Well, that was 59.5 minutes of very good football and 30 seconds of disaster. Being Michigan fans, the 30 seconds of disaster lingered in our brains to an outsized degree and will probably stay with us for longer than it should. But make no mistake: outside of a four play stretch where Michigan made a tactical error on special teams, cracked in run defense, and Wisconsin's otherwise dreadful QB made two NFL throws, this was an outright domination. 

For the first time in two decades, Michigan football leaves Madison with a win (for reference: your author was two then). They did it with a savvy and disciplined offensive game plan and a defensive front seven that soundly won the battle in the trenches on that side of the ball. Oh, and Daxton Hill transforming into a fire breathing dragon in the second half played a role. For the first time since 2016, Michigan is 5-0. 

Cornelius Johnson's big catch sparked Michigan early [Bryan Fuller]

Michigan's first drive didn't produce points, but it said a lot about the way Winged Helmets wanted to play this game. They went for it on fourth down at their own 34 yard line and converted. They did it again shortly after on their own 46 and were stuffed. The aggressiveness that would define Michigan's game plan was shown on that first series. Another mediocre drive and two defensive stops later, the Wolverines would get the football on their own 41. They drove to midfield and faced a 3rd & 14. A swing pass to Roman Wilson got them to 4th & 2 and again Michigan went for it. Cade McNamara rolled out and found Wilson again for a first down. On the next play, the Wolverines ran a flea flicker and McNamara's bomb to Cornelius Johnson was right on the money. Michigan led 7-0. 

Wisconsin punted again and Michigan drove right back into Badger territory. This time, with a lead intact, Harbaugh chose to punt on 4th & short, but Wisconsin gave it right back after Brad Robbins' punt bounced and hit the backside of a blocker in red. The road team came up with the fumble and had first and goal from the five. Wisconsin's defense stood tall, though, and Michigan settled for a FG to go up 10-0. 

From there the game moved along at a consistent pace. Wisconsin finally stitched together a long drive but the Michigan defense didn't break, forcing the Badgers to kick a FG. A strong drive the other way and a clutch 47 yard FG from Jake Moody put Michigan up 13-3 with just 27 seconds in the first half. It seemed at this moment that Michigan was in a strong position to go into halftime, as the offensively-challenged Badgers were sputtering. That's when things changed. 

Mertz was under a lot of fire today [Bryan Fuller]

A confusing decision to squib kick almost worked, but Wisconsin recovered the muff. Then, Braelon Allen rushed for nine yards on first down and Paul Chryst decided to go aggressive. Graham Mertz, who looked every bit as bad as FFFF made him out to be up to that point, suddenly threw two picture-perfect throws to Chimere Dike over the outstretched arms of Daxton Hill. The second was for a TD with seven seconds left. The halftime score was 13-10. 

Michigan needed to dig deep and readjust, and they did just that. It was 3rd & 9 on Wisconsin's series to open the third quarter when a Daxton Hill blitz sacked Mertz and left him with injured ribs. He did not play again. Michigan got the football after the ensuing punt and used yet another 4th & short conversion to get into Badger territory. Two plays later, on 3rd & 10, McNamara stood in the pocket and took a hit but delivered a downfield strike to Roman Wilson, which put Michigan at the Wisconsin 10. Hassan Haskins looked to have gotten into the end zone on 3rd down, but before a replay could be triggered, a JJ McCarthy sneak put Michigan into the end zone and up 20-10. 

Chase Wolf came into the game as the backup QB for Wisconsin and led them to close to midfield before a big Dax Hill PBU ended the drive on what was a very good ball from Wolf. The Badgers would not score until the second and third string defensive players for the team in white and blue were on the field. Their next five drives? Punt, fumble, interception, punt, punt, gaining a grand total of 36 yards combined. The big plays included a strip sack by David Ojabo, recovered by Chris Hinton, and a Hill INT. 

While the defense was dominating, the offense had a solid second half. After the McCarthy sneak TD, they added a FG from Moody (again from 45+), a jump ball TD snag by Cornelius Johnson on a great throw from McNamara, and then a 56 yard bomb from McCarthy to Daylen Baldwin that found the end zone. It was 38-10 when the second string offense fully came on the field, and with the third and fourth string QB's in: Alan Bowman and Dan Villari both attempted passes, with the former's being intercepted for Michigan's first turnover of the season. Wisconsin added a TD with under a minute remaining after the Bowman interception, but it was far too little, far too late, and it came against Michigan's second stringers.

Daylen Baldwin's deep ball was the cherry on top [Fuller]

Let's be clear, this was a game where Michigan decidedly won on defense, and also won solidly on offense. They piled up 365 yards on 4.9 yards per play against a still-good Wisconsin defense. And they held Wisconsin to 210 yards on 3.8 yards per play on defense, and the numbers were even better for the Maize & Blue before the reserves came in.

Heroes on offense included McNamara, who, despite being wobbly from midrange, delivered some dimes down the field. Also included in this category is the offensive line (for picking up pressure well enough) and the wide receivers (Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson played the best games of their career). Defensive heroes include Daxton Hill (for his monstrous second half) and the defensive line, particularly David Ojabo, Mazi Smith, and Aidan Hutchinson. They whipped a Wisconsin OL, which is an achievement, even if it's not the best Wisconsin OL. Jake Moody and Brad Robbins were also terrific on special teams, with Robbins routinely pinning Wisconsin deep and Moody drilling two big field goals from distance. 

It was a well-coached, team effort and Michigan finally thumped a respectable team on the road. They'll get a chance to do that next weekend, depending on your definition of respectable, when they travel to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in a night game. Michigan will have to be ready to avoid the trap if they want to head into the bye week undefeated. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 pm EST on ABC. There is no content after the jump.