Michigan football is 11-0 heading into the big showdown on Saturday in Columbus against the equally undefeated Ohio State. This game has all the markings of one of the biggest not only in rivalry history, but in program history.
Of course, there are a lot of questions surrounding the health of both teams, especially considering both have their two primary running backs banged up heading into The Game. But there are a lot of other background stories entering this one.
The Michigan football program sent out some key facts and stats before the Week 13 contest. Here are some things you maybe didn’t know with The Game merely days away.
- Michigan has achieved its first 11-0 start under head coach Jim Harbaugh. It’s the program’s best start since 2006 (11-2) and the third 11-0 start since 1997 (12-0).
- The program’s 13-game conference win streak matches one of the same length from 2003-04. It is the program’s longest since a 16-game conference win streak spanning 1996-98.
- U-M completed a perfect 8-0 home season last weekend with the win on senior day against Illinois. Dating to last year, U-M has won 15 consecutive home games, the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
- Quarterback J.J. McCarthy has begun his career as a starter with a 10-0 record, matching Dennis Franklin (1972) for the most wins without a loss to begin a starting quarterback’s career in program history.
- U-M is scoring 39.4 points per game and allowing 11.7 points against, on average. Michigan is one of two teams ranked in the top 10 in both scoring offense (ninth) and scoring defense (second), along with Ohio State (second, offense, 10th, defense).
- Michigan (+27.6), Ohio State (+29.5), and Georgia (+26.7) are the only teams in the country with average scoring margins above +25 points per game. OSU (+325), U-M (+304), and Georgia (+300) are the only teams to have outscored opponents by 300-plus points cumulatively this year.
- U-M has scored points on its opening possession in nine of 11 games this season (seven touchdowns, two field goals).
- The Michigan defense has forced 43 three-and-outs on the season, including 15 in the last three games. In 11 games, the opponent’s first second-half possession has resulted in a change of possession 10 times (five three-and-outs, three punts, one turnover).
- Dating to this time last season, U-M has averaged three rushing touchdowns per game (45 rushing TDs in 15 games). The team has 32 in 11 games of 2022 and scored 13 in the final four games of 2021.
- Blake Corum ranks third in the country in rushing yards (1,457), the highest total by a Wolverine since Denard Robinson’s 2010 season (1,702 yards) and the most by a U-M back since Mike Hart’s junior season of 2006 (1,562 yards).
- Corum is tied-first in the nation in total touchdowns (19). He has picked up 96 first downs for the Wolverine offense, second-most in the nation. Corum has registered 22 runs of 15-plus yards (tied-fourth, nationally).
- Corum has 1,222 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns (one receiving) across eight Big Ten games in 2022, averaging 5.8 yards per carry in conference play. Across his last 16 Big Ten games (dating to 2021), Corum has totaled 1,754 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns on 5.78 yards per carry.
- PFFCollege credits Corum with 73 missed tackles forced on 245 carries this season, fifth-most in the country and second-most in the Big Ten (Chase Brown, 74). Corum has 65 fewer carries than Brown.
- The service grades Corum as the highest-rated player in the FBS at any position, offense or defense, (96.1). His current, active streak of eight straight games with 100-plus rushing yards and one-plus rushing touchdown is the longest in the last 25 years at U-M.
- In the record book, Corum has cracked the top 10 in single-season rushing yards (ninth). He is 105 yards shy of matching his position coach Mike Hart (2006) for sixth single-season all-time.
- Corum’s 18 rushing touchdowns are two shy of the single-season record set by Hassan Haskins last season. He is in the midst of an eight-game streak of 100-plus rushing yards (all in Big Ten play).
- Corum is 17th on the career yardage list, 414 yards shy of the top 10. His 6.00 yards-per-carry mark ranks fourth all-time.
- So far this season, the offensive line has paved the way to an average of 5.85 yards per sack-adjusted carry, and 6.4 yards per play overall. U-M (452.6 yards per game) has outgained opponents (241.3) by more than 200 yards per game, on average.
- The men up front have permitted just 50 negative plays on 780 offensive snaps (4.5 per game on 70.9 offensive snaps.
- Opponents have pressured a U-M passer 25 times (12 sacks, 13 hurries) in 11 games. When the line does allow a sack against starter J.J. McCarthy, it comes on an average of 4.60 seconds to throw, the ninth-most time when considering passers with at least 100 dropbacks.
