ANN ARBOR, Mich. — What was supposed to happen against Penn State on Saturday was far from what happened.
The Nittany Lions entered the game with the No. 5 run defense in the country, allowing an average of 79.8 yards per game. No team had been able to run on the Nittany Lions, and it appeared Michigan would need to lean on its passing attack against the 102nd-ranked pass defense that had allowed an average 262 yards per game.
But it was the exact opposite.
Michigan ran down Penn State’s throat on Saturday. The Wolverines gained 418 yards on the ground and J.J. McCarthy threw for 145 yards, but he wasn’t asked to lead the team to victory.
Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, along with both the offensive and defensive lines shined. Edwards had a career day rushing for 173 yards and two scores, and Corum ran for 166 yards and two scores.
Not only did the Michigan offense dominate, but the Wolverines’ defense also held the Nittany Lions to 268 yards and a meager 111 yards on the ground.
“I feel like coach (Jim) Harbaugh said in the locker room: It’s a butt kicking every which way butt can be kicked,” McCarthy said. “And this was in our house and we take pride in that. We protect our house so just being able to do it in the fashion that we did was just awesome to see. Obviously, the first half we wish it went a little different way scoreboard wise, but they only had one first down, and we had 18. So we’ll take that.”
J.J. McCarthy said it was because the offensive line kept blowing the Penn State D-line off the ball.
“It was pretty much blowing them off the ball,” said McCarthy. “As simple as that, our offensive line, say a couple of weeks ago — I’ll say it today, we have the best offensive line in the country. That showed today, and they’re gonna keep showing that. There hasn’t really been a team that’s stopped us completely with the run. And I don’t think there will be.”
McCarthy knew early that Michigan would be able to control the line of scrimmage.
“From the jump,” McCarthy said. “First drive — from the jump the way they are moving them off the ball and today they weren’t showing us something we haven’t seen before. Showing us anything we haven’t seen before and just the way these guys are running the ball. The way the offensive line is blocking, I knew it was gonna be a dogfight to the end in the trenches, and yeah our guys pulled out in front for sure.”
Penn State hadn’t allowed a team to run for more than 119 yards this season. In three of its games, the Nittany Lions held the opposition to fewer than 100 yards. The former five-star quarterback is happy he has Corum and Edwards on his team and that he has those type of playmakers surrounding him. With those two having fantastic days, McCarthy didn’t throw the ball like has been recently. But he is okay with taking a backseat in a game like Saturday.
“That’s the beauty about our offense,” said McCarthy. “We’re multi-dimensional. And when you’re rushing for 400 yards, the game against the No. 10 team in the country. I’ll sit back and be a part of that ride and every single game.”
One thing McCarthy did on Saturday was use his legs. He ran the ball seven times for 57 yards. There were a few third-down plays where he pulled down the ball and picked up the first down instead of forcing a throw. McCarthy views him using his legs the way Joe Burrow did in 2019, but McCarthy says — and is — faster than Burrow, so there should be more opportunities.
“I mean, I keep saying like week to week that I need to use my legs more,” said McCarthy. “And it’s in situations like that, where we go back to the 2019 season with Joe Burrow and everything he was able to do with that. And I’m faster than Joe Burrow, so I should be able to do it more. But yeah, just being able to capitalize on those opportunities when they’re not having eyes on me and they’re covering downfield well and just being able to add that to the offense and contribute.”
The Wolverines enter a bye week before hosting Michigan State in two weeks.
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