ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan had Aidan Hutchinson go to New York last year and he finished second in the Heisman voting. There may be another Wolverine going to New York this season — he could win it.
Blake Corum came into the game vs. Nebraska tied for first with 16 touchdowns and he was seventh averaging 131 yards per game. Both of those numbers went up after Saturday evening.
Corum found the endzone against the Cornhuskers for his 17th touchdown on the season and the junior ran for 162 yards. He has now run for over 100 yards in seven-straight games.
There was some speculation Michigan would limit Corum’s carries against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were a 3-6 team entering the day and the Wolverines were favored by 30 points. But something happened to Donovan Edwards — Jim Harbaugh declined to comment after the game on his status — and he only carried the ball twice. Which meant Corum carried the load and ran the ball 28 times. He carried the ball 28 times without playing at all in the fourth quarter. But the junior back said that he will take the ball as many times as the coaching staff allows him to.
“I always go into each game, you know, wanting the ball,” said Corum. “I want it anytime you give it to me. So I expected a good amount, you know, I don’t know how much I actually expected. Ended up getting the ball a good amount of time.”
The Wolverines are rounding third base and heading home. Michigan has two games left in the regular season and both are big ones. The maize and blue will host Illinois next week, who was a top-25 team entering Saturday, and then Michigan finishes in Columbus against Ohio State. Corum was asked if his body can take this workload and Corum joked that he could play another full season this year. He says he can handle it.
“I could play a whole ‘nother season,” said Corum “But, you know, I’m good. I’m feeling great. And I feel that I just continue to get better. You know? I treat my body good. And so to answer your question, I feel great. I’m ready to go.”
Giovanni El-Hadi started his second game on Saturday in place of an injured Trevor Keegan. The Wolverines ran for 264 yards on the ground. El-Hadi said the team takes pride in moving their opponents, regardless of who it is.
“We love that we’re so physical,” said El-Hadi. “That we could move any team, any person, it doesn’t matter who it is. You know we take pride in that.”
Since Michigan is able to run the ball with ease, teams are starting to stack the box. But Corum insists he has the best offensive line in the nation and the O-line makes his job easier. Michigan didn’t have any explosive plays in the game but the Wolverines averaged 5.4 yards per carry and that got the job done.
“They are definitely packing the box,” Corum said. “I 100% have the best offensive line in the country. They dominate up front, my tight end is dominant, and the receivers dominate. So everyone dominated, you know, allows me to have success and find those matchups and just really run hard. Like today, you know, there was no long ones. But it was great. It was great for sure. You know, a lot of runs up the middle. And a lot of success.”
Michigan will host Illinois next week.
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