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It took an hour longer than expected for the first quarter, but No. 6 Michigan and Jim Harbaugh earned their second straight win against No. 24 Michigan State at East Lansing, beating the Spartans 21-7. It was Michigan's second win in the last three meetings with Michigan State, after the Spartans had won seven victories in eight years. More importantly, Michigan has killed another boogeyman man, ending his 17-game road series defeat against ranked teams.
Prior to Saturday, Michigan had not won a road game against a ranked opponent since its victory over Notre-Dame Notre-Dame, number 2, 47-21, on September 16, 2006. It did not take him than 12 years to qualify.
The win follows a 38-13 win over Wisconsin at home last week.
Here are some takeaways from this game.
1. This win was more impressive than the win over Wisconsin. I wrote earlier in the week that if Michigan's win over Wisconsin was a great way to prove that the 2018 version of this team was not the 2017 version, a road victory against Michigan State would be more impressive. This is due to the fact that Michigan has always been good at home under Jim Harbaugh and average on the road, as well as this series of 17 defeats on the road against ranked opponents. Although this victory does not prove that Michigan is a contender for a national title this season, it sends a message that the Wolverines are the biggest threat to the state of Ohio among the Big Ten.
Of course, none of this will mean anything if Michigan stumbles and loses against Penn State in two weeks. If the Wolverines overtake the Nittany Lions, however, the only thing that separates them from a Big Ten title will be the Buckeyes. After attracting so many other monkeys this season, Ohio State is a 500-pound gorilla perched on his collarbone.
2. The Michigan defense will keep her in the match against any team she faces. The Michigan offensive can sometimes become a bit bland. This is not a big problem for the Wolverines, as the defense will keep it in every game against all opponents. It's as good as that, and Saturday was just more proof, as the Michigan State Attack looked like a college high school outfit. The Michigan 94-yard offense was held on Saturday. Not in a quarter or a half – in the match.
Although the wind did not help, the Michigan defense harassed Brian Lewerke all day and he finished with a line of statistics that hurts his eyes to watch: 5-by-25 for a pass of 66 yards. Look again if you dare.
It's not that the Spartans were able to better run the ball by finishing with 15 yards in 23 races. These are the official figures, which include the bags, but even if you remove the bags, the Spartans still finished with 44 yards in 19 races.
It was a dominant performance from the start. Michigan State's only touchdown came after Michigan managed to get back into their 10-yard line, giving the Spartans a goal and a goal.
3. Shea Patterson will decide where this team can go. While the defense will keep Michigan at every game, if the Wolverines want to get things done, Patterson will have to be the player to bring them in. The quarterback is still relevant and Patterson brings another dynamic to this offense. While Karan Higdon (33 races, 144 meters) is the driving force, Patterson is the one driving the car. When it does not make a mistake, this offense can do good things.
The Wolverines also faced tough defense on Saturday and had to face the same weather conditions, but Patterson scored 14 for 25 with 25 passing yards and 212 touchdowns and two touchdowns. More importantly, in crucial second-half controls, Patterson used his legs to take the first test and extend the controls.
Even though he's not obliged to publish wacky figures like Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa do it weekly, so Patterson can just continue to play steadily and pose a threat through the airs – his 79-yard pass for Donovan Peoples-Jones is what broke the game – so it's a Michigan team that can compete with anyone in the country.
4. The State of Michigan could consider a change at QB. Brian Lewerke is not the problem with Michigan State's offensive, but I'm not sure it's the solution either. The Spartans took part in Saturday's game, placing 9th in the Big Ten with an efficiency of 125.55. Lewerke entered the match completing 60% of his passes, but averaged only 7.1 yards per attempt and had eight touchdowns with seven interceptions.
These numbers did not improve on Saturday.
I already told you that Lewerke was 5 to 25 for 66 yards, but those numbers do not tell the whole story. You can say that it was inaccurate, but Lewerke was missing 10 yards. I do not know if it was intentional or what effect the wind had – it did not have the same impact on Patterson – but Lewerke seemed lost.
Some of these effects may be due to the snowball from behind an offensive line that has struggled to jam all season and was forced to face a formidable Michigan defense. But there is a part of me that asks me if the state of Michigan would be better off giving someone else a try against Purdue next week. In the past two weeks, Lewerke has registered 29-for-77 for 325 yards. The Spartans managed to get out of it last week, winning, but you will not often win with numbers like that.
Thank you for being past.
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