Offense notes: J.J. McCarthy not satisfied with Maryland performance and inside Blake Corum's big day

Michigan football’s offense was denied its fourth-straight 50-plus point offensive output to start the season, but it did enough in a 34-27 win over Maryland to open Big Ten play. They know there is still more “meat left on the bone”, too.

Michigan’s offense now runs through sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who finished the day 18-for-26 passing for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He made a few big plays with his arm, especially late when the Wolverines needed points. But there were misfires on a few deep throws, some ball security issues and he held onto the ball a little too long at times.

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• Defensive/ST notes: Michigan knows it can – and will – improve after Maryland

Film study will be a humbling experience for a performance that could have been more.

“It definitely wasn’t my best performance,” McCarthy told reporters after the game. “I want some things back that went on out there. But I was happy with the way we were able to move the ball in times when we needed to respond. That was a good team out there. Maryland’s got a great defense, a great offense. I was just happy with the way we responded when some adversity crept in.”

Sophomore wideout Andrel Anthony had a little more run on Saturday and had 1 reception for 9 yards on 3 targets. Two of the them were missed connections on deep balls from McCarthy. One was overthrown, while the other appeared to be aimed and missed short.

McCarthy knows Michigan needs him to be sharper than that, and he owned up to it.

“With the timing, I don’t think that’s the issue at all,” McCarthy said. “I take full responsibility for all those throws that I missed on him [Andrel Anthony]. My arm was feeling 110 percent today. It’s been a while since it felt like that. Just being able to go through the practices this week, and be able to adjust and dial it back a little bit is going to be huge. Andrel, he got open, and he did exactly what he always does. The touches? We’ve just got a lot of great receivers. His time’s going to come, and just like last year, he’s going to shine.”

Head coach Jim Harbaugh singled out a pair of plays — a 20-yard touchdown strike to junior Roman Wilson and a 49-yard catch from Ronnie Bell — that stood out the most. He sees McCarthy settling into the starting role.

“Did a lot of great things, game on the line throws to Roman, to Ronnie Bell, just to name a couple,” Harbaugh said. “I thought he worked the ball up to the tight end Schoonmaker who had a great game, 7 catches, career high for him. Kind of settled into playing good, fundamental football.”

Reviewing Corum’s career day

McCarthy’s play will be the perpetual lightning rod, but Michigan had a hot rod on the field on Saturday afternoon. Junior running back Blake Corum delivered a career performance, rushing 30 times for 243 yards (8.1 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. His rush attempts and yardage output were career highs.

There were plenty of questions this offseason about whether Michigan had a true lead back it could lean on. Corum got stronger and more compact to carry more of the load. When his number was called Saturday, he answered.

“With my mindset, I feel I was always able to carry the ball that many times,” Corum said after the game. “But I prepared in the offseason for a reason. You want to talk about how many yards I put up, the O-line killed it today. I say this every time, and I mean it — I feel like we have the best O-line in the country.

“They made my job real easy. They allowed me to get to the second level real quick. But yeah, the 11 pounds I put on definitely helped.”

The Michigan offense needed a bell cow on Saturday. Sophomore Donovan Edwards was out with an injury and freshman CJ Stokes fumbled early in the game. Corum earned the rest he will get over the next few days.

“We knew very well he could handle that. He’s trained,” Harbaugh told the media. “This isn’t something he just goes out and does. It’s a seven-day-a-week thing for him year-round to train himself to be in position to do what he does.

“Just imagine how proud [his father] James Corum is. I saw him right behind the bench. Button on his shirt popped. It was really cool. The branch doesn’t fall too far from the tree in the Corum family. James Corum being the tree, Blake being the branch.”

The fourth down play that swung momentum

Corum’s big outing was punctuated with a 47-yard touchdown run with 3:31 remaining, but it was a fourth-and-1 rush that changed the game. Down 13-10 with 22 seconds to go in the first half, McCarthy hurried Michigan to the line to get 1 yard. Corum noticed Maryland was not ready and took advantage.

“That [fourth-down play] was only supposed to go for like one or two yards,” Corum said. “But the coaches got it in quick, J.J. got the ball snapped quick. We caught them off guard. Maryland’s defense is good. Maryland’s offense is good. It wasn’t like we were playing some scrub team. That definitely was a momentum change, in my mind. I definitely think so.

“My pre-snap read, I knew they were bringing pressure from the field. They’d been doing that. They did it a lot throughout the game. So if I would have kept it front side, it would have been over with. Saw there was no corner over there, and I trusted my guys to block. It scared me for a second, because I thought there might be a holding call. I just did it.”

Corum, who played his high school football in Maryland at Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy, was not going to be upstaged by a team from his area.

“I can’t let them outshine me,” he said. “Coming from the DMV, I take that personal. It was all fun and games. I enjoy being out there with guys I’ve balled with, guys that went to my high school. We were talking throughout the plays … it was great.”

Harbaugh hypes Michigan offensive play-callers

Michigan’s offensive attack was inconsistent at times on Saturday. Co-offensive coordinators Matt Weiss and Sherrone Moore are still working to shape the identity of this football team. Even with some play-calling misses, U-M still walked out of Saturday with 463 yards of total offense. Harbaugh was pleased with the outcome.

“Great job, really,” Harbaugh said. “Think Blake’s 243 is seventh in school history, fourth in Michigan history against a Big Ten opponent, in the history of Michigan football. Thought there were some great calls. Great, timely third-down calls, red zone calls, thought it was really good. 

“Really want to [give a] tip of the cap to Olu [Oluwatimi], Zak [Zinter], Ryan Hayes, played really good as expected. I thought Trente Jones, this was his best game. I thought last week was his best game, and this one was even better. He was tremendous. Gio El-Hadi, I am so proud of him. Local guy for you that stepped in at left guard. Trevor Keegan wasn’t able to go this week. Four quarters of really good play. Just ask Ryan Hayes, who was playing next to him. 

“Some of those short-yardage plays that went for touchdowns. They had big people in, had no depth to the defense to stop the penetration from the extra D-line in there, and then Blake’s great vision to bounce and see the hole and go for the touchdown was huge. Needed them all.”

Miscellaneous Michigan Football Offense Notes

• Michigan’s opening touchdown 8 seconds in – a 10-yard pass from McCarthy to graduate tight end Luke Schoonmaker – was the team’s fastest score to start a game since Giles Jackson scored a 97-yard kickoff return in 11 seconds at Maryland in 2019.

• McCarthy’s completions (18) and attempts (26) were career-highs.

• Corum obliterated his career-high in rush yards with 243 on Saturday. His previous career mark was 172 against Washington in 2021. Corum is currently Michigan’s all-time leader in yards per rush attempt at 6.47, ahead of Jon Vaughn‘s 6.29 mark in 1989-90.

• Corum is also Michigan’s first 200-plus yard rusher since Karan Higdon at Wisconsin in 2017. His rush yard total is the most in a single game for U-M since Denard Robinson‘s 258 against Notre Dame in 2010.

• Schoonmaker’s 7 catches for 72 yards on Saturday were both career highs. He scored his first touchdown of the season and fourth of his career on Saturday.

• Wilson’s touchdown catch was his third of the season and fourth overall.