Kalen DeBoer: Michigan is a 'different animal' when it comes to running the football

Big, mean, physical, athletic. These are all words that describe Michigan‘s offensive front, and it is one of the main focuses of Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer ahead of Monday’s College Football National Championship game against the Wolverines.

“There are some experiences that we’ve been through where we’ve been challenged against teams that really pride themselves on being physical and run the football,” DeBoer said on Sunday. “I do think that Michigan is a different animal when it comes to that as far as what their intentions are and how well they execute.

“A lot of credit good to everyone upfront on their offensive line and their running backs. It takes a whole team. I think we’ve seen even running the football — it takes everyone. When the receivers and the tight ends and and all of those different groups are heavily involved, bought in and are playing at a high level, physical and executing, it makes a big difference.”

Even without their top offensive lineman in Zak Zinter, who badly injured his leg in The Game against Ohio State, Michigan still has been able to piece together close to 200 yards on the ground across the Big Ten Championship game and College Football Playoff semifinal.

The biggest asset to Michigan’s rushing game is Blake Corum, whose 1,111 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns ranked second in the Big Ten this season. He’s carried the ball 237 times this season — 16.9 carries per game — but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take a handoff 20 or more times during the contest.

Apart from that, second-team running back Donovan Edwards, who exploded late last season after Corum suffered a season-ending injury late in the year, has 113 carries this season for 393 yards and three additional scores after a near 1,000-yard season in 2022. On top of that, Michigan QB1 J.J. McCarthy is also a threat to hurt Washington with his feet.

“For us, it’s going to take guys [being] physically tough but also, we’re going to have to really execute,” DeBoer continued. “We can’t be missing gaps as far as the defensive line doing their own thing or linebackers doing their own thing. You’ve got to know where your help and support is. Everyone [needs to be] doing their job and doing it at a high level.”

“That’s what it takes to be able to hang in there and do a good job against a team that runs the football like Michigan does.”