3 things we learned about Michigan football after defeating Northwestern

ANN ARBOR, Mich — Michigan has won its’ last six meetings against Northwestern, and it hosted the Wildcats on Saturday for the first time since 2018.

The Wolverines continue their winning ways against NU on Saturday after they won, 33-7, as Michigan took home the first-annual Jewett trophy as well.

Michigan was favored by 23.5 points going into the game, and this was no sleep-walk for the maize and blue. If you didn’t watch the game and look purely at the stats, then it was domination, but Michigan looked as if it had a hangover in the first half after the bye week. The offense looked extremely lethargic out there and the defense allowed quite a few big-yardage plays.

Luckily, the players came out a little more fired up in the second half and outscored the Wildcats, 23-7. The offense showed a little more heart with better execution, and we even got to see JJ McCarthy do some razzle-dazzle with a few nice carries. Then defense stepped up and created a couple of turnovers to set up fantastic field position for the offense.

Like in the first few games of the year, Michigan was able to run wild –294 yards to be exact. Both Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins rushed for over 100 yards and they both had two rushing touchdowns in the game — they were beasts.

Michigan remains undefeated at 7-0 and the big in-state showdown awaits next week with Michigan State. Here are three things we learned about Michigan after it defeated the Wildcats on Saturday.

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Predicting every Big Ten football game in Week 8

Defensive line reaffirms how good it is

Photo by: Isaiah Hole

Let me start by saying, the defensive line had one bad play this game, one. The line allowed a 75-yard run up the middle by Evan Hull, which was the only form of offense the Wildcats had all game.

The defense is led by Aidan Hutchinson, and he was a monster once again on Saturday. The stat sheet may not pop out when you look at Hutchinson’s stats, but let me tell you, he was disruptive. The future NFL player had one sack on the day and a fumble recovery, but was a terror off of the edge — Ryan Hilinski had to get rid of the ball quick all game.

Hutchinson had help though, David Ojabo was also credited with a half sack on Saturday and was a key-piece off of the edge against the Wildcats.

It seems with each passing game, the defensive line is growing and growing before our eyes. It went from being a possible weak spot into being a top unit in the Big Ten. As a unit, the defensive line is the heart and soul of the Wolverines defense and this defense will go as far as the defensive line takes it.

The deep ball is still an area of concern