Michigan Rallies and Survives Northwestern

After a scary first half against Northwestern, Michigan turned to an old friend to help them out in the second half.

As a result, the Wolverines have a 2-0 Big Ten start. They beat Northwestern 28-16 Saturday afternoon in Evanston, scoring the game's final 21 points.

Henne started the game, hitting four of six passes on the opening drive. He capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Mario Manningham, and then left the game for the rest of the half.

Freshman Ryan Mallett took over and struggled mightily, completing less than half his passes. Northwestern wasn't exactly lighting the place up, but the Wildcats managed over 300 yards in the first half and led 16-7 at halftime.

Henne then took over again at the start of the third quarter, and he was magnificent. He hit 14 of 21 throws, tossed two more touchdowns, and led the Wolverines to the comeback win. Manningham caught ten passes for 123 yards, and Mike Hart rallied from a tough first half to top 100 yards again.

The Michigan defense was solid in the second half, intercepting Northwestern's C.J. Bacher twice and holding Omar Conteh to 43 yards rushing after allowing over 70 in the first half. The Wildcats had five turnovers on the day to none for Michigan, and that was a huge difference in the game.

Michigan (3-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) moves out of conference play next week, hosting Eastern Michigan. On October 13, the Wolverines have a homecoming battle with Purdue for their return to Big Ten play.

(NOTE: Earlier, I stated that Mallett threw an interception. Not true. Thanks to commenter jbrons for noting that for me. Not sure what I was looking at there, since I later said Michigan didn't have any turnovers.)