This is the expectation. It's nice to see that Michigan met expectations for once. This kind of beatdown is what Michigan should do on a pretty regular basis against overmatched MAC-level opponents. We've seen losses (2008 Toledo), close wins (2014 Akron), and other mild scares against the MAC, as well as a bunch of dominant victories. But Michigan should never really be within arm's reach of a MAC opponent. The line should be too big, the skill guys should be too fast, and the coaches should be too smart.
Hit the jump for more.
Run, run, run. Michigan couldn't stop running in this one, and I was okay with it. Why? Some people misconstrued my post last week to be saying Michigan should stop running and throw the ball. That's not what I said at all. What I said is that Michigan needs to do better and be more efficient when they do throw, instead of the 7/15 for 44 yards they had last week. Granted, Northern Illinois isn't anywhere near as good as Washington on defense, but 8/11 for 191 yards and 1 touchdown for starter Cade McNamara is more like it. Even backup J.J. McCarthy was 4/6 for 42 yards. Those 17 total attempts are only 2 more than last week, but the difference is that they were efficient and productive, instead of being primarily dump-offs and screens to tight ends and running backs. Whereas only 3 catches were made by receivers against Washington, the leading receiver in this one, Cornelius Johnson, had 3 receptions on his own.
Running back talk. I've taken a lot of heat over the years for my takes on running backs, but we all need to acknowledge that there's just a different level of excitement when Blake Corum gets the ball in his hands and gets past the first level of defenders. Backs like Hassan Haskins are fine to good (9 carries, 56 yards, 2 TD), but backs like Corum (13 carries, 125 yards, 3 TD) can break things open in a hurry. And I mean no disrespect to Haskins, who continuously breaks tackles and gains big chunks of yards. I would take Haskins ahead of most of Michigan's running backs over the past decade or so. Corum just has that extra gear that makes teams fear him, and that should open up the passing game. Freshman backup Donovan Edwards (8 carries, 86 yards, 2 TD) needs to become best friends with Corum and hit the weight room with him. Edwards has a lot of potential, breakaway speed, and good vision, but he just needs a little more lower body strength to step through a few more arm tackles.
What happened to NIU? My prediction on Friday was for a 38-20 Michigan win, and most of that was predicated on an impressive talent in running back Harrison Waylee. Waylee averaged 26.5 carries and 161.5 yards on the ground in his first two games. He left the game for a stretch from the mid-first quarter to the mid-second after leaving the game with a lower body injury, and he just didn't seem to have much burst after that. He finished with just 12 carries for 34 yards (2.8 yards/carry). I also thought Michigan might have an emotional letdown after the Washington victory, but that appeared not to be the case. The combination of Michigan being locked in and NIU losing its best playmaker's 100% burst led to a blowout. I do think Michigan would have scored more than 38 on the Huskies because the Wolverines were mauling NIU up front and outrunning them on the second and third levels, but I also think NIU could have scored more than 10.
Kolesar to Henning! I was pretty pleased to see that Michigan replaced walk-on Caden Kolesar as punt returner. Since replacing Ronnie Bell against Western Michigan, Kolesar had not handled punt returning duties very well. This game saw sophomore A.J. Henning take over that role, and he finished with 5 punt returns for 70 yards, including a 32-yarder. Henning also had 1 carry for 26 yards and 1 catch for 24 yards, meaning he was responsible for 124 total yards in this game on 7 touches. The coaching staff needs to continue finding ways to get him the ball.
Cornelius Johnson unleashed! Michigan took a few downfield shots to Johnson in this one. One should have been called pass interference, another was slightly overthrown, and the other was an 87-yard touchdown bomb. If Michigan is going to run the ball this effectively throughout the season, the over-the-top shots to Johnson - and others - should continue.
Not exactly sure on my exact order of my words when the ball bounced over Henning's head. Dead certain on the issue of multiple F bombs.
ReplyDeleteTotal domination. If you came into this game expecting the offense to score 9 TDs in 9 drives (and it should have been 10) well, I think you're not telling the truth.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time where I would have dismissed this kind of game as meaningless. A glorified practice. Cupcakes for everyone. But the past 15 years of Michigan football have been pretty humbling and Bill Connelly has made some persuasive arguments about the value of these data points. A really good team should look dominant against a weaker opponent and we got that. File under necessary but not sufficient in regard to bigger goals, but you can only play the team in front of you.
This Michigan team just keeps doing that really well. It will get harder, sure, but it doesn't hurt the good feelings when Western went out and beat Pitt, Washington got back on it's feet, and NIU's victory over Georgia Tech looks a lot more impressive after the Yellowjackets went toe-to-toe against Clemson.
While I understand the argument, I don't see such a big difference in throwing 15 passes vs 17 passes that Thunder sees. But I wasn't sweating the 15 either. Hopefully it's a confidence-builder for Cade. But this offense is still built around it's mauling OL. Seems like they have at least 6 guys they really like. The RBs are good but on day like yesterday it didn't even matter. With this OL they could have run for 300 yards with their walk-ons. I still don't see what everyone else sees in Edwards but it's nice having 3 RBs that everyone likes and we don't have to cry about who is getting carries or which coach is to blame for it.
Another good week. Hail to the Victors.
There's not much difference between 15 and 17. I thought I made that clear.
DeleteYeah. I guess my point is that throwing a bit more to the WRs doesn't change much. The potential obstacles to recruiting elite QBs and WRs are still there. The limitations of the current Michigan passing offense are still there. NIU doesn't have the secondary Washington has so this was a level of difficulty thing as much as anything else.
DeleteThis is not a complaint just an observation that nothing really changed. IMO.
I am cautiously optimistic, but I'm holding back on investing too much hope until I see Michigan beat a team that is willing and able to stop the run. Washington wasn't willing, and NIU wasn't able. I doubt Rutgers can, but Wisconsin (#1 in rush defense) can, and I'm wondering about MSU (#46 in rush defense, two better than Michigan itself).
ReplyDeleteStill, a good win in a manner that we would expect against a lesser team like NIU.
"Some people misconstrued by post last week to be saying Michigan should stop running and throw the ball. That's not what I said at all"
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree. I'd also like to see more slants & crossers, like Locksley used to pick apart Illinois the other night. Henning & Wilson (if they can catch, and Cade doesn't get his pass batted down) could do serious damage
I thought Johnson had difficulty adjusting to that first miss, and slowed down a bit. That should have been a catch ... Not all overthrows are alike!
Donovan Edwards needs to pick up his feet. NIU was beat down, so there were other big runs he missed out on
Which brings me to Corum: yes, Running Backs do matter!
Speaking of little passing game, did you watch Iowa? They will have trouble with Minnesota. But it's at Iowa, and will probably be a night game, in the cold--Iowa's 12th and 13th man.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you didn't mention Baldwin and Wilson. It was great to see Baldwin start and get the first pass!
Michigan should drub Rutgers too! I hope it's not a game though, where they're looking past to Wisconsin.
I didn't mention Baldwin and Wilson because they didn't do much. They combined for 5 catches for 49 yards (9.8 yards/catch) and 1 rush for 10 yards.
DeleteI didn't have a chance to watch Iowa.
Not much happened. Iowa should have dominated them. But didn't at all. Iowa has Penn St in a few weeks.
DeleteApologies for misconstruing your post last week, I am duly chagrined.
ReplyDeletePretty sure I got everyone else right though.
This game went pretty much the way I thought it would. Michigan scored a couple more td's than I thought but my thoughts were if they connected on some deep balls that the game would be over by halftime and 40ish or 50ish points would not be surprising...........
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the B10 on Michigan's schedule:
Most impressive team so far has to be Michigan State followed by PSU
Least Impressive? IDK; NW. Indiana & OSU
Wisconsin has ND coming up. That game will show a bunch.
Rant: "Everyone" going on & on about the admittedly spectacular 1 handed interception by the Sooner db vs Nebraska. These peeps acting like it could never have happened. UMMmmmm HEY AMERICA! - Charles Woodson set the precedent in 1997 vs MSU.
Sayin..........INTJohn
Almost feels foolish writing this because it seems so obvious, but it's so incredibly nice having a homerun-hitting running back. Corum is really the best of both worlds - gets the 3-4 yards that you need to keep drives moving and has the ability to take it 60+. He has to be the most talented Michigan RB since Wheatley / Biakabatuka.
ReplyDeleteNot to take anything away from Corum but the young man has played but a handful of games mostly against milder competition so not ready to put him in the same sentence with Wheatley.
DeleteAnd not so sure i would run backwards in time past Hart with him either. Hart was a four starter, too.
