EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan Wolverines football beat down Michigan State, 31-20, Saturday night at Spartan Stadium. Here are the best and worst from the game.
Michigan has won four games in a row over MSU for the first time since a six-year stretch from 2002-07. Before last season's 24-17 victory in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines hadn't topped the Spartans three times in a row since that same span.
The Paul Bunyan Trophy is getting quite comfortable in the Michigan locker room at Schembechler Hall.
MSU quarterback Aidan Chiles has had well-documented issues with turnovers throughout his career, and that popped up almost immediately after the game started -- 46 seconds in.
On the third play of the game, a third-and-2 designed quarterback run, Chiles lost the ball, which was forced out by junior safety Brandyn Hillman and recovered by senior linebacker Jimmy Rolder. Michigan took the lead with a field goal shortly thereafter.
That helped set the tone for the contest. Michigan held MSU to 305 total yards on 72 plays from scrimmage, an average of 4.2 yards per play. The Spartans gained 75 of those yards on a meaningless (except for those who had the Wolverines covering) nine-play drive that ended up in a garbage-time touchdown with 7 seconds remaining.
Rolder, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound Orland Park, Ill., native, was the best player on Michigan's defense, even though it was a stellar showing from a unit with a lot of standouts.
He made big play after big play, recovering the fumble on the first drive, recording a sack later that quarter, breaking up a fourth-down pass and getting in to make first contact on a fourth-down run. Those were arguably Michigan's four biggest defensive plays of the game, and he was in on all of them.
Rolder totaled 10 tackles, including 2 for loss with a sack, and 1 quarterback hurry.
Junior running back Justice Haynes eased himself into the game before turning things up a notch to begin the second half.
His two longest runs of the night -- 20 and 28 yards -- came on the first two plays of the third quarter, demanding with his play that the coaching staff continue to feed him. He amassed 64 of U-M's 71 yards on that first drive of the second half, culminating in his 5-yard touchdown to put Michigan up 17-7. The Wolverines were up two scores the entirety of the way after that.
Haynes also had a 14-yard scoring rush later in the third quarter, putting the Wolverines ahead 24-7. He finished with 26 carries for 152 yards and a pair of scores.
Credit to sophomore running back Jordan Marshall for making the most of his opportunities, too. He ripped off a 56-yard touchdown run to give Michigan a 31-13 advantage in the fourth and recorded 110 yards on 15 carries for the game.
Michigan registered 6 tackles for loss with 4 sacks. The sack total is the second-most the Wolverines have had in a game this season, behind only the 7 posted in the 30-27 win over Nebraska Sept. 20.
Senior EDGE Derrick Moore had 2 sacks, bringing his season total up to 6.5, Rolder had 1 and graduate EDGE TJ Guy got to the quarterback with a ferocious takedown at the end of the third quarter.
Michigan's defensive front came to play with a big fourth-down stop late in the game, too.
A veteran making his 20th career start, Chiles completed 14 of his 28 passes for 130 yards and no touchdowns with no picks. Michigan's defense did a good job making him uncomfortable throughout.
Sophomore cornerback Jyaire Hill almost had a pick-six in the first quarter but didn't come down with it, shades of his near-interception in last week's game against Washington. Hill had a big day, leading the charge in limiting MSU's talented receiving corps.
In classic MSU fashion, head coach Jonathan Smith's team was penalized 12 times for 105 yards. The Spartans had two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Michigan finished with 6 penalties for 61 yards.
A potentially game-changing play was negated by an offsides penalty. On the first drive of the third quarter, which ended in a Haynes touchdown run to make it a two-score game, MSU defensive back Malcolm Bell attempted to time up a blitz but was offsides, before he caused a fumble by Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, which was recovered by the Spartans.
The non-reviewable call has garnered a lot of attention on social media and would've been one of the very few highlights for the Spartans on the night.
Michigan leaned on its run game to the tune of 276 yards, passing for only 86. Underwood went 8-of-17 in his second game of the season with a completion rate less than 50 percent.
The Wolverines have won their last 10 games while recording less than 100 passing yards (dating back to 2016), including going 4-0 in 2024 and 2-0 this season, the 30-27 victory over Nebraska being the other occurrence.
Michigan State running back Makhi Frazier made things interesting with a few big runs. He set up the Spartans' first touchdown with a 49-yard run on the first play of the second quarter, and also had a 10-yarder down to the Michigan 4 on which he broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage. He also had a 25-yard gain early in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans don't have much to look back fondly at, but Frazier stepped up. This marked only his second career game of 100-plus yards, posting a career-best 109, which surpassed his 103-yard showing in the season opener against Western Michigan.
Donovan Peoples-Jones started a movement in 2018. It's been continued by the likes of Blake Corum, and replicated by Underwood, Haynes and others Saturday night.
There's nothing like parading a winged helmet-wearing Paul Bunyan Trophy around Spartan Stadium. Michigan fans took over late in the game, and MSU fans filed for the exits with their proverbial tails tucked between their legs.