Michigan football pushes Michigan State around in physical 21-7 win

EAST LANSING — This was personal.

This was physical.

This was nasty.

And Michigan football had been waiting on this day for a long, long time. 

"For a whole year," Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh said afterward. 

And even when both teams were taken off the field midway through the first quarter for an hour-and 15-minute weather delay, the Wolverines maintained their plan of attack and knew exactly what they wanted to do Saturday afternoon. 

More on pregame:

Michigan's Devin Bush on MSU logo swipes: 'I just got caught up'

Harbaugh: MSU 'bush league' for antics; Dantonio: 'That's B.S.'

"We knew when the whistle blew we were going to let it all out," Michigan running back Karan Higdon added. "All our frustration, all the personal things we felt about this game. We were going to let it out. 

"We came here. They were talking trash. When the whistle blew, there was nothing they could do. And we won." 

Higdon rushed for 144 yards on 33 attempts and Michigan's defense held host Michigan State to just 94 yards of total offense Saturday as the Wolverines continued their 2018 "revenge tour" with a physical 21-7 win over the Spartans. 

Harbaugh evened up his record with MSU coach Mark Dantonio at 2-2 overall, with both his wins now coming in Spartan Stadium. The Wolverines will enter their bye week at 7-1, 5-0 in the Big Ten, with a home game against Penn State coming on Nov. 3. 

Windsor:U-M cements itself as playoff contender by dominating MSU

The game was heated early, as MSU's pregame field walk turned into a back-and-forth with a handful of U-M players — including linebacker Devin Bush Jr., who eventually tore up the Spartan logo at midfield with his cleats — and MSU's entire team. Afterward, Harbaugh would call the Spartans "bush league," while Dantonio disagreed with U-M's version of events. 

Either way, four quarters later, Michigan left East Lansing with the Paul Bunyan Trophy and an ocean full of swagger. 

"This was big time. Every week it seems that people with playoff rankings or whatever the case may be. Find a reason to critique us or talk about why we don't deserve to be a top-ranked team," Higdon said. "Last week it was 'we don't show up in big games,' this week it was 'Michigan State's got the No. 1 run defense.' Blah, blah, blah. 

"We showed up, we did our job. That's all that matters." 

Michigan physically controlled this game throughout, though the Wolverines made life extremely difficult on themselves early with a slew of missed opportunities – including a missed field goal and two other empty drives with great field position. U-M out-gained MSU, 170-49 in the first half, but only led, 7-0, at the break. 

Grades are in:

Michigan's defense perfect, OL comes through vs. MSU

Rate U-M's performance vs. Michigan State

Then, with the rain picking back up early in the third, the Wolverines appeared to be headed for another meltdown against MSU — a rivalry that's tormented U-M for a decade — as a Chris Evans fumble on the U-M 7-yard-line set the Spartans up for a trick play touchdown to tie it up with 11:12 to go in the quarter. 

Michigan would add another fumble deep in MSU territory (the Spartan 22) two drives later, but the defense – which held MSU without a third-down conversion in 12 tries – kept answering the bell. 

U-M quarterback Shea Patterson was finally able to break through, dropping a perfect deep shot into the arms of a streaking Donovan Peoples-Jones for a 79-yard touchdown to break the tie and swing everything back toward the Wolverines' sideline. 

"Donovan in one-on-one coverage," Patterson said. "Good luck with that." 

After Michigan's defense forced the Spartans into another three-and-out, the Wolverines charged back with a physical 13-play, 84-yard drive, helped by a wild tipped third-down pass that was hauled in by Zach Gentry and finished with a bruising 5-yard touchdown plunge by fullback Ben Mason to salt the game away. 

Michigan finished with 183 rushing yards against an MSU defense that entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally against the run. 

A week ago, Higdon called his offensive line the best in the country. 

On Saturday, after U-M salted the game up front and finished in victory formation, he went back to the well. 

"They dominated. They're continuing to dominate. I said it last week: We've got the best O-line in the country," Higdon said Saturday. "And it's showing." 

Michigan's had more than its share of frustrating moments in this series, especially under Harbaugh. From the famed dropped punt snap in 2015 to a five-turnover, 14-10 home loss a year ago. That, coupled with Dantonio's eight wins in the previous 10 tries, put the Wolverines at a boiling point headed into Saturday's game. 

U-M played with emotion, said it was motivated by the pregame skirmish and spent four quarters of football taking the fight to its in-state rival. 

When the final whistle blew, the Wolverines exploded off their bench toward the stadium tunnel, grabbed the Paul Bunyan Trophy and ran to midfield for another celebration. Just like the one they said they watched inside Michigan Stadium a year ago. 

And one they won't soon forget. 

"Our coaching staff put pictures all over the building at Schembechler (Hall) this week with them celebrating on our field (last year)," U-M safety Tyree Kinnel said. "We were reminded of that every, single day this weekend. That's what we wanted to do. Coach gave us the clear. 

"We were going to get the trophy and make the field our field. ... It felt good doing that." 

Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickBaumgardner.