The good and the bad from Michigan's 31-20 win over Michigan State

No. 25 Michigan football claimed the Paul Bunyan trophy for the fourth-straight season with a 31-20 victory over the Michigan State Spartans.

Let's break down "the good" and "the bad" from the win.

The Good

Rushing attack dominates again

The Wolverines got back to a successful ground game last week against Washington when Jordan Marshall turned in a huge game with Justice Haynes out with an injury.

Against the Spartans, the Wolverines had Haynes back as it looked like he didn't miss a beat, and maybe more importantly, looked healthy while carrying a heavy work load, carrying the ball 26 times for 152 yards and two scores.

Even with Haynes back, Marshall hardly played second fiddle as he had a huge impact for the second-straight week while going for 110 yards rushing on 15 carries and a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

JORDAN MARSHALL. THE 56-YARD DAGGER. 💨 #B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/PbJpLw9h3k
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 26, 2025

On a night when Bryce Underwood and the Wolverine offense couldn't establish a consistent rhythm in the passing game and struggled to throw the ball, staying patient in the running game and being efficient in that regard was much needed. The Wolverines finished with 276 yards rushing on the night, which was a recipe to success in the victory.

Defense remains on the rise since USC game

Wink Martindale's unit was faced with a tough challenge after a poor performance against USC a couple of weeks back, and has since responded in a positive way last week against the Huskies and Saturday in East Lansing.

The defense did give up a big run in the second quarter that led to an MSU touchdown and struggled with some tempo on a drive in the second half. But other than that, the Wolverines were stout all night and answered the bell time and time again, especially during times where Michigan's offense stalled and the Spartans were gaining momentum.

A lot of players on the defensive side of the ball played outstanding games, including defensive end Derrick Moore, who finished with two sacks and four total tackles. But, as the announcers on the NBC broadcast mentioned, there might not have been a better player on the field than linebacker Jimmy Rolder, who was all over the place in a good way while making nine tackles and recording a sack.

Rolder played a big part on fourth down stops in the fourth quarter when MSU was in Michigan territory, including when he broke up a pass and stuffed Aidan Chiles on a QB sneak attempt on 4th-and-1.

Oct 25, 2025; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans running back Brandon Tullis (7) runs for a touchdown as Michigan Wolverines defensive back Mason Curtis (25) defends during the second half at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

The Wolverines held the Spartans' offense to just over 300 total yards in what was another positive performance on all three levels of the defense.

The Bad

Lack of efficiency in the passing game

After Underwood played his most efficient game in a Maize and Blue uniform last week against Washington and looked as comfortable as ever, for some reason, that was not the case on Saturday.

Underwood finished the night just 8-of-17 passing and just did not look comfortable against the looks the MSU defense was giving him. Spartan defensive coordinator Joe Rossi seemed to be giving the young QB a lot of different looks and different types of blitzes and stunts, and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and Underwood just couldn't fully get a grasp of how to attack through the air.

There were times when Underwood had a clean pocket and vacated it early to run when it seemed like he could have given more of a chance for routes to develop, but the pressure MSU's front was applying on him at times seemed to make Underwood a bit antsy.

Ultimately, Michigan ended up doing plenty enough on the ground to win the game, and that included Underwood using his legs and running for a touchdown. Still, it's an area the Wolverines will look to get more consistent in moving forward.

BRYCE UNDERWOOD STRIKES FIRST @UMichFootball makes it 10-0 vs Michigan State

📺:NBC pic.twitter.com/waNd4Nb76h
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 26, 2025

Special teams still could be sharper

On the positive side of special teams, punter Hudson Hollenback had a much needed solid performance, averaging 48 yards per punt on his six attempts and was much more consistent than he had been all season long to this point. The Wolverines will need him to continue to punt the ball well to help with the field position game moving forward.

Beyond that, the Wolverines seemed to miss some opportunities in the punt return game where the defense made a stop deep in MSU's territory and forced MSU punts that could have gone for more yardage with some better blocking in front of Semaj Morgan.

Also, in the first half, Morgan fielded a punt and fair caught it inside the five-yard line when it seemed like he should have let it bounce and go into the endzone, and on a separate play, Channing Goodwin ran into Morgan on a punt return in what could have ended up in disaster.

That unit will need to clean some things up moving forward if the Wolverines want to consistently win the field position battle.