some jump-ball opportunities.
I think it’s a combination of factors and having a young quarterback is part of it. McCarthy is very conscientious of not turning the ball over and at times, it feels like the offense is getting too conservative in the red zone.
It’s hard to complain about much from this 8-0 start, but the staff and players know this needs to be fixed because this program has bigger fish to fry than Mel Tucker and Michigan State.
5. Harbaugh ball is here to stay
Some Michigan football fans grow tired of it and some wish the offense was more opened up and aggressive, but Jim Harbaugh’s brand of football works, and it’s not going anywhere.
After some soul-searching and a dabble in “speed-in-space” following the brutal loss to Ohio State in 2018, Michigan football has found its identity and it mirrors the head coach.
If you want to beat the Wolverines, you are going to have to be tougher and you need to be able to win in the trenches. Michigan State held its own for about a half, then it had no answer for a ground game that finished with 276 yards compared to 37 for the Spartans.
The Wolverines notched 27 first downs compared to 11. Michigan State was a combined 3-for-15 for third and fourth downs and got stuffed twice on fourth and one.
Michigan does need to coach some of the conservative out of J.J. McCarthy, but at the same time, the formula is working. Will Ohio State be tough enough to handle Michigan?
We shall see. The Wolverines have speed. They also have playmakers but they also have the best offensive line in the country and a coach committed to running the damn ball.
It’s been deadly effective and I don’t think we’ll see any more identity crises under Jim Harbaugh. This program knows what it is and knows what it takes to win in the Big Ten.
Now, it’s up to Ohio State and everyone else to try and stop it.