5 things we learned in Michigan football win over Minnesota

Michigan football keeps winning and sometimes, it looks pretty ugly. The fourth quarter on Saturday was especially so as the Minnesota Golden Gophers nearly pulled off a miracle comeback.

The Wolverines needed a 63-yard run and an incredible effort to avoid blowing a 14-point lead against USC, which Michigan did. It just took it back with Mulings fourth-and-goal touchdown run.

Michigan football was out-gained 296-241 by the Gophers. The Wolverines had 155 rushing yards and 15 first downs but Minnesota had 20. Defensively, Michigan dominated, at least until the fourth quarter.

There were five sacks, two turnovers forced, and the special teams even blocked a punt. So there were a lot of good things. However, it's not all sunshine and roses. Even after the win, Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore said he wasn't happy with the performance.

Looking back, here are five things we learned from the Michigan football win over Minnesota.

Kalel Mullings should have been RB1 all along

This game was closer than it needed to be, but what if the Michigan football coaching staff had been hard-headed and continued to treat Donovan Edwards as RB1?

Against Minnesota, it could have been a disaster. Mullings was stellar on that first drive but had to do a lot of work after contact. Minnesota has a stout run defense and running Edwards all day might have put the Wolverines behind the 8-ball.

So it was good to see Mullings finally get the start and the bulk of the carries. He only had nine going into the final drive of the USC game and thankfully, that wasn't the case Saturday. Like Hassan Haskins of old, Mullings always falls forward. He's great in short yardage, but he's good in the open field too.

Mullings isn't the home-run threat Edwards is, but he proved he's worthy of being a 20-carry a game back.