Michigan football secures bowl eligibility in 44-point blowout over Northwestern on Senior Day

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines are bowl-eligible after blowing out the Northwestern Wildcats 50-6 on Senior Day.

Northwestern opened the battle for the George Jewett Trophy by getting former Wolverines wide receiver A.J. Henning involved with a five-yard catch, but an Aamir Hall interception stalled it.

Quarterback Davis Warren led the men in maize down the field for a 10-play 53-yard touchdown by running back Kalel Mullings. It was his ninth touchdown of the season.

In what many pundits believe could be his last home game as a Michigan man, superstar tight end Colston

set a record for most catches by a tight end (54) in a season on an 11-yard grab in the first quarter.

The previous record was held by tight end Bennie Joppru (53) back in 2002.

Defensive lineman Kenneth Grant got his first sack of the game on the Wildcats' second drive for minus three yards, leading to the first punt for either side.

Warren led the Wolverines to a six-play, 10-yard drive as Wildcats defensive lineman Aidan Hubbard got a nine-yard sack, setting up kicker Dominic Zvada’s 56-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead.

Zvada (6-6) has joined some good company as he became the third kicker to make four field goals of at least 50 yards without a miss this season in between the National Football League and FBS, joining Florida State’s Ryan Fitzgerald (5-5) and Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates (4-4).

Josaiah Stewart got his first sack of the game for minus eight yards leading to another punt by Northwestern which placed the Wolverines down at their three-yardline.

Warren reverted to his old self as he tossed his first interception after being pulled from the starting lineup in week four.

The errand throw was to Loveland, but it was about 10 feet over his head, placing the ball in the Wolverine’s territory. The Wolverines' defense bowed up and gave up a field goal.

Michigan’s fourth possession of the game started with running back Donovan Edwards losing two yards on a first down run and a negative two yard pass for Michigan’s first punt.

Bryce Kirtz caught a massive 38-yard catch down the right sideline to keep the momentum rolling as they entered the red zone.

After hitting the long pass, Wildcats quarterback Jack Lausch threw an incomplete pass, which hit defensive back Zeke Berry in the nameplate in the endzone, leading to a field goal.

With the Wolverines offense stalling in the second quarter, Northwestern kicked the ball out of bounds with 1:57 remaining before the half.

With the clock ticking, Warren hit Edwards for an eight-yard pass. He then connected with wide receiver Fredrick Moore for six yards, and then he hit wide receiver Peyton O’Leary for another six-yard gain as the clock ticked under one minute.

Edwards snagged a 10-yard catch and run before their sideline called a time-out with 47 seconds remaining.

On third down and 10, Warren hit Moore once again on a scramble drill for 26 yards with 26 seconds remaining.

Warren hit Loveland on an eight-yard dime, third down and two yards away from the endzone, with 12 seconds remaining on the game clock.

Warren completed his first touchdown of the game to his favorite target, Loveland, to take a 17-6 lead. The drive covered 65 yards on 11 plays in 1:09.

With the score, Loveland moved one step closer to breaking two more records for a tight end, as he needs 41 more yards to achieve the most yards in a season for a tight end wearing maize & blue.

With one touchdown already in the books today, if he snags another touchdown, he’ll set that record as well for most by a tight end in a single season.

After the touchdown grab, Loveland, who leads the team with 56 catches for 582 yards and three touchdowns did not return to the game after suffering an injury.

Mullings opened the second half with three big runs, capping off a five-play 75-yard drive to take a 24-6 lead.

He started the third quarter with a run-up of the gut for 13 yards. He then followed that up with a 47-yard run down the right sideline before getting pushed out of bounds.

Mullings' third big run went for 10 yards and his second touchdown of the day.

That touchdown was the first time all season that the Wolverines scored back-to-back times since their game against Arkansas.

Stewart got his second sack of the day, this time for a minus 10 yards, forcing another punt for the Wildcats.

The Wolverines' next possession all but put the game away as Mullings rushed for yet another touchdown to take a 31-6 lead.

With that touchdown, it was the first time all season that the Wolverines scored 21 straight points.

Reaching the 31-point mark was the first time the men in maize also achieved such success.

Edge rusher TJ Guy got his first sack of the game in the third quarter for a four-yard loss.

Defensive back Mason Curtis picked off Lausch on fourth down and 13 in the third quarter, which was the game’s second turnover.

Edwards, who is the still the cover athlete of NCAA 25 got tackled from behind after a 24-yard run up the gut.

He followed that up with another 20-yard run to the house to cap off a five-play, 58-yard drive to take a 38-6 lead.

Zvada tacked on a 28-yard field goal to push the lead to 41-6. That was followed by a safety and a Tavierre Dunlap 20-yard touchdown run to hit the 50-point mark.

It was the 77th meeting between the rival schools, and the men in maize improved to 60-15-2 all-time.

They have now won eight consecutive and 35 of the last 39 games in the matchup.

The Wolverines hold a 59-15-2 advantage in the all-time series and have won 34 of the last 38 games played between the two schools.

Michigan is 37-6-2 against the Wildcats in games played in Ann Arbor and is 24-7 in games played in Evanston Northwestern.

With a 6-5 record, the Wolverines will travel to Columbus in the matchup of The Game vs. the 11-1 Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Nov. 30, inside the Horseshoe.