What they're saying after Michigan's 24-17 win over Michigan State

The Michigan Wolverines moved to 5-3 on the season with a 24-17 win over the in-state rival Michigan State Spartans on Saturday night in Ann Arbor, ending a two-game losing streak and keeping the Paul Bunyan Trophy in Ann Arbor for at least another season.

There were plenty of local and national reactions to the Michigan victory. A sampling of them can be found below.

Ryan Van Bergen, The Wolverine Postgame Show

WATCH: Michigan vs. MSU postgame reactions – Wolverines show fight in rivalrly win

“I was optimistic,” Van Bergen said to start the program. “But the way that we performed to this point in the season, I thought there was a chance that Michigan State could bully us. And I was kind of concerned about that. And first series, two series, first quarter didn’t go our way. But after that, I feel like you saw this team show some fight and show some spunk show some no quit.

“And that’s something I’ve been worried about with the trajectory that this team has been on is it’d be easy to fold up shop. It’s easy to get individual, especially in today’s landscape with how college football is structured. And you saw the guys in the winged helmets playing their balls off to win a game.

“And to me, there’s a ton of stuff that you’d like to see that we do better clean up and have go differently. But at the end of the day, the win is the biggest thing. And I’m proud of these guys for going and getting that.”

Chris Balas, The Wolverine

Michigan 24, MSU 17: Notes, quotes, and observations — relief, and a reprieve

Michigan State came out swinging (figuratively speaking), left swinging (literally), and in between almost did enough to beat Michigan’s worst team in years Saturday night. But the improved Spartans missed an opportunity when the Wolverines’ defense held after a late MSU comeback, closing out a 24-17 win behind maligned quarterback Davis Warren.

Most picked the Spartans to win after U-M’s awful loss at Illinois a week earlier, and probably rightfully so. MSU had been improving behind quarterback Aidan Chiles, started to move the ball on the ground, and field a well-coached defense whose sum is better than the parts. The Wolverines needed to match their intensity, we said, to pull this one out, and for a quarter, they did anything but.

In fact, it was an embarrassment early. MSU rushed for 93 yards and passed for 42 in the first quarter alone to U-M’s 15(!) total yards. The Spartans won the rushing battle — the team that does that usually wins the game — and it wasn’t even all that close. MSU’s Nick Carter carried 19 times for 118 yards. They were even 8 for 15 on third down.

But MSU failed to land the knockout punch, missing a chip shot field goal and giving up nine points to end the half. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore laid into his team to start the second quarter, and his guys finally woke up.

Stewart Mandel, The Athletic

Mandel’s Final Thoughts: After backup QBs bail out Penn State, Texas A&M, will they stick?

With last week’s starting quarterback Jack Tuttle injured, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore turned back to Week 1 starter Davis Warren for the Wolverines’ rivalry game against Michigan State — and it actually worked. Warren (13 of 19 for 123 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions) was no Tom Brady, but he did turn in the most efficient passing performance of Michigan’s season in a 24-17 win over the hated Spartans (4-4, 2-3).

Michigan State won 10 of 14 meetings with the Wolverines from 2008 to ’21, but Michigan (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) has now won three straight and five of the past seven.

Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire

Five takeaways from Michigan football’s 24-17 win over rival MSU

In the waning minutes of the first quarter, Michigan football didn’t have any business being in the game given the yardage disparity between the two teams. But the Wolverines found a way to claw back to take a tenuous lead going into the locker room at halftime, and they didn’t look back.

When Michigan desperately needed a drive or a first down, most of the time, it got it. When it needed a score, most of the time, it got it. This is the type of game that the Wolverines would usually lose, and yet, Michigan found a way to win against a rival that defines its success based on how it does against the maize and blue.

Huge win.

David Hale, ESPN.com

College football Week 9 highlights: Top plays, games, takeaways

It was a battle to see who was the most middling team in Michigan (apologies to Central Michigan, who remains, geographically, the most middling), and while the early results amounted to little more than two toddlers fighting over a popsicle, Michigan actually emerged with its first vestiges of an offensive identity this year.

Davis Warren got the start at QB, and he looked solid, completing 13 of 19 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. Alex Orji proved a valuable weapon in the run game, carrying six times for 64 yards and a score. And Colston Loveland was the best player on the field for much of the game, hauling in two touchdown grabs — the first game in which Michigan had multiple receiving TDs as a team since the opener against Fresno State.

When the dust settled on the postgame skirmish, both teams agreed there were no hard feelings, made a few jokes about Ohio State coach Ryan Day and all was forgiven.

Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press

Michigan football did all it could to avoid calamity; Michigan State helped, too

So much went into Michigan football’s full-scale effort to vanquish a middling rival and prevent its season from plummeting into a pit of darkness Saturday.
There was a fiery sideline pep talk from head coach Sherrone Moore, who ordered his offensive line to get with it after a dreadful showing in the first quarter of the Wolverines’ 24-17 victory over Michigan State football.
There were a series of trick plays, including a well-timed flea flicker that galvanized one second-half touchdown drive and a perfectly executed halfback pass that punctuated another. There was a bold plan to deploy not just one quarterback, but two who had previously started games for the Wolverines.
Yet, even after they pulled out all the stops, they still required some assistance from an opponent that is often its own worst enemy.
That, as much as anything else, explains how the Wolverines came out on top Saturday.

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News

Wojo: With season teetering, Wolverines find a way to finish off Spartans

The Wolverines were shaken, and although it was early, it felt like it already was getting late. The Spartans were churning and everything was turning — the game, the season, the trajectory of the rivalry.
But one thing we’ve learned about this annual scrap is, there’s always a counter-punch. Michigan found its footing just in time to avert a disaster, and deliver a crusher. Michigan State has risen in its first season under Jonathan Smith and Michigan has regressed since its national championship. But there remains a gap, although it’ll likely keep narrowing.
The Wolverines didn’t show much early but ultimately showed poise and discipline. They escaped with a 24-17 victory Saturday night in Michigan Stadium in a contest that confirmed what we suspected about both teams.
Neither is winning the Big Ten this season, but neither is backing down. Michigan’s offense remains a struggle in progress — Davis Warren and Alex Orji split time and delivered just enough — but its defense still can stand strong when needed. And Michigan State’s offense with young quarterback Aidan Chiles makes everyone hold their breath, on both sidelines.
Nobody needed this victory more than first-year head coach Sherrone Moore, and he seemed to know it, emptying the offense’s sack of tricks. The eventual winning touchdown came early in the fourth quarter, when Donovan Edwards took a pitch from Warren and heaved a halfback pass to Colston Loveland for a 23-yard touchdown, setting up a 24-10 lead and a frantic finish.