But the key word is "talented" but talent doesn't always equate with production over time. I'm not quite ready to put Corum in any HOF quite yet.
As I See It.........INTJohn
@ Thunder & Lank - I recall that the commitment post for Edwards wasn't what you would expect for a 5*, and I see Lank's comment above. Anything in particular that you're seeing from him to make you not quite as high on him as some others might be?
ReplyDeleteA couple things:
Delete1. The lower TTB Rating was largely due to the fact that Michigan has not really had overly productive running backs since Harbaugh has been at Michigan. Some players have had good individual games, but nobody has had a dominant season.
2. I think Edwards is good at a lot of things but not necessarily great at any one thing. I think we saw some of that on Saturday. He was getting tripped up by arm tackles, he missed a cut or two, etc. Perhaps another year or two in the weight room will help him get to that next level where he can break some of those tackles, see some of those cuts, and get a little more consistent. Despite the big run on Saturday, I think it's pretty clear that Haskins/Corum are superior backs right now.
While I don’t disagree with any of the above, I thought Edwards did a real nice job seeing and then waiting on his blocks before kicking it into gear on his long run.
DeleteIt's early but I don't see a standout trait with Edwards. Contrast that with Corum who, even though he ran for under 3 ypc, showed burst that passed my eye test. I said so in the preseason. Haskins shows outlier traits in toughness and balance, plus he's just a proven producer in a meaningful contexts and has won playing time battles with quality backs like Evans and Charbonnet while also holding off Corum. As I've said all along the Michigan backfield was LOADED in 2020. But back to Edwards...
DeleteAgain it's early. Praise for Edwards seems near universal. That can't be discounted and he's off to fine start. No obvious flaws. etc. I think he can be a quality back and can do GREAT THINGS if Michigan's OL 2021 performance extends to the rest of the year and beyond. I just haven't seen any reason to think he's a difference maker. Maybe he'll get there - some guys do develop like Haskins and Perry but usually you can see special right away.
Vision? Maybe Roanman is right about that one. I think it's mostly contextual. Vision is easy if your OL is good and hard if it isn't. Vision is easy if you've put in the reps and know what is happening without looking. Vision is hard if your gameplan changes every week and you have no identity.
As I see it there a handful of RBs who have shown standout traits in the last 20 years or so. You could see many of these right away IMO:
A-Train: straight-line speed
Hart: balance & phone-booth agility
V.Smith: pass catching & blocking
D.Smith: tackle-breaking
Charbonnet: reliability
Corum: burst
We'll see about Edwards but my first glimpse impression says he's at best an average starting caliber RB at Michigan (think Higdon, Perry, Smith, Toussaint). To be clear, this sort of just-a-guy can still run for many thousands of yards in the right context. Stepfan Taylor and the various 80s Michigan RBs who didn't do much in the NFL types.
Corum, to my eyes, looks like he might be the best back since Biakabatuka. He might be that rare guy that makes a real difference over others.
DeleteStill - right now he's in a 50/50 split with Haskins. We saw Saturday that anyone and everyone can make big plays with this OL. Last year he was in a 4-way timeshare. We saw in 2020 that the most loaded backfield in decades didn't do much to help the offense be good. So let's wait and see.
Does Corum M A T T E R in the way that Denard, Woodson and Desmond mattered? It's hard to do from RB but it's on the table. Here's why I think he might be that special:
Eye test (only 30 touches last year but he popped and obviously off to a great start in 21)
Passed an NFL caliber RB on the depth chart as a freshman
Passed and seemed to contribute to a 5-star recruit and former starter transferring
Ideal physical traits
Yes folks, coaching decisions matter.
My bad Charbonnet wasn't a 5-star. He was hyped like one sometimes.
DeleteI am going to disagree about Edwards. He is not as big as Charbonnet or Haskins and maybe he doesn't have quite the agility of Corum, but I thought I saw a real burst from a couple of his runs that backs like Charbonnet, Higdon and others did not have. Yes, a burst almost like Corum. And you add that difference-maker burst to an otherwise solid all-around back, and you have something. Charbonnet has long-range speed like A-Train did but I don't think either of them has the burst that I thought I saw from Edwards. Obviously a lot left to prove but let's remember that Corum wasn't a world beater last year either. He showed some flashes and now has matured into a difference maker.
ReplyDelete