3 takeaways from Michigan’s hard-fought rivalry win over Michigan State

Michigan and Michigan State met in Ann Arbor Saturday night to renew their annual rivalry clash. While the two teams were not ranked this time around, the action on the field did not disappoint.

After both teams alternated dominating quarters in the first half, Michigan was able to pull ahead in the second half. Michigan State would rally and even had a chance in the red zone to try and tie things up late in the fourth quarter, but the Spartans would ultimately turn the ball over on downs.

It goes down as a 24-17 win for Michigan, giving Sherrone Moore a 1-0 head-to-head record vs. Jonathan Smith in the first rivalry matchup for the new head coaches. We’ll see how the rivalry shapes up moving forward, but it was a great debut between the coaches.

Here are the key takeaways from the win by the Wolverines:

Variety powers Michigan’s offense

After struggling offensively under 3 different QBs, Michigan made the decision to go back to the original Week 1 starter in Davis Warren. However, the plan was never to have Warren take all the snaps under center, and for good reason.

To his credit, Warren was mostly effective throwing the ball when called upon while going 13-for-19 for 123 yards and a touchdown. But Alex Orji was also used in packages throughout the night and actually led the Wolverines with 64 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Michigan also incorporated other wrinkles to keep MSU off-balance throughout the game. Donovan Edwards threw a touchdown pass on a trick play, the Wolverines picked up a big gain off a flea-flicker and WR Semaj Morgan took a direct snap at one point.

With the QB question marks in Ann Arbor, Michigan will need to continue alternating looks throughout games to be effective.

Nate Carter provided major juice for MSU

Anyone who has studied the history of this rivalry knows the ground game is traditionally the deciding factor in the outcome. That was not the case this time around with MSU outgaining Michigan in the ground game, and Carter was a big reason why.

Carter led all players with 118 yards on 19 carries, and he added 56 yards in the receiving game. While it was not enough in the end, Carter’s production allowed MSU to be balanced once again and is a bright spot as the team moves forward with the season.

3 in a row for UM

Saturday night’s win gives the Wolverines 3 straight over Michigan State. While 3 in a row would not seem like much to an older generation, it has been quite a while since Michigan’s last 3-game winning streak in the series.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2002-07 when the Wolverines won 6 straight to find their last streak of more than 2 games. They have just one other stretch of back-to-back wins since 2007 when Michigan delivered consecutive wins in 2018-19.

Considering what has gone wrong for Michigan this season, it’s a much-needed win for the Wolverines.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.