- J.J. McCarthy is among the most efficient passers in the nation, ranking 26th in that statistic (150.3) and 21st in completion percentage (66.8 percent). He’s averaging 12.4 yards per attempt on play action (No. 3 among qualified passers).
- When McCarthy starts and finishes a Michigan drive, U-M has produced 38 touchdowns and 21 field goals on 94 possessions, translating to points on 63 percent of drives. In his 10 starts, the team has scored in 47 of 51 red zone trips (92.1 percent) with him on the field, scoring 38 touchdowns.
- Receiver Ronnie Bell leads all pass catchers in catches (48) and yards (641), while Cornelius Johnson holds the lead in receiving touchdowns (four). Seven different players have at least one touchdown catch.
- Tight end Luke Schoonmaker entered the 2022 season having never caught more than three passes in a game but has four or more catches in four of his last six games played. He has established new career highs in catches (nine at Indiana) and yards (72 vs. Maryland) during conference play.
- U-M’s high scoring rates have Jake Moody (122 points) leading the nation in points with Blake Corum (114) tied for second. The next-highest-scoring pair of teammates are Texas’ Bijan Robinson (103 points) and Bert Auburn (102 points).
- The defense is ranked No. 1 in total defense and ranks second in scoring defense, rushing defense, and pass efficiency defense while listing third in first downs allowed and fifth in passing defense.
- No team has reached 150 yards on the ground against Michigan this season nine of 11 teams have been kept below 300 yards of total offense (Maryland, Illinois).
- U-M has held five of the last seven teams at or below 75 yards rushing with three opponents under 40 yards.
- Opposing offenses have been held to 4.1 yards per play, including a stingy 2.8 yards per rush. On average, teams suffer 5.5 negative plays per game at the hands of the Michigan defense.
- Mike Morris leads the team in TFLs (10.5) and sacks (7.5) and ranks second in the Big Ten and tied-20th nationally in the latter category. Morris has PFF’s No. 3 pass-rush productivity grade (PRP, minimum 65 pass rush snaps) in the Big Ten, a top-30 mark nationally.
- Morris is credited with 35 combined sacks, hits, and hurries in true pass-rush sets — fourth-most in the conference — on 191 pass-rush snaps. The three players with more combined sacks, hits and hurries than Morris have 233, 308, and 344 pass rush snaps, respectively.
- Kris Jenkins ranks second among all FBS defenders with a 16.9 run stop percentage. Run stop percentage is a metric by PFF that measures the percentage of a player’s defensive snaps that result in a stuff on a run play. Mazi Smith (13.5 percent) is also a standout in this category (tied-19th), giving U-M the only pair of teammates in the top 20.
- Defensive back Rod Moore (three interceptions) leads the team in turnovers. Five different Wolverines have at least one pick, and 16 different players have at least one pass breakup.
- Among punters with at least one punt per game (11), Robbins’ 4.27-second hang time is the best in the country, according to PFFCollege. He is one of four punters above 4.2 seconds and the only Big Ten punter above 4.0 seconds. The average among Big Ten punters who meet the same qualifications is 3.74 seconds.
- With Robbins directing the unit, no opponent has registered a punt return of 10-plus yards since U-M played Ohio State in the 2017 season (113 punts).
- Twenty (24) of Robbins’ 29 punts have been downed, fair caught, or rolled out of bounds. The other five have been returned for a combined total of 17 yards.
- Robbins’ special teams partner Jake Moody has helped the Wolverines achieve a top-10 kickoff coverage unit, with opposing returners gaining 17.27 yards per return attempt. Moody is tied-third in the country with 79 kickoffs and leads the country in combined touchbacks (54) and fair catches (10) with 64.
- Moody is the third player in Michigan history to record consecutive 100-point seasons, joining Anthony Thomas (1999-2000) and Tom Harmon (1939-40).
- Moody’s 122 points this year are three shy of his 14-game total from 2021. Desmond Howard (1991, 138 points) is the single-season record-holder for points scored.
- Moody’s 65 career made field goals are a Michigan record. With one more made field goal, Moody would break his tie for the single-season record held by Remy Hamilton (1994, 25 FGM).
- Moody is also up to 47 PATs this season, nine shy of his single-season record set a year ago.
- Moody is the second-highest-scoring kicker in program history (330 career points), good for third all-time. Only Anthony Thomas (336 points) and Garrett Rivas (354 points) have scored more points in their respective careers for Michigan Football.
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