Instant reaction: Michigan beats MSU, 31-20, retains Paul Bunyan trophy

East Lansing — Paul Bunyan is keeping his Ann Arbor address, as Michigan (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) went to Spartan Stadium and won a rough-and-tumble rivalry game against Michigan State (3-5, 0-5), 24-20, behind a stout defensive performance and a productive return to the lineup for Justice Haynes, who had a pair of touchdowns. 

The postgame talk will surely center around officiating, namely the offsides call that wasn’t on Malcolm Bell in the third quarter, negating a sack-fumble that could’ve turned the game for the Spartans. On the whole, MSU got whistled for 12 penalties for 105 yards, while Michigan finished with 5 for 55. 

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore moves to 2-0 in the rivalry and Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith is now 0-2. Michigan got to bowl eligibility, and is 6-2, and Michigan State has now lost five in a row as the simmering doubts around Smith are sure to intensify. 

Was Malcolm Bell offside? 

MSU cornerback Malcolm Bell had come up with the play of the game, sack-fumbling Bryce Underwood early in the 3rd quarter on a third down corner blitz, as the Spartans recovered to deny Michigan points on the first possession of the 2nd half. The shots of a fired-up Joe Rossi on the Spartan Stadium sideline seemed like a lasting image of the day.

But a flag from the line judge came out: Offsides on Bell. 

The call immediately drew the ire of the Spartan Stadium crowd, naturally, and immediately got fed into the internet replay industrial complex as NBC’s on-air rules analyst, Terry McAulay, and much of the audience came to agree: Bell wasn’t offsides, and had timed his blitz perfectly.

It’s hard to say whether or not MSU’s generally lethargic offense on Saturday night would’ve made hay with the possession, but the call at a minimum resulted in a seven-point swing, as Michigan scored a touchdown a few players later on Hayne’s first score of the game.

What’s undeniable is that after that offsides wiped off the sack fumble, Michigan went on a 21-6 run to the end of the game, and the Spartans were denied a chance to make this a very different ball game.

Michigan run defense shows up again

Michigan State has struggled to run the ball of late, and Michigan’s rush defense offered no easy roads on Saturday night. 

Including 49 and 25-yard scampers by Makhi Frazier — who did have some nice individual moments — the Spartans mustered 122 yards on 33 carries, or 3.3 yards per carry. With those two runs? 48 yards on 31.

Be it inside or outside, zone or gap scheme, the Wolverines were largely up to the task. And as the Michigan State offense struggled to find air in the passing game, the second-level defenders for Michigan began to play downhill more and more. 

The Spartans put together a much more complete rushing performance than the 40 yards that Washington finished with a week ago, but struggled to string together consistent production. 

And much like Huskies QB Demond Williams Jr., MSU’s Aidan Chiles didn’t have many opportunities to run and hurt the Wolverines with his legs. On the third play of the game, Chiles had a ball knocked free on a keeper for a fumble that Michigan linebacker Jimmy Rolder recovered right in front of the MSU bench. 

Later in the first half, the Wolverines stopped a pair of Chiles sneaks at the goal line early in the game before finally giving way on 3rd and goal for MSU’s opening score, as yardage was generally hard to come by for the Spartans.

Then, late in the 4th quarter, with MSU trailing 24-13 facing a 4th and 1 in Michigan territory, Chiles got swarmed in the backfield on an attempted sneak/short yardage run and the Wolverines took over on downs, more or less sealing the victory. 

Quiet nights for Underwood, Chiles

After 30 minutes of play, the combined stat line for Bryce Underwood and Aidan Chiles looked bleak: 11-of-28 for 85 yards. 

They each scored a rushing touchdown, yes, but neither quarterback did much to strike fear into their opponent on Saturday night. 

They ended up with rather quiet performances.

• Chiles: 14-of-28 for 130 (and a near touchdown to Nick Marsh)
• Underwood: 8-of-17 for 86 yards

Both did have their first half rushing touchdowns, but the passing offenses were on the whole absent.

Early on, it looked like it could go a bit differently. Underwood completed a chunk pass on a rollout to Andrew Marsh on Michigan’s second series of the game and it looked like the Wolverines might be in business for a more explosive first half, but that proved to be an exception as neither passing game could get going.

Underwood hit another chunk gain to Marsh in the second half to set up a touchdown, but it was meager gains through the air for both teams for most of the night.

The Spartans pass rush did a good job early on, as Underwood didn’t have oodles of time to linger on his spot and read out defenses. On back-to-back goal-to-go snaps, Jalen Thompson and then Dontavius Nash forced Underwood out of the pocket and created on-the-run incompletions. It helped hold Michigan to a field goal after the Spartans lost a fumble on the third play of the game. 

Underwood got sacked once on the night, but MSU’s front created enough pressure kept him from statuesque stand-in-the-pocket drop backs. 

Chiles, though, faced plenty of pressure and got sacked twice for 25 yards in the first half and also committed an intentional grounding penalty while getting dragged down right before the half. He struggled to get on time and target with his receivers, and the Michigan defensive backs got away with highly physical play — plus a handful of missed calls.

Eventually, backup Alessio Milivojevic came in during mop up time, when the outcome was decided.