Michigan runs over Northwestern

Northwestern had No. 6 Michigan in a dogfight for two and a half quarters.

The defense was at its bend-but-don’t break best and had bowed up to keep Michigan out of the end zone twice deep in Wildcat territory. The offense mostly struggled but had a 75-yard Evan Hull touchdown run to its credit.

But Michigan’s special teams made the play of the game, blocking a punt to set up the third-quarter touchdown that blew the game open in a 33-7 Wolverine win in Ann Arbor.

Cornelius Johnson steamed in from the left side of the formation to block Derek Adams’ punt and Caden Kolesar recovered it at the Northwestern 24-yard line. Three plays later, Blake Corum ran it in from 13 yards out to give the Wolverines a commanding 24-7 lead.

That was just about an insurmountable deficit for a Northwestern offense that amassed just 233 total yards in the game and was down its two best receivers (Bryce Kirtz was inactive and Stephon Robinson Jr. left the game in the first quarter with a lower-body injury and did not return). From there, Michigan would go on cruise control and capture the inaugural George Jewett Trophy.

While the blocked punt was a turning point, the Wolverines used the Big Ten’s No. 1 rushing attack to win this one. Corum ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns, while Hassan Haskins added 110 yards and two more scores as the Wolverines racked up 294 rushing yards and a dominant, nearly 2:1 advantage in time of possession.

Northwestern, meanwhile, never really got its offense on track. Hull had a 75-yard run, but the Wildcats finished with just 100 rushing yards. Ryan Hilinski, under duress for most of the game and not at his best, wound up 14-of-29 passing for 114 yards and his first interception of the season on a tipped pass in the third quarter.

The loss dropped Northwestern’s record to 3-4 (1-3 Big Ten). The Wildcats will have to find three more wins among their last five games of the year against Big Ten West opponents to earn a bowl berth.

Northwestern’s defense made this one interesting after coming up with a couple gutsy goal-line stands in the first half. Despite piling up 267 yards and holding the ball for nearly 23 of 30 minutes, Michigan held just a 10-7 lead at halftime. The Wolverines ran the ball up and down the field, but they came away with just 10 points on three trips inside the Northwestern 5-yard line.

After forcing Michigan to punt on its first two drives, Northwestern’s defense finally surrendered a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Blake Corum early in the second quarter. But the Wildcats made Michigan snap the ball 13 times on the drive. That was the game plan, straight out of previous defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz’s playbook: make Michigan execute on long possessions and earn every point.

The next time the Wolverines got deep into Northwestern territory, it took them 16 plays to cover 55 yards. Bryce Gallagher came up and stopped Erick All for a one-yard gain on third-and-goal from the 3. With Michigan lining up to go for the touchdown on fourth down, Northwestern called a timeout – and when the Wolverines came back out on the field, coach Jim Harbaugh had elected to kick the field goal. Jake Moody hit the 23-yarder to give the Wolverines a 10-0 lead.

Northwestern, though, cashed in and made the Wolverines pay for their conservatism on the very next play from scrimmage. Hull took a handoff up the middle, broke through the line and outran Michigan’s secondary to the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown run with 2:22 left. Before that play, Northwestern’s running game had netted minus-7 yards.

But the Wolverines drove the field yet again, and this time came up empty. Corum had a 20-yard run and Michigan got all the way back down to the Northwestern 3-yard line. There, on third down, McNamara threw a quick swing pass to Mike Sainristil, but Coco Azema forced a fumble on the tackle and Chris Bergin recovered it at the 2 with just 16 seconds left before half.

So, with just one big play by Hull and a lot of grit by its defense, Northwestern trailed by just a field goal after getting dominated for the first 30 minutes.

Michigan, though, regained control on the first drive of the third quarter. The Wolverines went 74 yards, all of them on the ground, and Corum topped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to push their lead to 17-7.

Northwestern’s offense responded with its only sustained drive of the day. Hilinski converted a third-and-13 and a third-and-8 with passes to Hull and Jacob Gill, respectively. Then, they got some help from the officials with a questionable interference call on Michigan’s DJ Turner.

But it was all for naught as kicker Charlie Kuhbander hooked his 39-yard field-goal attempt wide left. Kuhbander is now just 4-for-9 on field goals for the season.

Michigan got the blocked punt on Northwestern’s next possession and the rout was on. Michigan would add a Moody 44-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter.

Then, after Turner picked off Hilinski’s pass in Northwestern territory, Hassan Haskins added a four-yard touchdown rush to close the scoring.