"I should get financial compensation for watching this game" was a text message I received from an MSU grad friend near the tail end of the contest. No, the score did not end 78-0 but those who watched this game, and frankly, anyone who looked at the final score, knows that Michigan was significantly better at football than Michigan State on Saturday night. Wolverine fans know it. Spartan fans know it. Everyone in this state knows it. Another Jim Harbaugh-infused beatdown of an opponent at the Big House that resembled a boa constrictor slowly strangling its prey. Payback. Justice. Paul is home. 

Michigan State opened the game with the football after Michigan deferred their coin toss victory. The Spartans opened with a couple solid plays, a Jalen Berger run, an end around to Jayden Reed, and then a screen to Reed, but things quickly went haywire as MSU lost its discipline. LT Jarrett Horst was flagged for an unsportsmanlike-conduct after the play, then MSU committed a false start, giving themselves 2nd & 25. After a Payton Thorne keeper was foiled decisively, the Spartans were set up with 3rd & 30. They waved the white flag and punted. 

Michigan's first drive looked pretty much like we expected. They got solid gains on the ground and hit quick passes to Luke Schoonmaker, moving into Spartan territory but then a 1st & 10 screen to Cornelius Johnson was ripped out by a great play from MSU safety Xavier Henderson. The Spartans fell on the loose ball and had the big turnover. They were unable to capitalize though, as a 3rd & 3 run for Elijah Collins was oddly spotted short of the line to gain, and then the 4th & 1 Collins plunge up the middle was stopped short by the Wolverines. The fourth down try was initially spotted as a first down but the spot was clearly wrong, and replay officials rectified that. 

[Patrick Barron]

MSU thus gave the Wolverines excellent field position, starting at the opposing 46. JJ McCarthy found Donovan Edwards in space matched up on EDGE Jacoby Windmon, setting the Wolverines up with 1st & G at the four yard line. MSU did what they do well though, slamming the door inside the five. Blake Corum lost three yards on first down, McCarthy lost one more on a 2nd down run, and then the 3rd & G play was caught by Ronnie Bell well short of the goal line. Jake Moody's chip shot field goal put Michigan up 3-0. 

Michigan State's only scoring drive of the game would be the next one. Payton Thorne scrambled to pick up a first down, and then a few plays later, on 3rd & 8, he threw a fade up for Keon Coleman, who came down with it for a 29 yard gain. Two plays later, he jacked it up again, and again Coleman, the leapy half-basketball/half-football star, came down with it over good coverage from Gemon Green. This time he landed in the end zone and gave the visitors a 7-3 advantage. 

Surprisingly trailing, Michigan went back to their bread-and-butter, Blake Corum runs and some JJ McCarthy passing peppered in between. A Wolverine flea flicker attempt was not open, but McCarthy made a good decision to find Ronnie Bell open underneath instead. McCarthy dodged a blitzer on another play, rolling to the right and finding Luke Schoonmaker, who rushed inside the ten. Michigan ran Corum twice inside to get inside the three and then on 3rd & G, they ran a nifty play where McCarthy lateraled the pall forward (so it is technically a pass) to Blake Corum, who was coming across in motion and then surged into the end zone. 10-7 Wolverines. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan State's next drive was pretty solid as well, showcasing Keon Coleman as a rising star in this conference yet again. Thorne hit Coleman for 27 on 3rd & 9 against DJ Turner and then would find Coleman for 22 against Makari Paige on the very next play. Down inside the Michigan 15, MSU decided to go to the run and and it was a bad idea. As they had all game, Michigan gummed up MSU's running game between the tackles. Elijah Collins and Jalen Berger would run it four times but could not gain a cumulative ten yards. When Berger was stuffed by Michael Barrett and Junior Colson on 4th & 1 from the five yard line, it was a turnover on downs and a major opportunity for the Spartans to stay competitive had been squandered. 

The home team got the ball with 7:31 remaining in the first half and proceeded to go on a long drive that milked nearly all of the remaining clock. The first five plays were all rushing plays, though the last was a McCarthy scramble for 21 yards into Spartan territory. A few plays later, McCarthy scrambled again, this time on 4th & 3, picking up 16 more yards and getting Michigan down to the MSU 22. Donovan Edwards would then rush two times for 16 yards, setting the Wolverines up for 1st & G on the six with a chance to get a two-score lead into halftime. It was not to be again, as MSU again slammed the door, holding two rushing plays to a cumulative -1 yard, and then Windmon helped break up a 3rd & G pass to Schoonmaker. Moody threaded through his second chip shot FG of the game, making it 13-7. 

MSU would get one more possession before halftime, but it would achieve nothing, even after being given a second chance. They seemed to go three-and-out when Mike Sainristil broke up a pass to Tre Mosley, but two Wolverines jumped offsides on the punt, giving MSU a fresh set of downs. Didn't matter. Thorne's screen to Elijah Collins was tackled in bounds and then Thorne was sacked by Mazi Smith and Mike Morris, ending the half. Despite Michigan State getting the half's only turnover, getting the extra possession from the coin toss, and hitting four passing plays of 20+ yards in the first half, they were unable to lead at the half. Your author felt at the time that it was a rather bad omen for MSU's chances in the second half and he would be proven right. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan's first two possessions of the second half were identical elephant death marches down the field, stomping on the lungs of the Spartans most of the way before again coming up short inside the MSU 25 due in part to extremely conservative playcalling. The two drives combined for over 10 minutes in time of possession and both ended in medium-range Jake Moody FGs. Once the second one went through the uprights, the Wolverines held a 19-7 lead and had salted away over one third of the remaining time in the game. 

