Best and worst from Michigan football's blowout win over Penn State
Michigan Wolverines football emasculated Penn State in a 41-17 win Saturday at The Big House. Here are the best and worst from the game.
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Best duo
Coming into the season, Michigan had a ‘lightning and lightning’ duo at the running back position consisting of junior Blake Corum and sophomore Donovan Edwards. But due in part to an injury that held Edwards out of two-plus games, it’s really been Corum carrying most of the load. Even with Edwards available, the upperclassman has shined and been one of the nation’s top rushers.
Finally, against Penn State, Michigan had a dynamic tandem.
Corum ran 28 times for 166 yards and 2 scores. Edwards also had a pair of scores, on 16 carries for 173 rushing yards. He also hauled in a 21-yard reception on a wheel route.
The two were dominant, and even had 60-plus yard touchdown runs on back-to-back offensive plays for the Wolverines in the third quarter, with Edwards taking a 67-yarder the distance and Corum dashing 61 yards to pay dirt.
Heisman watch
Corum’s name has been thrown around on Heisman watch lists over the last several weeks. He’s arguably been the country’s best running back, near the top in every notable category.
But it has felt forced at times. Everyone knows it’s a quarterback award at this point, minus an exception here or there. For any position other than signal-caller, making it to New York as a finalist is a big win.
A running back has won college football’s most prestigious award only three times since 2000. Alabama’s Derrick Henry was the most recent to do so in 2015, when he registered 2,219 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns in 15 games.
Sifting through Henry’s numbers and comparing them to Corum’s to this point is a fascinating exercise. Through seven games in 2015, Henry had rushed for 901 yards and 12 touchdowns. Corum has 901 rushing yards and 13 scores through the Wolverines’ first seven contests.
There are some quarterbacks who are considered better bets to take home the hardware in December, but Alabama’s Bryce Young missed last week’s game with an AC joint injury and lost at Tennessee this week (can’t knock him much for either, considering the Volunteers are the No. 6 team in the land).
The interesting part is that Michigan plays Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was considered a much bigger threat to win the Heisman before losing to U-M last season. Wolverines defensive end Aidan Hutchinson then passed him up by finishing as the runner-up to Young.
All we’re saying is Corum still has a shot, and that’s saying quite a bit after playing what was purported to be a good-to-great Penn State defense. There are ‘Heisman moments’ still to be had, but all eyes will be on Columbus at the end of November, and you never know what can happen.
Best position group
It doesn’t seem fair to talk this much about Corum and Edwards, and not mention the real star of the game: Michigan’s offensive line. No backs can run for 418 yards without huge holes — and those are exactly what the Wolverines’ men up front opened up all afternoon long.
They deserve shout outs by name, from left to right: Graduate Ryan Hayes, senior Trevor Keegan, graduate Olusegun Oluwatimi, junior Zak Zinter and senior Karsen Barnhart. Co-coordinator and position coach Sherrone Moore‘s group played damn-near as good as humanly possible.
That came against a Penn State defense that ranked fifth nationally in rushing yards allowed per game coming in.
Coincidence?
Michigan wore blue pants with its traditional blue tops for just the fifth time at The Big House (it was U-M’s ninth occasion wearing blue pants). The Wolverines have gone with the look in the venue three times since the start of last season. Each time, Michigan has dominated the line of scrimmage and put up huge rushing numbers.
• 31-10 win over Washington, Sept. 11, 2021: 297 rushing yards
• 42-27 win over Ohio State, Nov. 27, 2021: 297 rushing yards
• Saturday’s 42-17 win over Penn State: 418 rushing yards.
It might be a coincidence — and it likely has nothing to do with the pants — but the Wolverines have sported that uniform combination in the three big games. And they’ve come to play each time, showing out in the run game, especially. That’s a welcomed sign after years of being hit or miss in the biggest of tilts.
The Maize and Blue have now won 19 of their last 21 games, largely leaning on the identity of being the most physical team on the field. The program is in a great spot and will more than likely be a significant favorite in every game the rest of the regular season until the finale at Ohio State.
Best ‘luck’
Michigan senior EDGE Mike Morris described Penn State’s big plays that resulted in a 14-13 lead late in the second quarter as “luck.”
PSU quarterback Sean Clifford kept on a read option and ran 62 yards to the Michigan 4-yard line, setting up a scoring rush for running back Kaytron Allen. On Michigan’s next offensive series, signal-caller J.J. McCarthy threw a ball that was tipped by Chop Robinson, then bounced off Penn State defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher’s helmet and caught by PSU linebacker Curtis Jacobs, who returned the interception for a touchdown.
Most wild stat
Bing, bang, boom — Penn State had the lead, 14-13, despite totaling only 1 first down to Michigan’s 14 at that point.
It felt like a hockey team scoring a couple cheap goals despite being outshot and dominated. That left the door open for a Penn State win even after Michigan had clearly made its case as the better team.
The Wolverines, of course, didn’t leave it to chance, running away with the win, but Penn State felt relatively good about itself at halftime, evidenced by …
Biggest shenanigans
Michigan dedicated its tunnel this weekend to former head man Lloyd Carr, who led the Wolverines to the 1997 national championship 25 years ago. His title-winning team was honored at the game.
It was a bit fitting that a big storyline of the game occurred inside the Lloyd Carr tunnel. At halftime, Penn State players blocked Michigan’s path to its locker room and were chirping as they went into theirs.
It was reminiscent of Ohio State doing the same thing while trailing by 2 points at the break last November.
Neither instance ended well.
Day off
Michigan has a bye this coming week, but one key contributor took the day off Saturday. Graduate punter Brad Robbins‘ leg wasn’t used once because the Michigan offense was able to pick up enough yardage on every drive to either attempt a field goal or score a touchdown (outside of the pick-six).
Saturday marked the first time Michigan did not punt in a game since a 63-10 win over Northern Illinois last September.
Biggest fraud?
Given Penn State’s schedule — Auburn turned out to be a bad team — it’s still hard to pinpoint how good the Nittany Lions are. But at the least, this is a solid team with a lot of talent. No, they’re not one of the 10 best squads in the nation, but great teams have a way of making good ones look bad. That’s what happened Saturday.
Penn State will fall in the polls and may drop two, three more games this year. But this was still a fantastic win for the Maize and Blue and their biggest test until the Buckeyes.
