Nobody is confusing this Michigan football team for the Wolverines of last year.

A season ago, the Wolverines barely broke a sweat when they waltzed up to East Lansing and dog-walked their in-state rival, taking their foot off the gas for the entire second half and still nearly putting 49 points on the Spartans, in a shutout to boot.

No, Saturday night in Ann Arbor was nothing like that.

The Wolverines fell behind by a touchdown early and head coach Sherrone Moore had to challenge them (with words he couldn't repeat postgame) on the sideline after a first quarter in which they were outgained 135-15.

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But then, facing the prospect of a winless October, things clicked for the Wolverines. There was Davis Warren, the former walk-on quarterback who won the job out of camp, then got benched in Week 3, only to come back and retake it after Jack Tuttle went down with an injury this week.

The senior put together the best game from any of U-M's three signal callers this season. He completed 13 of 19 passes for 123 yards, one touchdown and most importantly no turnovers— U-M's first mistake-free game of the year.

There was Alex Orji, who had the best game of his career, running six times for 64 yards (more than half of the Wolverines' total on the ground) and a touchdown. There was Donovan Edwards, who continued his perfect passing streak when he lofted a 23-yard touchdown pass to go up two scores in the fourth quarter.

Put it all together — combined with MSU losing the penalty battle 6-0, missing a 25-yard chip shot field goal and fair catching a ball at its own 5 yard line on a kickoff — and Michigan kept the Paul Bunyan Trophy for a third consecutive season, with a 24-17 win.

And there was tight end Colston Loveland, on the receiving end of that throw, as well as Warren's initial go-ahead pass near the end of the first half. In the final stages — combined with MSU losing the penalty battle 6-0, missing a 25-yard chip shot field goal and fair catching a ball at its own 5 yard line on a kickoff — and Michigan kept the Paul Bunyan Trophy for a third consecutive season, with a 24-17 win.

But it wasn't without a scare, as it took forcing an Aidan Chiles throw to fall incomplete at the goal line in the final two minutes before Warren eventually took a victory knee and let out a scream.

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"It’s a wonderful feeling," Edwards said. "Especially an in-state rivalry. It’s a great feeling to keep Paul home."

Though it wasn't a ranked win, it was needed in the worst way. A loss and the Wolverines were staring at the prospect of no bowl game. While that's technically still a possibility, U-M now needs just one more win — with Northwestern still on the schedule — to get back to the postseason.

It won't be a game they wanted to play in — the Cheez-It Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl or perhaps the Duke's Mayo Bowl are possibilities — but it likely will be something. That happened because U-M played its cleanest game of the season.

"When you lose in general, you're not having fun," Moore said postgame. "That was big piece for me. I wanted the guys to enjoy the moment, embrace it because they deserve it.

"So for me, them having fun and smiles like that...I mean, that's the best. That's what ultimately drives me."

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The "what if" game might not be one the Wolverines want to play.

What if Michigan never went away from Warren after he threw three interceptions vs. Arkansas State? After all, his other 11 passes were all completed that day. With Saturday as the evidence, it appears turnovers can be coached out of somebody's game, while learning to throw effectively (as Orji was asked to do) can't.

Instead, U-M went with Orji, then Tuttle, which derailed the middle of the season. But after Saturday, the offense slowly got back on track.

"Never look back and make regrets," Moore said. "Came back to this decision now, feel good about (Warren) ... but credit to him: He got replaced and he stayed in there. Prep was the same, he was always the same teammate, always the same person. Just credit to him, his value and how great of a teammate he is."

Warren's game started slowly, with four completions in five attempts over the first 27 minutes. And then he completed a key third-and-5 to Semaj Morgan for 6 yards in the final two minutes of the half, getting the chains moving.

His next throw was a 15-yarder from the right hash to the left boundary to Peyton O'Leary, followed by an out-route to Loveland to pick up 9. Later on the drive, in the final minute, MSU bit hard on a play-action and Warren found Loveland wide open in the back of the end zone.

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"Definitely was," Loveland replied when asked if he was surprised to be that wide open.

Though Warren completed just three passes in the second half, each proved critical.

The first was a 9-yard pass to Morgan on third-and-8. The next was a 23-yard flea-flicker to Tyler Morris to get into the red zone. Then, finally, a dart to Kendrick Bell which picked up 12 on third-and-3, one play before Edwards completed the drive with a TD pass to Loveland.

"Y’all better stop counting him out, man, because he’s shown time and time again that he overcomes adversity in his personal life and in the football world," Edwards said of Warren. "He’s always going to overcome adversity."

Gotta bring 'the same juice'

The Wolverines were all smiles in the postgame and ready to look ahead.

U-M welcomes No. 1 Oregon, undefeated this season, to Ann Arbor on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS). Oregon has scored at least 30 points in each of its past seven games, which included a 32-31 win over Ohio State at home and a 38-9 beating of Illinois — which just topped Michigan by two touchdowns — on Saturday.

Though that transitive-property scoring math may be worrisome for the Wolverines, there's renewed energy back in Ann Arbor.

"I mean, we just gotta keep the juice we had today," said defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, who had three tackles (one for a loss) and a fumble recovery. "Juice on the sideline was good, juice before the game was good, juice after the game was good. Got to come in Monday with the same juice, ready to prepare for Oregon."

If U-M is to have any shot in that game, it will again need to avoid turnovers. (Committing zero penalties again would also be wise.) There's more to a team than just getting back a mediocre pass offense.

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The defense did a good job bending without breaking: It allowed just two scores on MSU's four trips inside the red zone. And though special teams had one bad punt and one botched extra point, Tommy Doman pinned MSU inside its 20 three times.

It wasn't perfect, but in a season where the losses have piled up, there was one objective on Saturday: Find a way, any way, to win.

Michigan did and that's a start. November might not be quite as fun. But for now, the Wolverines earned a night to smile.

"Means a lot for program to keep Paul here and keep it for another 365," Moore said with a grin. "Huge for our kids to get a victory, get that confidence back."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football rejoices in 'wonderful feeling' of Michigan State win