ANN ARBOR, Mich.-It was supposed to be a tight, low-scoring game between two very similar, offensively challenged teams. It turned out to be anything but.
Kalel Mullings ran for three touchdowns as Michigan set their season record in points while rolling over the outclassed Wildcats, 50-6. The Wildcats trailed just 10-6 late in the second quarter before the Wolverines ran roughshod over them, scoring the last 40 points of the game.
A dejected Northwestern head coach David Braun didn't sugarcoat his post-game comments.
"It was embarrassing," he said. "We got dominated in all three phases."
The surprise here was that the Wolverine offense came into the game ranked 129th in the nation, just one spot ahead of Northwestern. They wound up with 19 more points that they scored in any single game, and more yards (396) than they produced against an FBS team all year.
Braun had no explanation for his defense's collapse.
"That totally does not align with the standard of Northwestern defense," he said.
The Wildcats’ offense, on the other hand, stayed on brand. They managed just 127 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Jack Lausch had a day to forget, completing 10-of-21 passes for 106 yards, with two interceptions. He was also sacked five times. Counting losses on those sacks, and one more of Ryan Hilinski late in the game, the Wildcats wound up with just 10 rushing yards.
Hilinski came on to relieve Lausch late in the fourth quarter and was called for intentional grounding in the end zone for a Michigan safety that just added more gasoline to the Wolverines’ fire.
Michigan’s Davis Warren completed 26-of-35 passes for 195 yards, with one TD and one pick. Mullings ran for 92 yards, while Donovan Edwards finished with 65.
For Northwestern, the same issues that plagued them all season reared their ugly heads in unison in the first half, when the game was still competitive. A turnover. A shanked punt. Failures in the red zone. A defensive collapse in the final minute of the second quarter.
The result was Northwestern’s eighth straight loss to the Wolverines, and their 23rd setback in their last 25 trips to Ann Arbor dating back to 1960.
More importantly, it all-but-slammed the door shut on the Wildcats’ bowl hopes. At 4-7 (2-6 Big Ten), Northwestern needs to beat No. 25 Illinois next week at Wrigley Field to even get an outside shot of earning a bowl bid based on Academic Progress Rate. Not to mention the fact that the Illini will likely be double-digit favorites.
It took Northwestern all of 2:25 of game time before they committed a turnover on a poor decision by Lausch to try to squeeze the ball into Joseph Himon II on the sideline. Michigan go the ball at their own 47 and wound up scoring a touchdown.
On their second possession, Hunter Renner shanked a 26-yard punt that gave the Wolverines the ball at the NU 48. This time, Northwestern’s defense stopped the Wolverines as Aidan Hubbard sacked Warren for a 9-yard loss on third down. But kicker Dominic Zvada came on to drill a 56-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.
Michigan had just 49 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but they turned that into 10 points because the Wolverines’ drives started at their own 47 after an interception and the NU 48 after a 26-yard punt.
While the first quarter was a disaster, the Wildcats got their chances to get back into the game in the second quarter.
First, Davis badly overthrew a pass over the middle right into the arms of Xander Mueller, playing in his first game after missing three with an injury. He returned it 25 yards to the Michigan 20.
But, unlike Michigan, Northwestern couldn’t cash in with a touchdown. Lausch had to throw the ball away under pressure on third down and Luke Akers came on to hit a chip-shot 28-yard field.
The Wildcats would get another shot at a short field after AJ Henning, playing his first game at Michigan Stadium since transferring, returned a punt to midfield. On the first play, Lausch aired one out to Bryce Kirtz, who put on the brakes and let two defenders sail by him as he made a sliding catch at the Michigan 15.
Once again, however, the Wildcats failed to puncture the goal line and Akers had to hit another shorty, this one a 26-yarder to make it 10-6 with less than two minutes left in the half.
Even though the Wildcats had failed to capitalize on two red-zone chances, they were right back in the game, within four points with less than two minutes left in the half. Then came the backbreaker.
Michigan went 65 yards in just 1:49, capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass to a Colston Loveland who was standing all alone in the end zone. It was the fifth time this season that Northwestern had surrendered points in the final minute of the first half.
To recap the half: both Michigan and Northwestern had two red-zone chances. Michigan scored two touchdowns. Northwestern scored two field goals.
Then, the Wolverines put the game away on the first drive of the second half. After rushing for just 14 yards in the first half, Michigan ran for all 75 yards of their touchdown drive, with Mullings getting a 10-yard touchdown to make it 24-6 to surpass the Wolverines’ average points per game.
For a Wildcat team that had accumulated just 84 yards in the first half, that 18-point lead looked insurmountable. It proved to be just that – and continued to grow into an embarrassing blowout.
The Wolverine offense kept right on churning in the second half while the Wildcats spun their wheels. Mullings added another touchdown run in the third quarter, while Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap each scored one in the fourth.
