ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Northwestern entered Michigan Stadium on Saturday for a high-stakes matchup with Michigan in college football’s largest venue. With a win, coach David Braun’s squad would approach bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season.
But the Wildcats (4-7, 2-6 Big Ten) were dominated from start to finish, as the Wolverines (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) held the lead for the entire game and secured bowl eligibility for themselves with a 50-6 pummeling at home. NU allowed its most points in a game this season.
On the game’s opening drive, redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch threw an interception on his third throw, which set Michigan up near midfield.
The Wolverines then chipped away at NU’s defense on an 11-play, 53-yard drive that culminated in a 2-yard rushing touchdown by running back Kalel Mullings. It was the ’Cats’ first time allowing a first-drive touchdown in 2024.
With one minute remaining in the first quarter, Michigan kicker Dominic Zvada nailed a 58-yard kick to put the hosts up two possessions early.
Graduate student linebacker Xander Mueller’s interception midway through the second quarter catapulted NU into the red zone, where redshirt junior punter Luke Akers nailed a 28-yard kick to put the ’Cats on the board.
Soon after, Akers trotted onto the field for another kick, converting from 26 yards after the two-minute warning.
But Wolverine quarterback Davis Warren led his team up the field on an 11-play drive and found tight end Colston Loveland in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to stretch the hosts’ halftime lead to 17-6. Saturday marked Michigan’s first time scoring at least 17 points in the first half since Sept. 28 against Minnesota.
Receiving the ball first in the second half, the Wolverines hastily extended the lead with another touchdown from Mullings. It took less than three minutes for the Wolverines to go 75 yards on the drive, which included Mullings’ 47-yard rush.
After NU’s three and out, Michigan retook the field. A five-plus-minute drive led to Mullings’ third touchdown of the afternoon to extend the lead to 31-6.
Early in the fourth quarter, running back Donovan Edwards registered back-to-back 20-yard rushes, the latter of which Edwards ran beyond the plane for the Wolverines’ fourth rushing touchdown, making the ’Cats’ deficit all but insurmountable.
Replacing Lausch, graduate student quarterback Ryan Hillinski attempted to throw the ball away in his own end zone on his second throw of the game, committing intentional grounding and adding insult to injury.
Michigan scored its 50th point with Tavierre Dunlap’s 20-yard rushing touchdown, marking its most points allowed in a game since Oct. 2, 2021 against Nebraska.
Here are five takeaways from NU’s blowout loss in Ann Arbor.
1. Xander Mueller makes an impactful return
Mueller hasn’t played a snap as NU’s Will linebacker since Oct. 19 against Wisconsin, when he left the game with a lower-body injury in the first quarter.
In his Monday press conference, coach David Braun said that Mueller’s status remained “up in the air.”
Late in the first quarter, Mueller forced Edwards to fumble, although the Wolverines recovered the jarred ball.
The next drive, Mueller totaled three tackles before recording his first interception of the season. The Wheaton, Illinois, native returned it 25 yards, positioning the offense on the Michigan 20.
After missing three games, Mueller totaled nine tackles including a game-high eight first-half tackles.
2. NU fails to replicate early offensive success from last week
Last week against No. 2 Ohio State, NU garnered 59 yards on its first drive to end up in the red zone. Ultimately, a Lausch fumble ended the drive. On the ensuing drive, the ’Cats took 13 plays to go 92 yards and score a touchdown, striking first against the Buckeyes.
On Saturday, the offense went 16 yards to open the game before Lausch’s interception.
The second drive also went poorly for offensive coordinator Zach Lujan’s unit. After an early-down sack, Lausch was sacked for a 9-yard loss and ultimately went three and out with a punt on 4th and 13.
After 24 plays and 151 yards took more than 12 minutes off the game clock during the opening two possessions of last week’s tilt, the ’Cats took eight plays to go 13 yards, ticking off just over four minutes from the clock.
Lausch ultimately finished the game completing 10-of-21 throws for 106 passing yards and two interceptions.
3. Michigan run game struggles to find form in the first half, electrifies in second
Earlier this week, Braun emphasized the importance of slowing down the Wolverines run game, saying that it would be difficult to beat Michigan if the hosts found a rhythm on the ground.
Mullings and Edwards entered the matchup averaging 76.0 and 51.3 yards per game, respectively. The team averaged 155.5 rushing yards per game.
As both squads re-entered their locker rooms at halftime, the Wolverines tallied 12 carries for just 14 yards. Edwards had six carries for 17 yards, while Mullings notched three carries for six yards.
But Michigan’s first drive of the second half flipped the script, as each play on its 5-play, 75-yard drive was a rush. Mullings went for a game-high 13 yards before forcing Michigan Stadium to erupt for a 47-yard gain. Two plays later, Mullins took it from the NU 10-yard line to put the score up to 24-6.
On the next drive, Mullins found the endzone again for his first career hat trick. Explosive runs continued, as Edwards added a 24-yard touchdown later
The Wolverines finished the game with 201 yards on the ground and 5 touchdowns, their most in a game this season.
4. The Wolverines’ front seven proves too strong
On Monday, Braun applauded Michigan’s front seven. He said he expected to see a boatload of pressure from the Wolverines defense.
That’s precisely what happened Saturday. Lausch was sacked five times, the most in his career. Michigan also recorded two quarterback hurries.
Each time Lausch was sacked on a drive in the first half, the offense failed to pick up a first down on the following plays. Sacks proved to be drive-killers for NU, which fell into an early deficit by allowing three first-half sacks.
5. The ’Cats look toward last chance at bowl eligibility
With its embarrassing loss, NU looks forward to its final regular season game of the 2024 campaign next week. The ’Cats are set to host No. 24 Illinois at Wrigley Field.
The Fighting Illini’s last-second touchdown helped them defeat Rutgers 38-31 earlier today.
An upset victory at the Friendly Confines could put NU in bowl game contention with five wins — one short of the six wins that guarantee a bowl appearance — due to its high Academic Progress Rate (APR).
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