ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The #12 Michigan Wolverines took care of business at home against the Minnesota Gophers on Saturday. The Maize and Blue thoroughly dominated the football game in the first half before coming out of the locker room and flipping the script. The Gophers converted on the Wolverines’ mistakes and made the game seem much closer than it felt.

Michigan was without several key players on Saturday. Guys like Will Johnson, Josaiah Stewart and Semaj Morgan were all questionable before the game, and while they all warmed up, none of them played – but that didn’t matter in the end. The Wolverines made enough plays and enough stops to move to 4-1 on the year.

For the fifth straight year, the Wolverines are the winners of the Little Brown Jug after defeating Minnesota. 27-24. Here are my five takeaways from the game.

A similarity to the win over USC last weekend, Michigan showed up and was the most dominant team in the first half. The Wolverines did whatever they wanted in the first two quarters. Michigan won the trench battle and the field possession battle.

But like last weekend, Minnesota flipped the switch on the Wolverines. Alex Orji threw an interception, Michigan struggled to move the football and the Gophers capitalized on mistakes. Minnesota scored two touchdowns. One from Mason Graham’s hands-to-the-face penalty on fourth down in the third quarter and the other after the Gophers ran a long punt return in the fourth quarter. The Gophers scored their third touchdown of the half in the fourth quarter with 1:37 to play. Michigan would recover the onside kick to end the game.

Michigan needs to play four quarters of football if it wants to win these challenging games.

On Saturday, Michigan announced that several players were out or questionable against Minnesota. Key players like Semaj Morgan on offense and both Josaiah and Will Johnson on defense did not play, but all three suited up and did warmups.

Michigan had its problems in the air, but defensively the Wolverines didn’t shy away without two of their best players. Michigan’s secondary was already thin without Johnson, with Wesley Walker, Jaden Mangham and Ja’Den McBurrows all sidelined, but the Wolverines’ role players all stepped up in his place.

Jyaire Hill took over the top corner and played the role. Aamir Hall started against Hill and played well in his first start. Nick Zeke Berry is playing better and better and helped the Wolverines’ defense by ripping a football out of the hands of Gophers’ WR Daniel Jackson and scoring a turnover.

The defense also had no problems without Josaiah Stewart. TJ Guy started in his place and the Wolverines rotated to get the best matchup. True newcomer Dom Nichols also had a lot to offer at Edge.

Michigan sacked Gophers QB Max Brosmer five times and forced two turnovers.

I’ve been pretty critical of Hill’s play this season, but in the last two games we’ve seen a lot of improvement. On Saturday, Hill shined in the spotlight without Will Johnson. It was by far the best performance he had at Michigan and it shows why the Wolverines were as high on him as they were. Allowing him to play through his problems proved to be the right decision by the coaching staff.

Hill suppressed scripts, made tackles in the open field and also made an extraordinary interception against Minnesota. Hill had his back to the football but adjusted at the last second to toe-tap his way into an interception.

Going forward, it looks like Michigan has two really good starting corners.

If there was any doubt about who would take the reins for Michigan going forward, Saturday answered those questions. For the first time, Mullings started in place of Donovan Edwards and also saw most of the snaps. Mullings defeated Edwards 24 to 9 and Mullings ran extremely hard again in Michigan’s win over Minnesota.

Mullings scored two touchdowns and gained 111 yards on the ground. It took five games, but Michigan started using Donovan Edwards in a variety of ways. He stood up in the slot, he stood up on the outside with movement. The Wolverines can be much more creative with Edwards and Mullings on the field and Orji moving forward.

After the first half, Michigan was ahead 21-3, but was outrebounded by Minnesota 130-107. The Wolverines have a few short drives thanks to a blocked punt and a forced fumble by Zeke Berry – Minnesota also converted a Hail Mary attempt in the final seconds of the second quarter.

For the entire game? Michigan was outrebounded 296-241 as Alex Orji threw for 86 yards. It was another win from the start for the Wolverines, and their offense looked great at times and terrible at times.

But since Michigan’s passing game isn’t very explosive, the Wolverines will likely experience these strange statistics in the future. While fans may not like it, Michigan needs to improve its ability to run the football and play stifling defense to win its games in 2024.

The hope is that Michigan can start making contact on some downfield throws, but the receivers will need to help in that regard as well.

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