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 leading up to the game, and while they all warmed up, none of them played – but in the end it didn’t matter. The Wolverines made enough plays and enough stops to move to 4-1 on the year.

For the fifth time in a row, the Wolverines are the winners of the Little Brown Jug after eliminating Minnesota, 27-24. Here are my five lessons from the game.

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

But just 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 ran in two touchdowns. One after Mason Graham’s hands-to-the-face penalty on fourth down in the third quarter and the other after the Gophers made a long punt return in the fourth quarter. The Gophers scored their third touchdown of the half in the fourth quarter with 1:37 remaining. Michigan would recover the onside kick to ice the game.

Michigan needs to get four quarters of football together if it wants to win these rough games.

On Saturday, Michigan announced several players were OUT against Minnesota or questionable. Key players such as Semaj Morgan in attack and both Josaiah and Will Johnson in defense did not play, but all three dressed and went through the warm-up.

Michigan had its struggles through the air, but defensively the Wolverines didn’t back down without two of their best players. The Michigan secondary was already thin without Johnson as Wesley Walker, Jaden Mangham and Ja’Den McBurrows were all ruled out, but the Wolverines’ role players all stepped up in his place.

Jyaire Hill became the top corner and played the role. Aamir Hall got the start opposite Hill and he played well in his first start. Nick Zeke Berry continues to play better and he helped the Wolverines’ defense by ripping a football out of the hands of Gophers’ WR Daniel Jackson for a turnover.

The defensive line also had no problems without Josaiah Stewart. TJ Guy started in his place and the Wolverines rotated to create the best matchup. True freshman Dom Nichols also found some success at Edge.

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

I have been quite critical of Hill’s play this season, but in the last two games we have seen a big improvement. On Saturday, Hill, without Will Johnson, was in the spotlight. It was by far the best performance he has had at Michigan and it shows why the Wolverines thought as highly of him as they did. Allowing him to push through his struggles proved to be the right decision by the coaching staff.

Hill suppressed screen plays, made tackles in the open field and also made an exceptional interception against Minnesota. Hill had his back turned to the football, but adjusted at the last minute to weave his way to an interception.

Moving forward, it appears Michigan has two truly legitimate starting corners.

If there was any doubt about who was in charge for Michigan going forward, Saturday answered those questions. Mullings started in place of Donovan Edwards for the first time and also saw the majority of the snaps. Mullings carried Edwards 24 to 9 and Mullings again ran extremely hard 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 different ways. He lined up in the slot, he lined up on the outside with movement. The Wolverines can be so much more creative by having Edwards and Mullings on the field while Orji moves forward.

After the first half, Michigan led 21-3, but was defeated by Minnesota 130-107. The Wolverines have a pair of short drives thanks to a blocked punt and a forced fumble by Zeke Berry – Minnesota also converted a hailmary try in the closing seconds of the second quarter.

For the whole game? Michigan was outrebounded 296-241 as Alex Orji threw for 86 yards. It was another wire-to-wire win for the Wolverines and their offense looked great at times and terrible at other times.

But because Michigan’s passing game isn’t very explosive, the Wolverines will likely see these weird stats moving forward. While fans may not like it, Michigan will have to hone its ability to run the football and play suffocating defense to win games in 2024.

The hope is that Michigan can connect on some downfield throws, but the receivers should help in that area as well.

– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –