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    • Michigan football did everything it could to beat MSU, which helped the effort
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    Michigan football did everything it could to beat MSU, which helped the effort

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    So much has gone into Michigan Football’s efforts to defeat a mediocre rival and keep the season from spiraling into a dark pit on Saturday.

    There was a fiery pep talk on the sideline from head coach Sherrone Moore, who ordered his offensive line to get to work after a terrible performance in the first quarter of the Wolverines’ 24-17 win over Michigan State Football.

    There was a series of tricks, including a well-timed flea flicker that set up a second-half touchdown drive and a perfectly executed halfback pass that punctuated another. There was a bold plan to use not just one quarterback, but two who had previously started games for the Wolverines.

    But even after pulling out all the stops, they still needed some help from an opponent who is often his own worst enemy.

    That, as much as anything else, explains how the Wolverines came out on top on Saturday.

    JEFF SEIDEL: Michigan football is once again taking a bite out of Michigan State – this time out of nowhere

    “At the end of the day,” Spartans running back Nate Carter complained, “we often shoot ourselves in the foot.”

    It’s become MSU’s natural tendency during Jonathan Smith’s first year in charge, and it revealed itself again early in a game in which the Spartans outscored the Wolverines by 87 yards and had a 14-minute lead in time of possession.

    A promising opening drive, when MSU intentionally advanced 73 yards to the edge of Michigan’s end zone, went nowhere. Nada. Zilch. Zero. The Spartans came away empty at the end of their fourteen-game march after making two regrettable blunders. A delay of play violation, the first of MSU’s six penalties, foiled Smith’s plan to go for it on fourth down from the 2-yard line. Then the reliably consistent Jonathan Kim inexplicably missed a 25-yard field goal attempt. The missed opportunity, the latest MSU red zone calamity during a season full, would be felt as the game progressed.

    It would resonate if Michigan’s listless offense finally started showing signs of life under the leadership of Davis Warren, the team’s Week 1 starter who spent nearly a month and a half on the bench. Returning to action for the first time since throwing three interceptions in a rocky 10-point win over Arkansas State on September 14, Warren initially didn’t provide much juice. Michigan ran 13 plays on its first three possessions, punting each time after fouling out. The poor results at one point prompted Moore to declare the offensive line.

    “I challenged them,” Moore said.

    At first glance, Moore’s animated speech seemed born of desperation, as the Wolverines had entered Saturday on a two-game losing streak. But in reality, the Wolverines hadn’t quite reached a make-or-break point by the time Warren and the Wolverines launched their fourth possession late in the second quarter.

    After all, they were only 7-0 behind at that moment. It was a deficit they were confident they could overcome.

    “If everyone pulls in the same direction,” Warren said, “you can do good things.”

    Michigan found its rhythm while operating in fast-break, no-huddle mode as they raced against the clock to score. Warren completed one pass after another, leading the Wolverines into Spartan territory. Donovan Edwards then kept the chains moving with a pair of knife runs. Just like that, UM was on MSU’s 10-yard line. On the next snap, Warren delivered a play-action pass to tight end Colston Loveland, who drifted unguarded into the end zone.

    MORE FROM RAINER SABIN: Michigan football is finally finding the perfect QB mix of Davis Warren and Alex Orji

    The touchdown, with 29 seconds left in the first half, seemed like a breakthrough of sorts for an offense that didn’t produce a single point in the final two quarters of the loss to Illinois the Saturday before.

    “I knew it was coming,” said Warren, who completed 13 of 19 attempts for 123 yards and didn’t turn the ball over.

    But the Spartans seemed a little shaken. Little did they know, another surprise awaited them moments later, when edge defender Josaiah Stewart raced from behind and took the ball from quarterback Aidan Chiles at MSU’s 34. Chiles’ 13e The season-high turnover put UM in position to take the lead, which it did when Dominic Zvada made a 37-yard field goal to push the Wolverines ahead, 9-7.

    The complexion of the game had suddenly changed and Michigan had all the momentum as it returned to the locker room.

    The Wolverines, who would receive the ball early in the second half, would quickly seize the opportunity to wrest control away. Offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell, who has been blamed for the Wolverines’ impotence in recent games, began a series of aggressive maneuvers. He intermittently brought in Alex Orji, the dual-threat backup who replaced Warren as starter five weeks ago. Just like that, Orji ripped off a 29-yard run down the sideline. Moments later, Campbell ran a flea flasher, resulting in a 23-yard completion from Warren to Tyler Morris. The bold flourish would pay off when Orji burst into the end zone on a 2-yard keeper that extended Michigan’s lead, making the score 16-7 with 9:49 left in the third quarter.

    “In games like this,” Loveland said, “anything can be called.”

    So Campbell continued to dig deeper into his bag of tricks. Early in the fourth quarter, after Warren and Orji teamed up to move the Wolverines deep into MSU territory, Campbell pulled off a halfback pass. Donovan Edwards, who had completed each of the three throws he had attempted over the course of his college career, took a coin toss, ran to his right and then threw the ball to Loveland. The tight end, once again exposed, caught it and scored. The 23-yard touchdown put Michigan up 24-10.

    “We knew this was a pivotal time,” Loveland said.

    That was certainly the case for Michigan.

    Another loss would have only darkened the black cloud of negativity hanging over a program that was at the top of college football just nine months ago.

    Losing to the Spartans, a rival Michigan demolished 49-0 a year ago, would have been devastating. It would certainly have earned Moore harsher criticism.

    But the Wolverines and their head coach managed to avoid that bitter fate and a crisis was averted for the time being.

    “It was just a team effort,” Loveland said.

    Yes, that was true. It was also helped by the carefree Spartans, a team that just can’t seem to get out of its own way.

    “Too many missed opportunities,” Carter said.

    “We think we should have won this match. I think everyone in the locker room knows we probably should have won this game.”

    But they trudged out of Michigan Stadium without the Paul Bunyan Trophy. It remains in the care of the Wolverines, who did everything they could to hold on to him after so much else had already slipped from their grasp.

    Contact Rainer Sabin at [email protected]. Follow him @RainerSabin.

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