ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan players for the last two weeks talked of nothing but wanting to finally upend Michigan State and celebrate with the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
And now Paul is back in Ann Arbor.
The fourth-ranked Wolverines relied on their most productive scorers, kicker Jake Moody and running back Blake Corum, and a defense that thwarted Michigan State twice on fourth down and added an interception late to win, 29-7, before 111,083 Saturday night under the lights at Michigan Stadium.
Michigan State, which entered this game as three-touchdown underdogs, had won six of the last 10 meetings in the rivalry, including the last two games. The Spartans’ score came on a 26-yard touchdown reception by Keon Coleman on a pass from Payton Thorne in the first quarter for their only lead in the game.
Michigan (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) avenged its lone regular-season loss last season with the win over Michigan State, which drops to 3-5, 1-4.
Corum moved over 1,000 yards this season with 177 yards on a career-high 33 attempts. He scored on a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and also caught a 2-yard pass in the second quarter. Corum now has 1,078 yards this season.
Michigan running back Blake Corum evades a tackle by Michigan State safety Angelo Grose in the second quarter.
But it was Moody, the reigning Lou Groza Award winner as the nation’s top kicker, who kept the Wolverines churning, particularly when they’d stall in the red zone. Moody was 5-for-5 on field goal attempts, including a career-best 54-yarder in the fourth quarter to build a 22-7 lead.
This was another labored effort in the red zone for Michigan, which entered the game tied for No. 18 nationally in red-zone touchdown percentage (66.7%). Three times the Wolverines reached the red zone, inside the Spartans’ 20-yard line, and three times were fortunate to come away with field goals from Moody of 22, 25 and 33 yards.
Moody saved his best for last with the 54-yard field goal and he also had a 39-yarder. He was one shy of his record six field goals made against Indiana in 2018.
The Wolverines led 13-7 at halftime after a fumble and two red-zone trips that resulted in field goals. The defense, though, stopped Michigan State twice on fourth down. The Spartans went for it with 7:01 left in the first quarter but running back Elijah Collins was stopped short by Mazi Smith and Makari Paige. In the second quarter, after back-to-back receptions of 27 and 22 yards, respectively, by Coleman, the Spartans were facing a fourth-and-1 at the Michigan 5-yard line. After an MSU timeout with 7:35 left, running back Jalen Berger was thrown for a 2-yard loss by linebacker Junior Colson and Michael Barrett to give Michigan the ball on downs.
Michigan held Michigan State to two three-and-outs to start the second half, and on the Spartans’ next possession, there was a mishandled punt for a 21-yard loss. That gave Michigan the ball at the MSU 8-yard line and two plays later, Corum scored.
Rod Moore got his third interception of the season with just more than four minutes left in the game to seal the win.
The Wolverines held Michigan State to 63 second-half yards, including 51 on one play.
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