by Charlie Pappalardo November 23, 2024
As Senior Day activities commenced and the Michigan football team ran out onto the field for its final home game of the 2024 season, the moment was bittersweet for more than one reason.
For a senior class that had helped to guide the Wolverines to their first National Championship in decades, the occasion marked their last game in the stadium they’ve called home for the past four years. More broadly for 5-5 Michigan, however, the contest marked the beginning of the end to an underwhelming season.
But despite the emotions and festivities, only one thing was certain with the Wolverines sitting at five wins. To earn the right to play in a bowl game — to earn the right to play more football — Michigan (6-5 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) needed to win.
And with a consistent offense highlighted by a three touchdown performance from graduate running back Kalel Mullings, and a stout, two-turnover defensive performance, the Wolverines put up their most points of the season in a dominant 50-6 victory over Northwestern (4-7, 2-6).
Throughout the entirety of its season, Michigan’s players and coaches have remarked that its biggest shortcoming — both offensively and defensively — has been an inability to play a complete game on either side of the ball. But Saturday against the Wildcats, the Wolverines put it all together — starting from the very first drive.
Five plays into Northwestern’s opening drive, Michigan’s defense made a statement. On a third-and-10, Wildcats quarterback Jack Lausch tried to fit a ball into a tight window. Senior Wolverines cornerback Aamir Hall read the play, jumped the route and picked Lausch off near midfield.
Gifted good field position, Michigan’s offense made quick work of the next drive, mixing short passes from senior quarterback Davis Warren with downhill runs, pushing the Wolverines to the 2-yard line where Mullings punched the ball in for a touchdown.
In the ensuing drives, Michigan slowed. Following a 56-yard field goal from junior kicker Dominic Zvada, a pick from Warren and the Wolverines’ only punt of the night, the Wildcats trailed by just six points with fewer than two minutes remaining in the first half.
And then, the Wolverines finally got going.
With an 11-play, 65-yard drive piloted by Warren, Michigan marched down the field quickly and Warren hit junior tight end Colston Loveland in the end zone for his fifth touchdown of the season to make it 17-6 at the half.
For the rest of the evening, everything went according to plan. The Wolverines’ defense allowed no more points, and their offense scored on every ensuing drive for 33 more points. And impressively, the two worked in tandem.
On its first drive out of the half, with 70 individual rush yards and a touchdown from Mullings, Michigan took its lead from comfortable to overwhelming. Then on the next drive, Mullings did it again — bashing his way to first down after first down before finally finding his way into the end zone for his third of the night. But it didn’t stop with Mullings — every component of the Wolverines worked like a well-oiled machine.
Freshman safety Mason Curtis snagged the first pick of his career late in the third quarter. Michigan’s defense forced a safety late in the fourth, and its offense added two more touchdowns on the ground from senior running backs Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap. And, of course, Zvada drilled another field goal to leave the score 50-6.
After a season of disappointments and frustrations, the Wolverines finally got the victory they had sworn was possible if they could just put things together. With their best offensive and defensive performances of the year, Michigan bullied its way to a 44-point victory, and earned the right to play more football in a bowl game in the process.