Michigan survived a 27-24 tilt with Minnesota despite giving up 21 points in the fourth quarter and nearly blowing a three-score lead. The Wolverines improved to 4-1 with a critical game at Washington coming up. Several thoughts on the Michigan win and the rest of the Wolverines’ slate … 

RELATED: Snap counts, PFF grades from Michigan’s win over Minnesota

• A win is a win. As the infamous Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh once said, “I love winning! It’s like … better than losing.” And there are some games you just have to survive and advance when things start to snowball. Illinois 2022 comes to mind (thank you, Jake Moody). 

A lot had to go wrong for Minnesota to even be close in the fourth quarter, starting with a terrible interception that changed the momentum. That was a play that should have been a touchdown and all but ended the game. Instead, it gave the Golden Gophers a boost. 

At the same time, good teams overcome and don’t let things snowball. Michigan couldn’t stop the bleeding, and that’s something that’s going to have to change going forward. The way it looks, there are going to be several of these moments on the schedule going forward, because … 

• There are no gimmes left with the exception (maybe) of one. And that’s Northwestern, a team that might not be able to pick up a fourth and one to keep a drive alive with no defense on the field. Michigan is an underdog at Washington, a team that puts up a lot of yardage but doesn’t end drives with points. It was 500-plus at Rutgers in a 21-18 loss, and while Jedd Fisch’s team lost a ton, he knows how to scheme to move the ball with his personnel. That’s his strength. 

That game is the season for Washington, which has an incredibly tough schedule going forward (at Iowa, at Indiana, USC at home, at Penn State, at Oregon). That place will be a snakepit, and as we’ve seen historically, it’s tough to travel three time zones west and win on someone else’s turf. 

Defense travels, and we like the Michigan defensive line vs. Washington offensive line matchup. Unfortunately, we don’t like the U-M offense vs. … well, anyone matchup at this point, and this team seems a bit mentally fragile. If things go south, can they keep it from going downhill? This will be a fascinating game Saturday. 

Eyeing the rest of the schedule … Illinois on the road is going to be a low-scoring, tough game. Illini fans hate Michigan, and that stadium will be rocking. Michigan State is good enough defensively to keep the Spartans in that game, and at some point, quarterback Aidan Chiles isn’t going to turn it over two or three times. They can move the ball a bit, a well-coached team. We made fun of Curt Cignetti’s “look at me” act at Big Ten Media Day, but he’s got Indiana moving up quickly (and yes, he wins — Google him). 

Oregon at home will be tough, and Ohio State on the road … it would take a stunner of all stunners to pull that one off.

• On first and 10 passing miscues … We’ve heard from many fans now, “why try to throw on first down when you’re moving the ball? And we get it. Davis Warren vs. Arkansas State — his pick was a first down play on which they took a shot in firm control, up 21-3 and driving on the ground. Alex Orji’s pick Saturday on which he threw late to Colston Loveland when Donovan Edwards was wide open, too, was a first down play when the Wolverines were moving. 

At some point – and the coaches know this — they are going to face teams in which a passing game is going to be necessary to win. There’s no better time than up several scores to give the quarterback and opportunity, no matter who’s behind center. It just hasn’t worked. Against Arkansas State, Warren’s arm got hit when he was looking to Fredrick Moore in the end zone due to pressure off right tackle. They could have continued running the ball, but like the play call Saturday, they didn’t expect any danger given how the game was going. 

Guys need opportunities if they’re going to improve. Warren had his (though the “but he threw six interceptions and could never, ever improve! crowd needs to step back a bit. At least two of those weren’t on him, and first-time starters over the years have gotten off to starts just as bad, including Jim Harbaugh in 1984. He threw 5 picks (all his fault) in 4 games and completed 54.7 percent of his passes before getting hurt in game 4). 

Likewise, Orji made a few nice throws Saturday, though the routes are extremely limited and he still bails the pocket too soon. The hope is that he’ll continue to improve as he gets more comfortable. But again, it wouldn’t surprise to see the Wolverines go back to Warren at some point if they need a passer … and no, it doesn’t appear Jack Tuttle is going to be the answer, still limited throwing the ball. 

• Special teams and red zone defense need to improve. Punt coverage was leaky Saturday. They can’t afford to give up short fields to anybody left on the schedule. It was one of the differences when it came to beating USC, and we aren’t used to seeing it. We’ve been spoiled. JB Brown needs to tighten that up, starting this week. 

In addition, Wink Martindale’s group needs to start holding offenses to field goals instead of touchdowns. This was a strength the last three years under Mike MacDonald and Jesse Minter. Given the offense’s struggles, there’s a huge difference between 3 and 7 with this squad. 

Minnesota got Michigan with tempo, and other teams are going to use this recipe. MSU did it to steal a win a few years ago, and others are capable. That’s something they need to prepare for going forward. Finally …

• Mason Graham is the best interior lineman we’ve ever seen at Michigan. We’ve said it before, probably even wrote it Saturday, but the dominance from that position is one of the things that has made U-M’s defense so good. If you don’t double him, he’s going to wreak havoc. If you do, he still often beats it and opens things up for the edges and Kenneth Grant next to him.

We’re going to miss this guy — but not as much as the U-M defense will. He’s been a pleasure to watch and will go down as a Michigan legend.  

The post Monday Musings: Thoughts on a Michigan win, U-M going forward appeared first on On3.