The Michigan football team became bowl eligible on Saturday as they dominated Northwestern at home. This season hasn't gone to plan for the Wolverines, but they avoided a disastrous home loss against the Wildcats in impressive fashion. This game was expected to be fairly close, but Michigan executed well in all areas of the game and came out with an easy 50-6 win. This one was never really close, and now the Wolverines have a secured a bowl berth.

This game was important for the Northwestern football team too as they still had postseason hopes coming into the game. The Wildcats came into the game 4-6 and they needed a win against Michigan and a win against Illinois next week to secure a bowl berth. With this loss to the Wolverines, they can't finish better than 5-7.

Michigan isn't having the season that they were hoping for, but head coach Sherrone Moore has stressed the importance of making a bowl game. It gives the Wolverines at least a few extra weeks of the season, and that's always good. It will be a good opportunity for the team to get more reps, and it will give younger guys a chance to get some more experience.

It took longer than expected, but the Michigan football team picked up win number six, and they snagged some momentum ahead of their biggest game of the season. Here are three takeaways from the Wolverines' win against Northwestern.

That was Michigan's most complete performance

Saturday's game against Northwestern was the best we have seen this Michigan football team play all season. The Wolverines were able to find a good recipe for sustained success on offense and that isn't something that we have seen very often this year. The defense was also incredibly dominant as Northwestern wasn't able to move the ball with any consistency. Kicker Dominic Zvada also had the special teams looking good as he drilled a 56-yard field goal. Michigan dominated.

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Kalel Mullings continued to show how dominant he can be

Michigan Wolverines running back Kalel Mullings (20) is tackled by Northwestern Wildcats defensive back Devin Turner (8) in the first half at Michigan Stadium.
© Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Running back Kalel Mullings had a monster day as he got a lot of carries and rushed for three touchdowns. Mullings has showed numerous times this season that he can be a dominant back, but he doesn't always get the bulk of the carries. He did on Saturday, and it worked out for the Wolverines. The Michigan offense typically has more success when Mullings is the main back.

Michigan can play a lot better than their record indicates

The Michigan football team has an ugly 6-5 record on the season after this win, but their performance on Saturday showed that they can be a lot better than that. Is Northwestern a good football team? Absolutely not. However, we have seen the Wolverines play a lot worse in games against lesser opponents this season. They put together a complete performance for really the first time this season against Northwestern. It was good to see, and it came at a good time as Michigan will go on the road to take on Ohio State next weekend. That game is all that matters for the Wolverines at this point as they won't be going to an important bowl game.

This season hans't been kind to the Michigan football team, but a win against Ohio State next weekend will certainly make Wolverines fans feel better heading into their bowl game/offseason.