Following a thorough routing of East Carolina in the season opener, Michigan appears to be everything that most fans expected heading into the year – too deep, too talented, and too experienced as a unit to not have a legitimate shot at a third straight Big Ten championship, and hopes of winning the National Title.
The Wolverines’ highest-graded player last Saturday (per PFF) was none other than quarterback JJ McCarthy, who was an impressive 26-30 for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns – earning him a 93.0 grade (only one other Michigan player cracked an 80+ from the aggregator).
“I was telling the guys, ‘I’ve got this weird feeling, because I feel so good,'” McCarthy shared at the postgame presser. “Last year I was dealing with a shoulder injury, dealing with the quarterback battle. There was just a lot of resistance to push through. And this one, it just felt so effortless. Felt uplifting every single snap. Everything was going right, and it was a beautiful feeling.”
However, McCarthy’s success throwing in the pocket can, at least to some measure, be credited to the respect given by ECU to Michigan’s notoriously dominant ground game.
The Pirates made stuffing the run their top priority in last Saturday’s matchup, and managed to hold the Wolverines to 3.9 yards per carry on 31 attempts. But even then, ECU couldn’t prevent the play that would shift the momentum of the game firmly in Michigan’s favor.
With the very first snap of the second quarter, the Pirates sent just one rusher off the edge, who was easily intercepted by junior tight end Max Bredeson, and thusly, sprung feature running back Blake Corum for a 37-yard burst that was stopped at the 2-yard line. On the very next play, the senior punched it into the endzone to put Michigan up 14-0 in his first game back since an abbreviated appearance against Ohio State last November.
Addressing ECU’s gap pressure, Corum shared “Coming into the game, if you watch some of their videos from their press conferences – they wanted to stop the run.” He adds “If teams want to do that,” then, pointing to McCarthy, “please, keep throwing it.”
Once considered a potential Heisman finalist during the 2022 season, Corum has been a foundational piece of the Michigan offense since his sophomore year. During that time, he averaged 6.2 yards per carry on 301 attempts, along with 30 rushing touchdowns.
Now, Corum and the entire Wolverines offense can look forward to the return of offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore on the sidelines for this Saturday’s matchup with UNLV.
Often viewed as a team that relied on its dominant defense and the ability to bully opponents by gashing them on the ground, Michigan now seems well positioned to showcase a new threat – the growing composure and on-time passing game of its star quarterback. It’s still a work in progress, but the signs are starting to show.
Michigan v. UNLV kicks off at 3:30pm at Michigan Stadium.
