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Cade McNamara threw the ball around the field quite a bit in Michigan’s win over Northwestern, but it was the ground game, once again, that catapulted the Wolverines to a 7-0 start.
Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins were unstoppable out of the backfield, combing for 229 yards and 4 touchdowns in Michigan’s 33-7 victory over Northwestern. The win now sets up a pivotal Week 9 matchup between Michigan and Michigan State, with both teams undefeated.
It was a little uglier than Jim Harbaugh probably would’ve liked out of the gate. After a bye week, the Wolverines struggled to find the end zone through the first 30 minutes.
Michigan drew first blood, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Corum to take a 7-0 lead just over 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter. The Wolverines were able to drive into the red zone again, settling for a 20-yard field goal by Jake Moody to make the score 10-0.
Northwestern’s Evan Hull responded in a big way, scoring on a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the following possession. Michigan looked to answer, but a Mike Sainristil fumble inside the 3-yard line resulted in a 10-7 score at halftime.
It was all Michigan in the 2nd half, though.
The Wolverines scored on 4 of its first 5 possessions in the final 30 minutes. Corum scored from 5 yards out, Haskins had a 13-yard run and Moody drilled a 44-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter to give Michigan a 27-7 advantage.
Haskins scored the final touchdown for Michigan from 4 yards out.
Michigan ended the afternoon with 294 on the ground, reinforcing its conference-best average. Northwestern found little success offensively in any regard, accounting for just 233 yards for the contest.
McNamara completed 20-of-27 passes for 129 yards in the victory. The Wolverines also converted on 12-of-20 attempts on 3rd down and possessed the ball for nearly 40 minutes. That’s a pretty good recipe for success.
After close calls against Rutgers and Nebraska, there has been some concern about Michigan’s ability to go full throttle for a full 60 minutes. Although there were some bumps out of the gate, it was a strong performance from Harbaugh’s crew.
Next up, a date with Michigan State with the B1G East and the Paul Bunyan Trophy hanging in the balance.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB