Highlights, gut reactions to Michigan football win over Bowling Green

Michigan football defeated Bowling Green on Saturday night, but it wasn’t as easy as expected. Here are the highlights and gut reactions. 

When J.J. McCarthy threw the first of three interceptions on Saturday night against Bowling Green, you wondered if the night might not go as expected for Michigan football.

In the end, that proved to be true in some ways as McCarthy, who set the world on fire in the first two weeks, tossed three interceptions in a 31-6 win over Bowling Green.

However, McCarthy responded and led Michigan football to a 17-0 margin in the second half. That doesn’t change the fact that things were a little sloppy at times. McCarthy made some poor decisions and the running game was still a little sluggish (179 yards).

The first-team defense still hasn’t allowed a touchdown and for the most part, it was a flawless performance on that side of the ball as the Falcons had just 205 yards. Michigan football also forced three takeaways.

https://twitter.com/B1Gfootball/status/1703214783690854768

Michigan football’s offense was more disappointing. Blake Corum did have a long 54-yard run on the first drive and scored two touchdowns. McCarthy also had two touchdown passes — one to Roman Wilson — and another to Cornelius Johnson.

Still, the Wolverines failed to cover the spread again and turned the ball over four times. They also had just 313 yards. The mistakes need to be fixed and this sloppiness won’t cut it in Big Ten play, which starts next week against 3-0 Rutgers.

Here are the gut reactions to a 31-6 win for Michigan football over Bowling Green.

Gut reactions from Michigan football win

• Not sure what to make of J.J. McCarthy’s night. I’ll chalk it up to an off night. The second-half interception was the most troubling to me. Just another bad decision. He’ll learn from it. He threw a dart to Roman Wilson on the touchdown. He also missed a wide-open Tyler Morris, which is something we saw a lot last season.
• Blake Corum looked good again. 12 carries for 101 yards and a 54-yard run is just how Michigan football would draw it up. He looks more and more like Heisman-contending Blake from 2022.
• Donovan Edwards got going. His nine carries for 50 yards were a positive, especially since he only had a long run of 11. This was progress though.
• You can’t beat four sacks, three takeaways, and six points allowed by the defense. That group was elite again and has allowed just 16 points in three games.
• Kris Jenkins reinforced that he’s a freak.
• It was awesome to see Cornelius Johnson catch a touchdown. He now has three games with at least 71 yards receiving after three catches for 71 against Bowling Green.
• Getting Jim Harbaugh back will help. Glad this suspension is over.
• Michigan football has some things to clean up.
• It’s time to ramp it up for Big Ten play.