Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . Blake Corum. Corum missed most of the Indiana game and the entire Penn State game, leaving the Wolverines to rely heavily on Hassan Haskins. Corum has 130 carries for 778 yards (5.98 yards/carry) and 10 touchdowns. A report came out on Saturday that Corum would miss the next two games, but it's unclear if that meant he would be out through the Maryland game or the Ohio State game. I'm not expecting Corum to come back this week, but it would be great if he could be back by OSU.
Hit the jump for more.
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Donovan Edwards. Edwards had just 2 carries for 2 yards on Saturday in a backup role. Those carries came early in the game, and he got yanked when it became apparent that the moment was too big for him. He lost his balance without being touched. That left Hassan Haskins to carry the load entirely on his own, as Haskins notched a career-high 31 rushing attempts. Edwards will be good down the road, but he's not right now.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Rod Moore. I actually don't have much of a problem with Michigan's defensive rotations these days, but Moore (6 tackles) just looks the part of a quality safety. He has the quickness of a corner and the physicality of a safety, and that's what I wish Michigan would get more of from the safety position.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . nobody.
Play of the game . . . Cade McNamara's 47-yard touchdown pass to Erick All. This comes as a surprise to no one, but late in the game when Michigan was down 17-14, the Wolverines needed a big play. They got it from one of the unlikeliest places: a tight end who hasn't done much in the way of big plays. All has been a solid player this season, but Michigan is rarely able to get him in a position to get upfield. McNamara hit him on a crossing route, and as he turned upfield, it almost looked like he thought he was going to get submarined by a safety. When the contact didn't come, he turned upfield and outraced a couple defensive backs to the pylon, which turned out to be the game-winning play.
Highlight reel for the next 20 years #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/AvAa1ZQd5r
— Michigan Salt (@PelhamOneTwo3) November 13, 2021
MVP of the game . . . Aidan Hutchinson. Especially at the start of the game, Hutchinson was a terror (along with bookend outside 'backer David Ojabo). Hutchinson finished with 7 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 forced fumble, while Ojabo made 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 quarterback hurries. The combination of the two forced Sean Clifford to get rid of the ball early at times, and by the end of the game, he was beaten and battered into making too many errant throws and rushed decisions.
Great post. I love HH, and think his effort carried the offense in the most critical moments. But we do need the speed & shiftiness of Corum out there; we cannot expect to grind out ohio ... we'll need to score in bunches. Also agree on Edwards: he is an amazing talent outrunning HS nobodies, and can do well with room, but he is not ready to create on his own. Who we have back there matters
ReplyDeleteAnother cheers to All. Mr Do Everything, he came up huge & delivered. Let's hope he heals a bit more, and is ready for The Game
HMMM. Blake Corum as lets see more of this guy. LANK will love this.
ReplyDeleteThunder, your thoughts on Ojabo. I believe he has electric talent but it sure seems like his run defense is not where you want it yet. He is out of the game quite a bit. I know NFL drafts a lot on potential, but I would not be surprised to see him back one more year. I think he would be a situational player in the NFL right now.
I actually agree with Thunder here. The offense is playing all the right guys otherwise so what else can you say. Getting Corum back for OSU would be my pick as well. I really think the path to success is to grind them on the ground and keep OSU's offense off the field. Haskins will be essential but Corum offers big play ability. While that's not likely to come to fruition vs OSU, we need some good luck in big plays and it helps to keep Haskins fresh. People have also mentioned the different styles of our two lead backs and that can help also.
ReplyDeleteI've said this all along - going back to Summer 2020. Michigan is in a great place at RB. Corum is probably the best RB we've had in 20 years. We need every edge we can get against OSU. Haskins can do the job but in a big game like this, and in a context where we want to run the ball 50 times (IMO) having 2 very good backs you can trust is meaningful.
90s tactics = 90s rules = 90s perspective on RBs. Viva Neanderthal man!
My one other guy I want to see more of is McCarthy. Don't need a lot of him but giving OSU different looks in the first half would be a good idea. They seem to do a good job adapting in 2nd halves in recent years so let's not make it too easy on them.
ON D, I want to see more of Barret. I am terrified of our LBs getting exploited in coverage yet against vs OSU. I think we're pretty much stuck with Ross, and Colson is a good athlete, but Barrett's a better option right now IMO. The 5 DL stuff isn't going to fly against OSU. Either we load up on DBs and hope they can fly up to tackle Henderson or we let our do-everything LB shine.