Michigan football impressed in its season opener against Colorado State, eviscerating the Rams, 51-7.
The Wolverines allowed 219 yards of offense, the bulk of it coming in garbage time, as the new-look defense lived in the backfield. Several newer faces got involved, whether it was Eyabi Anoma — who produced a sack on his very first play as a Wolverine — Braiden McGregor, Mike Sainristil on the defensive side, C.J. Stokes, Derrick Moore, or others, the maize and blue impressed from top to bottom.
But want to know something you perhaps don’t? Then we have you covered!
The official Michigan football site has compiled some factoids from the game that you maybe didn’t know, whether it’s stats, new faces who got their first taste of game action, or plenty of other notes. Check them out below!
Facts/tidbits
• Today’s announced attendance of 109,575 marks the 301st consecutive game at Michigan Stadium with a crowd in excess of 100,000.
• Michigan improved to 117-23-3 all-time in season openers, while head coach Jim Harbaugh is 15-4 in season openers, including 6-2 at Michigan. The Wolverines improved to 17-0 in nonconference home games under Harbaugh.
• U-M improved to 2-0 in the all-time series against Colorado State. The Wolverines previously defeated CSU, 24-14, in the 1994 Holiday Bowl.
• CBS Sports analysts and Michigan alumnae Dana Jacobson and Tracy Wolfson served as honorary captains.
• Junior linebacker Kalel Mullings earned his first collegiate start, while senior Mike Sainristil, who previously started nine games at wide receiver, earned his first start on defense at the nickel position.
• Graduate student center Olusegun Oluwatimi also earned his first start as a Wolverine after 32 consecutive starts at Virginia.
• Seventeen total Wolverines made their collegiate debuts: edge Eyabi Anoma, wide receiver Darrius Clemons, defensive lineman Mason Graham, defensive lineman Kenneth Grant, defensive back Will Johnson, edge Derrick Moore, linebacker Jimmy Rolder, tight end Colston Loveland, wide receiver Tyler Morris, tight end Hunter Neff, cornerback Kody Jones, quarterback Alex Orji, edge Micah Pollard, cornerback Myles Pollard, cornerback Keon Sabb, running back CJ Stokes and wide receiver Amorion Walker. Defensive lineman Cam Goode and center Olusegun Oluwatimi both made their Michigan debuts, after previously earning varsity letters at USF and Virginia, respectively.
• Graduate student quarterback Cade McNamara completed 9-of-18 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown.
• Sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 4-of-4 passes for 40 yards and posted a career high with 50 rushing yards on three attempts. McCarthy scored his eighth career touchdown – third rushing – on a 20-yard run in the third quarter.
• Freshman quarterback Alex Orji also rushed for a four-yard touchdown in his first collegiate appearance in the fourth quarter.
• Junior wide receiver Roman Wilson scored Michigan’s first touchdown of 2022 with a 61-yard reception in the first quarter. It was his fifth career touchdown and his second-longest catch of his career, behind a 71-yard touchdown catch last season vs. Iowa.
• Junior running back Blake Corum rushed for a seven-run touchdown in the second quarter. It was his 14th career rushing touchdown and 15th overall.
• Sophomore running back Donovan Edwards recorded his fourth career rushing touchdown on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter.
• Michigan had four different ball carriers score a rushing touchdown – Corum, Edwards, McCarthy, Orji – for the time since Oct. 24, 2020, against Minnesota.
• Michigan’s seven sacks were its most since similarly recording seven last season against Penn State (Nov. 13, 2021).
• Senior defensive back DJ Turner posted a 45-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was Michigan’s first fumble recovery for a touchdown since Noah Furbush (zero yards) in 2017 and the fifth longest in program history. The record was 83 yards, shared by Leon Hall (Northwestern, 2005) and Courtney Avery (Minnesota, 2011). It was also Turner’s second career touchdown; he previously returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown last season at Maryland.
• Senior defensive end Mike Morris posted his first forced fumble of his career in the third quarter, which resulted in the 45-yard fumble return touchdown.
• Senior cornerback Mike Sainristil registered his first career sack — and first TFL — for a loss of two yards in the first quarter.
• Sophomore cornerback Rod Moore recorded his first career interception, returning it for 37 yards, in the first quarter.
• Graduate student defensive end Eyabi Anoma posted his first sack for the Wolverines, for a loss of eight yards, in the second quarter. Anoma previously recorded 12 sacks at the University of Tennessee at Martin from 2020-21.
• Graduate student linebacker Michael Barrett recorded a sack in the second quarter, for a loss of 11 yards. It is Barrett’s second sack of his career.
• Sophomore linebacker Junior Colson led the Wolverines with a career-high 10 tackles, including five solo tackles. His previous best was eight last season against Indiana.
• After a 3-for-3 day today, graduate student kicker Jake Moody has converted 12 of his last 12 field goal attempts dating back to last season. Only Remy Hamilton (14), Kenny Allen (15) and Brendan Gibbons (16) have longer streaks. Moody also moved to fifth among Michigan’s all-time field goal leaders with 43 in his career. He is two shy of the fourth spot, currently held by Brendan Gibbons (45, 2010-13).
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