O-Line stepped up on Saturday! #GoBlue
Michigan entered Kinnick Stadium undefeated and looking to break the losing streak that the Wolverines had against Iowa on the road.
The contest looked smooth for Michigan, which entered halftime with a 13-0 lead and built a 20-0 lead in the third quarter. The outcome grew dicey when Iowa produced two fourth-quarter scores. However, the Wolverines won, 27-14, in Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 2005.
Michigan rushed for 172 yards on Saturday against Iowa. That’s the most the Hawkeyes have given up on the ground this season. In fact, Iowa entered Saturday as the No. 6 run defense in football, allowing 73 yards on the ground.
After carrying the rock 30 times last week against Maryland, Blake Corum had another big day against a really, really good defense. Corum rushed 29 times for 133 yards and a touchdown that sealed the win for the maize and blue. The Michigan offensive line pushed around the Hawkeye defensive line as the box score showed. Michigan averaged 4.1 yards-per-carry which helped moving the sticks.
Guard Trevor Keegan returned for Michigan on Saturday after being sidelined last week against Maryland. Keegan said the coaches had the offensive line prepared this week for Iowa. They knew how strong Iowa’s run defense was, but Keegan said the coaches had a lot of faith that the O-line could push Iowa around.
“No doubt, we were really prepared for that we know they’re good stopping the run,” said Keegan. “Coach had a lot of faith in us running the ball this week. You play together, you trust each other, you know, you’re gonna be pretty successful. So we had to take their juice from them. And I think we did that.”
Keegan credits the success on Saturday to having five guys that play well together. Michigan added Olu Oluwatimi from Virginia this year, and his experience has helped a lot. However, having all five original starters together again could be what capped the day. Keegan said when you have good running backs and a good quarterback behind them, it makes their job easier.
“I think it’s just you know, five guys playing together and your coaches trusting you,” said Keegan. “You have five guys who are experienced, they play a lot of ball together, you be able to handle adversity and an environment like this. So, when you got good backs, a quarterback, it makes it easier for us. So, we were playing really confident too.”
Tight end Luke Schoonmaker had another good day. Schoonmaker started his second-straight game since Erick All missed his second game with an undisclosed injury. He had four catches for 45 yards, but he was also a big part of the run game flourishing. Schoonmaker said that the offensive line has been building a callus from last year. Michigan didn’t have many big-chunk plays on the ground on Saturday, but the Wolverines averaged 4 yards-per-carry and that is what kept the chains moving.
“Yeah, I think, they’ve been building that callus from last year,” said Schoonmaker. “And it’s rolled into this year of just blowing people off the ball. And that’s been their standard. They practice like that. And when they go out and play like that, so yeah, maybe we didn’t get the big ones. But we added up the little ones, and then it turned into something great.”
The 2021 Michigan offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for being the nation’s best unit. But J.J. McCarthy believes this O-line is better than last year. While he doesn’t know how much better they are than last year, he believes they are better, and that they are a cohesive unit that will dominate whoever is in front of them.
“Thank goodness, just smiling,” said McCarthy. “I mean, this offensive line everyone talks about last year, Joe Moore, everything like that. They were a fantastic offensive line. But I think this line this year is I don’t know how much better but I know that better and just the way that they grow every single week, the way that they collaborate with each other. I mean, they love each other and it just shows out there. They’re not just a bunch of individuals out there. They’re one cohesive unit that just dominates anyone who was in front of.”
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