MADISON, Wis. — Michigan’s long-standing losing skid here is over. And it came in spectacular fashion.
Behind a rejuvenated passing game and its bend-not-break defense, the 14th-ranked Wolverines powered their way to a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.
It was the program’s first win at Camp Randall Stadium since 2001, and moves Jim Harbaugh’s team to 5-0 on the season. They haven’t started a schedule like that since 2016.
A 1-yard touchdown run by J.J. McCarthy proved to be the difference, with the backup quarterback converting a sneak on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 8:26 to play in the third quarter. McCarthy’s legs (3 carries, 7 yards) added a new wrinkle to Michigan’s offense, while his arm flashed another touchdown to Daylen Baldwin late in the game.
Meanwhile, starter Cade McNamara turned in his most productive game throwing the ball all season, completing 17 of his 28 passes for a season-high 197 yards and two touchdowns. Michigan struck first with 4:17 left in the first quarter, dialing up a flea-flicker that saw McNamara throw a strike to Cornelius Johnson down field for a 34-yard touchdown play.
Roman Wilson led all of Michigan’s receivers, catching six passes for a career-high 81 yards.
Live updates: Re-live Saturday’s game, drive by drive
The two linked up again later in the game, with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter, when McNamara hit Johnson in the back corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. The play came after Michigan forced its season-high third turnover of the game, a Daxton Hill interception of Wisconsin backup quarterback Chad Wolf.
Wolf played much of the second half after starter Graham Mertz was knocked out of the game with a chest injury following a sack. After Michigan took a 13-3 lead, Mertz (8 of 15, 115 yards) worked to get Wisconsin back into the game late in the first half. He hit receiver Chimere Dike on a fade throw in the end zone for a late-second quarter touchdown, pulling the Badgers within three.
But a Michigan defense that saved the game last week against Rutgers came up big on Saturday, holding a potent Wisconsin rushing attack to just 43 yards. The Badgers failed to pick up a first down on their first four drives of the game and were never the same after Mertz left the game in the third quarter.
A Wolf fumble early in the fourth quarter was recovered by defensive tackle Chris Hinton and netted Michigan a field goal, one of three by kicker Jake Moody. Moody successfully booted kicks of 26, 47 and 48 yards on Saturday; he’s 8 of 9 for the season.
Michigan tried to get the run game going but found it difficult to break many big plays against the Badgers’ defense. Hassan Haskins had 19 carries for 47 yards, while Blake Corum added 15 carries for 46 yards. Much like last week against Rutgers, the Wolverines averaged less than 3 yards per cary.
But it didn’t matter. They did enough in the pass game against a beaten down, broken Wisconsin team that showed some resistance late in the second quarter. This time, Michigan answered with a stern punch to the mouth (and forced three turnovers) in its first road game of the season.
Next up for the Wolverines is a trip next Saturday, Oct. 9, to Lincoln to play a struggling Nebraska team.
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