There was little fanfare in this year's edition of the Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. No heart-stopping endings, nor brutality in the catacombs of the stadium afterwards, just a total beatdown by one team of the other. Michigan State did reasonably well against the run but got eviscerated by Michigan's passing offense no matter who the QB was. In the process, Michigan defeated Michigan State 49-0 in a margin that was exceptional for the history of the rivalry and the game itself was arguably even less competitive than the margin suggested. Once again, the opposition did not belong on the same field as the mighty Wolverines but this time, it was the in-state rival. 

Michigan got the ball to start the game, a dubious Semaj Morgan decision to return the kick setting them back at their own 16 to start. MSU got an early opportunity to get off the field with the Wolverine offense facing a 3rd & 14 from the 29, but couldn't get the stop when JJ McCarthy rolled and connected with AJ Barner down the field for a beautiful catch near midfield. Another pass to Roman Wilson across the middle and down the sideline got Michigan in a goal-to-go situation and three Blake Corum runs finished it off. One drive into the game and Michigan had the seven points that would ultimately prove enough to win. 

Michigan State's first drive was one of their most successful of the game, moving up to midfield before being faced with a 4th & 2. The Spartans attempted to run down the throat of Michigan's impeccable defensive interior and found no room to do so, with help from linebacker Junior Colson and DB Mike Sainristil on the stop. Michigan had favorable field position but again got their drive going through a 3rd & long pickup. This time it was a pass to Donovan Edwards and one play later, JJ McCarthy found Roman Wilson for Wilson's 10th receiving TD of the season. That mark is now the high in the Jim Harbaugh era for a receiver, passing the nine for Jehu Chesson in 2015. 

 

[Bryan Fuller]

The visitors had a commanding 14-0 edge and would get the ball back quickly after forcing a three-and-out, a drive ending in a near-interception for Josh Wallace against TE Maliq Carr. Michigan got the ball back on their own 34 for the third drive, cashing in a 3rd & 8 from McCarthy to Colston Loveland on the final play of the first quarter. Blake Corum ran it well to start the second quarter and Donovan Edwards balanced #2 out by getting Michigan into the red zone on a pitch play. McCarthy then took a strange sack that lost eight yards but made up for it by hitting Loveland in the end zone on a jump ball pass down the seam. 21-0. 

The next three drives of the game were all three-and-outs, MSU's offense continually unable to find any traction against the Michigan defense. They had no running room on the ground and Katin Houser had neither the time nor the accuracy to pick up the situations the inept rushing game put them in. Michigan's fourth scoring drive began in MSU territory after a kick-catch interference call on MSU's Alante Brown and only seven plays were necessary to get the Wolverines into the end zone. A JJ McCarthy scramble was perhaps the highlight of that period before the eventual touchdown, another beautiful ball to Colston Loveland for a 22-yard TD pass. 28-0. 

There were now under three minutes to go in the first half and though MSU did gain one first down, Michigan was able to get another stop and use its timeouts to get the ball back with time. The final play of that Spartan drive was Michigan's first sack, credited to Josaiah Stewart but with an assist to Michael Barrett, who helped chip the blocker who Stewart was engaged with.

[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan got the ball on their own 20 with just 99 seconds to go in the half and marched right down the field, getting basically anything they wanted through the air. The tight ends again were the stars, Loveland and Barner each hauling in chunk plays as Michigan drove down near the goal line. Unfortunately, Michigan ran out of time when Donovan Edwards was flagged for a false start, one that was questionable as to whether it was a penalty, as well as whether the 10 second runoff it came with should've ended the half (it seemed the infraction was with 12 seconds left, not eight). Despite the end of half clunkiness, Michigan went into the break up 28-0 on the scoreboard and 339-51 in yardage. 

MSU's first drive of the second half, like their first of the game, was one of their best. They entered Michigan territory, picking up a 3rd & 9 to Maliq Carr and a nice 10 yard run by RB Nathan Carter keeping the chains moving. However, an ineligible man penalty and a false start set MSU behind the sticks and eventually put them in a 4th & 7 from the Michigan 49, which they went for. Katin Houser's pass was intended for Tre Mosley but was horribly thrown, straight into the arms of Sainristil, who galloped down the sideline, barely staying in bounds, 72 yards for a touchdown. While Sainristil was running it back to the house, Spartan OT Spencer Brown mauled Michigan EDGE Braiden McGregor while he was on the ground, a dirty play that was deemed to be a "flagrant" personal foul, leading to the immediate ejection of Brown. 35-0. 

The Spartans got the ball right back and again went three-and-out, Carter losing yards on a pitch play that Michigan had dead to rights. MSU punted and Michigan's first drive of the second half would also be JJ McCarthy's final drive of the game. The game continued to get rougher as Blake Corum's run had 30 extra yards tacked onto it, 15 yards for hands to the face during the play and 15 more for a late hit out of bounds after the play. Corum was facemasked on his next run, zooming Michigan all the way to MSU's 11 and McCarthy hooked up with Barner for a TD right after. 42-0. 

[Patrick Barron]

From this point forward, the game was firmly in garbage time. Michigan's defensive starters began to enter the game, while on offense Corum and McCarthy were lifted for the likes of Ben Hall and Jack Tuttle. MSU had one drive at the end of the third quarter that entered Michigan territory before a failed screen, TFL, and incomplete pass forced a Spartan punt. Tuttle's second drive made progress but a series of penalties, one on Gio El-Hadi and one on Josh Beetham, killed it. The Spartans eventually inserted third string QB Sam Leavitt into the game in an attempt to get him snaps. Leavitt led a drive that trudged into Michigan territory but his 4th & 15 pass to Brennan Parachek came up one yard short of the first down. Michigan inserted Jayden Denegal, who ran a short drive that was unsuccessful. 

The final excitement of the game came at the end, when Leavitt was intercepted by nickel Ja'Den McBurrows, giving Michigan the ball at the MSU 33 with 3:10 to go. Alex Orji made his second appearance of the season at QB and ran QB keepers over and over again. Michigan was content to run the clock out and finish the game, but a personal foul on MSU's Maverick Hansen made Michigan run one more play, which Orji took into the end zone from six yards out with eight seconds left. James Turner split the uprights and Michigan had a final score of 49-0. 

This edition of the rivalry was a complete and utter beatdown. MSU keyed in on the running game and had reasonable success against it, but the passing stats for Michigan shows off the extent of this demolition. Michigan QBs were cumulatively 28/35 for 357 yards and 4 TDs, JJ McCarthy himself responsible for 21/27 for 287 and all the touchdowns. There is a reasonable case for this being McCarthy's best game as a Michigan QB, completely dialed in and dominant in every way. His ability to work off schedule and without structure, scrambling to create for himself, was magnificent. 

[Bryan Fuller]

The heroes on offense outside of McCarthy were the TEs, Barner and Loveland. Barner caught eight passes for 99 yards and a score, Loveland hauling in four for 79 yards and two TDs. Toss in Marlin Klein's garbage time catch and the TEs accounted for nearly half of the Michigan catches in this game. Blake Corum rushed 15 times for 59 yards and a TD as the Michigan offense gained 477 yards on 69 plays, a sizzling 6.9 YPP average. There were few things to complain about tonight on offense, as Michigan could easily have scored into the 60s or 70s had McCarthy and the starters not left the game.

On defense Michigan was dominant, holding MSU to 190 yards at 3.3 YPP, and that's with the second/third-team defense playing an extensive stretch of the game. Katin Houser and Sam Leavitt combined to go 16/29 for 133 (4.6 Y/A) through the air, while MSU rushed for barely 2.0 YPC on the ground. Michigan's defensive line thoroughly whipped the MSU OL and coverage was quite good all-around. Factor in MSU's lack of discipline, 11 penalties for 102 yards, and this was a matchup of two teams that did not belong on the field with each other. 

Michigan's win over MSU gives them two in a row in this rivalry and four out of six dating back to 2018. It was the largest margin of victory for either team in the rivalry in the last half century, passing 2002's 46 points for Michigan (a 49-3 win in Ann Arbor). MSU was shutout in Spartan Stadium for the first time in the rivalry since 1985 and this game was Michigan's first shutout of the 2023 football season. Through eight games, Michigan's defense has allowed 47 points and the opposition has still not run a single play inside the ten this season. 

Jim Harbaugh's Michigan squad goes into the bye week playing as well as any team in America. They are 8-0 for the second consecutive season and riding a lengthy conference regular season winning streak. The next week will be one for rest, before the Wolverines are back in action at Michigan Stadium against Purdue on November 4. That game does not have a time nor a broadcast channel at this time. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]