3 Up/3 Down: Michigan Football Shakes Off Rough Start To Beat Bowling Green

Michigan is now 0-3 against the spread this season, but Michigan was able to shake off a really rough first two quarters to stay unbeaten in the only category that matters.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A win is a win, but it wasn't pretty. 

Michigan came into Saturday favored by more than 40 points, but after a three-turnover first half, the Wolverines had too many costly mistakes to cover that large spread. However, Michigan stayed unbeaten on the season after defeating the Falcons, 31-6. 

J.J. McCarthy struggled for the first time all season. He threw three interceptions and missed Tyler Morris for an easy touchdown late in the second quarter. While the pass game took a step back, the Michigan run game heated up against Bowling Green. The defense was also a mixed bag. The run defense stepped up while the secondary blew some coverage. 

Here are three positives (ups) and three negatives (downs) from the Michigan win. 

Up:

1. Run game looked improved

The first two drives, Michigan looked unstoppable running the football. On the first drive of the game, the Wolverines ran it four times for 77 yards and a score. 

It was evident the running lanes were a little wider against Bowling Green and the running backs had much better vision hitting the holes. Blake Corum scored twice on the ground and ran for 101 yards. He averaged over eight yards per carry. Corum's sidekick, Donovan Edwards, looked better overall on Saturday as well. He fought for 50 yards (5.6 YPC), but it still seems like something might still be missing with Dono. 

The Wolverines finished with 171 yards on the ground. It was the second-highest output of the season on the lowest amount of carries by the Michigan run attack.

2. Michigan interior D-line remains good

If you read my articles or look at my Twitter (X) you read weekly how good the Michigan interior defensive line is. Well, because they are. Michigan stuffed the Bowling Green run and whenever the Falcons tried to do anything up the middle, Kenneth Grant, Mason Graham, Cam Goode, or Kris Jenkins was there. 

It appeared a ton of Michigan pressure came from the middle of the line and not as much from the Edge as in the previous game. The interior defenders are proving to be more than just run-stoppers -- they can get to the QB as well. Goode recorded a sack and Jenkins intercepted a screen pass against Bowling Green. 

3. Maintained good pressure on the Bowling Green QBs

Michigan had zero sacks in Week 1, and five sacks in Week 2. And against Bowling Green, the Wolverines tallied three (Jaylen Harrell, Mike Sainristil, and Cam Goode). The maize and blue had 10 tackles for loss on the evening, too. 

That might not seem like a staggering amount, but the Falcons ran the ball significantly more than they threw it. When Camden Orth or Hayden Timosciek dropped back, they had pressure for the majority of the evening. Bowling Green had to scheme to get quick passes out, or if the QBs held onto the ball too long there would be a Michigan defender breathing down their neck. 

Yeah, it's Bowling Green, but the Wolverines have done a good job in the past two weeks scheming ways to wreak havoc in the backfield. 

Down:

1. Turnovers/sloppiness

Michigan turned the ball over four times on Saturday. Three came from J.J. McCarthy's arm and the other was from Max Bredeson, who caught a squib kick, tried to return it, and coughed up the football. 

McCarthy's first interception came at the BGSU five-yard line. He locked in on Roman Wilson and never saw the safety who was right there to catch it. His next came when Michigan was moving the ball, but he forced a post route that wasn't there for another easy Bowling Green interception. His third, probably the worst, he just threw up for grabs after being chased by a Bowling Green defender -- which was picked off. 

JJ still had two touchdowns, but he made more mistakes against BGSU than he had in the previous two games combined. 

Michigan will also need to work on its squib unit. After Bredeson fumbled, Bowling Green kept doing it and the very time kickoff, Braiden McGregor fumbled but he jumped back on it. Definitely something for the special teams to fix and clean up since it's out there on tape. 

2. Blown pass assignments in the first half 

Bowling Green didn't have its starter, Connor Bazelak, available for the game. But it didn't seem to matter on Saturday. There were several blown assignments in the first half against Bowling Green. The most egregious came from veteran Josh Wallace when he was beaten in the end zone, but the Bowling Green wide receiver dropped the ball for an easy touchdown. 

Once again, Michigan didn't have Rod Moore or Will Johnson on Saturday. Getting those two back will pay huge dividends to the Wolverines' secondary. The pass defense hasn't been bad without those two, but there were clearly some holes against Bowling Green -- especially in the first half.

3. Third-down offense

In another odd stat for Michigan, the Wolverines were just 1-for-5 on third downs against Bowling Green -- against Bowling Green.. Third-down conversions haven't been super kind to Michigan this season, heading into the game the Wolverines converted under 60%.

Between weird play calls, like running on third-and-14 to set up a field goal, Michigan didn't put itself in position to keep the chains moving. Yeah, Michigan won big and it didn't matter, but once Big Ten play hits next week, the Wolverines need to do a better job at putting themselves in position to keep the chains moving.