ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’s almost been a tale of two halves of a season for Michigan football running back Kalel Mullings.
In the early going, outside of Week 2, Mullings was the bell cow, having earned the No. 1 running back spot, and he was excelling. In the first five games, Mullings managed 540 yards, an average of 108 per game. But in the last five games, he’s only amassed 200 yards, an average of just 40 yards per game.
In terms of his production, Mullings doesn’t really have an answer for why he hasn’t been as productive, and why he hasn’t been as heavily utilized as of late.
“That’s a good question. I think the biggest thing is just finding that rhythm,” Mullings said. “I guess I don’t really have an answer, personally. I just attack, go about doing the same things every day, and attack everything with the same process. So, what happens on Saturday is just a byproduct of that and a byproduct of how the team is doing.
“Some days it’s going to be great and it’s going to look great, and some days it’s not always going to look great. So, you just never too high with the highs, never too low with the lows, and just continue to prepare and really hope for the best on Saturday.”
At Indiana, he didn’t start seeing carries until midway through the second quarter, when he only got one rushing attempt. He was utilized much more in the second half, but still only managed 10 carries total for 30 yards.
Head coach Sherrone Moore said that Donovan Edwards and Ben Hall got the early crack at the run game vs. the Hoosiers because they practiced better. But Kalel doesn’t really have an answer, noting he — along with the rest of his teammates — have practiced hard in the leadup to the Week 12 contest.
“I don’t know how to answer that one,” Mullings said. “Banged up, obviously. It’s a long season. Hurting for sure, but not injured. You know, there’s a difference between hurt and injured.
“Obviously, playing on Saturdays and stuff, all of us want to be out there and playing and impacting, but at the same time, I was just focused on cheering on the guys. And hoping for the best. And, just hoping that we get points out every drive, and we make every stop and just waiting for whenever my number got called.”
Michigan is on bye this week but returns to action on Nov. 23 when it hosts Northwestern for the final home game of the 2024 season.