In between? Nothin' for the Spartans. And their drive after the second FG was the same. Six total plays, eight total yards. Fades to Reed and Coleman suddenly weren't dropping into the arms of receivers and MSU had no other answers. After their second punt of the half, Michigan drove into Spartan territory again but stalled out at the 37 yard line. Rather than go for it on 4th & 5, Harbaugh stayed true to his conservative nature in managing this game, trotting Jake Moody out for a 54-yarder. It was for a career long and Moody banged it through, no problem. 22-7 Michigan. 

Michigan State still trailed by just two scores, but with under 15 minutes to go, time was starting to run short. MSU gained six on first down but then suffered a TFL after failing to put anyone on Kris Jenkins, and then the 3rd & 6 snap was too early, forcing Thorne to hurry and rush a throw. The third three-and-out of the half, and things then went from bad to worse. The reserve long snapper, filling in for the injured starter, had already botched one snap earlier in the contest, but MSU punter Bryce Baringer recovered in time to get it away the first time. Didn't happen the second time. The snap was again way too high, Baringer dropped it, and with Michigan pressure in his face, tried to scramble. He was tackled at his own eight yard line and gave the Wolverine offense by far their best field position of the game. It took two Blake Corum runs to find the end zone and this would be the dagger. 29-7. 

[Bryan Fuller]

There were still just under 13 minutes to go, but the final jaunt of the game was largely uneventful. Michigan stopped MSU again after allowing one first down, but their own ensuing drive finally ended in a punt- Brad Robbins' first since the Indiana game in early October. MSU got the ball for the final time with 5:52 to go, hitting one more explosive play. A coverage bust left Coleman wide open down the seam and Thorne connected with him for 51 yards. Had Coleman not stumbled, he may well have found the end zone. MSU couldn't capitalize after getting deep into Michigan territory again, with a Daniel Barker unsportsmanlike conduct wiping out the field position gained from a key 4th down conversion, and then two plays later, Thorne telegraphed a ball intended for Coleman. Rod Moore jumped the route, and Michigan had evened the turnover column. 

After the Moore INT, Michigan had the ball with 4:04 to go and went into "finish the game" mode. Blake Corum runs and a DPI called on the Spartans kept the drive going long enough for the Wolverines to attempt a trick play, with Ronnie Bell trying to find Donovan Edwards on a pass (the ball fell incomplete), one that will likely be talked about often in the context of the rivalry over the next 365 days. The Wolverines marched into Spartan territory again and it was freshman CJ Stokes who had the honor of running the clock out. After a five yard gain down to the 22, the game was over. Michigan had won and Paul Bunyan was staying in Ann Arbor. 

[Bryan Fuller]

The final yardage was not close, reflecting the final score. Michigan outgained MSU 443 to 252, and time of possession was as lopsided as it was against Penn State two weeks ago: 40:33 to 19:27. Jim Harbaugh stuck to his DNA, being unbothered by MSU's pass defense weakness and ran it 52 times for 276 yards, a sweet 5.3 YPC. Yes there were issues in the red zone, but those felt to your author like a reaction to Harbaugh feeling like turnovers were MSU's only hope in this game and desperately trying to avoid them. Against a different opponent (*cough* Ohio State *cough*), play calling in those situations is likely different. 

Corum rushed 33 times for 177 yards, plus the one "catch" for 2 yards. He had two more total TDs, building his Heisman case. Edwards carried it 10 times for 42 yards, and McCarthy added 50 yards on the ground of his own. McCarthy through the air was much shakier than perhaps expected, but still went 15/25 for 167 yards (6.7 Y/A) and 1 TD. Jake Moody went 5/5 on his FGs and 2/2 on his XPs, perhaps the MVP of the game. 

As for the defense, it was a story of five plays and the other 48. Keon Coleman had his breakout performance under the lights, catching five balls for 155 yards. The other 48 Michigan State plays went for 97 total yards (2.02 YPP). The Spartans were unable to run the ball whatsoever, and Jayden Reed was thoroughly bottled up. To Jesse Minter's credit, Michigan adjusted well to MSU in the second half, allowing just one explosive play in that half and it was not on a fade like in the first half. The Spartans gained just 63 total yards on 23 plays in the second half (and 51 of those 63 came on one play). Total domination. 

[Patrick Barron]

It also didn't help the Spartan cause that they committed 75 yards in penalties, including two costly unsportsmanlike conduct calls on offense that hurt two separate drives. They also threw an INT and had the blown snap on the punt, lacking the execution needed to pull off a massive upset of this type. The final margin, 22 points, was nearly exactly the same as the gambling line as well as the analytics lines (SP+ had Michigan by 23). 

[Before I wrap this up I should note that there was an incident in the tunnel after the game, involving a group of MSU players and one or two Michigan players. It sounds like injuries were sustained to the Michigan players involved and I can only hope that they are okay. I have no further details and will hold off from any speculation until official word is out.]

Overall, Michigan was the much better team and it showed. They got the revenge from last season's heartbreaking loss in East Lansing and this year it was the star RB in Maize & Blue who shone brightest. Paul Bunyan will stay in Ann Arbor for the next year and the Wolverines are now 8-0. They are also 5-0 in the B1G and continue on a collision course with Ohio State at the end of November. Michigan is 8-0 for the first time since 2016 and for the second time in the Jim Harbaugh era. They will play against Rutgers in Piscataway, NJ, next Saturday night at 7:30 PM. That game will be broadcast on BTN. 

Oh, one more thing: 

Michigan now owns a win in the most recent game vs MSU in:

- Football (29-7)
- MBB (87-70)
- Hockey (8-0)
- WBB (62-51)
- Softball (3-0)
- Baseball (11-8)
- Field Hockey (3-1)

— Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain) October 30, 2022

Goodnight.