The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 135 PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 1. All The Way — Down 17-14, quarterback Cade McNamara took the shotgun snap with 3:40 remaining in the fourth quarter at Penn State Nov. 13. The Nittany Lions rushed six but didn't get home before McNamara found tight end ERICK ALL, who lined up on the left side and ran a rub route across the field. All, at "75-percent" health coming off a high-ankle sprain, corralled the ball at the line of scrimmage, the PSU 47-yard line, just inside the right hash. He turned up the field and surged down the sideline, past the entire de - fense, for the game-winning score. The Wolverines won 21-17 and kept their Big Ten title hopes alive with two regular-season games left. 2. Trickery In Indy — With a 7-0 lead over Iowa and 5:37 left in the Big Ten Championship Game Dec. 3, McNamara dropped back and quickly fired the ball behind him to running back Donovan Edwards, who ran a swing route to the right. Edwards pulled up after two strides, set up to throw and found a streaking wideout Roman Wilson, who caught the ball in stride at the Hawkeye 35-yard line and strutted to the end zone with ease. The 75-yard score was the longest play Iowa had given up all season. It put U-M up 14-0 and gave the Wolverines early breathing room in the 42-3 blowout victory. 3. Hawkins Has It — Michigan and Nebraska were tied at 29-29 with just under two minutes to play Nov. 9, when Huskers quarterback Adrian Martinez ran a quarterback draw on third-and-1 from his own 34-yard line. He got the yardage needed for a first down and was driving his legs, fighting for every inch, before U-M safety Brad Hawkins, all in one motion, stripped him and recovered the fumble at the 37-yard line. Hawkins returned it 19 yards to the Nebraska 18-yard line, setting up the Wolverines' game-winning field goal in the 32-29 triumph in Lincoln. 4. On The Money — There were just 5 first downs, all by the Wol - verines, and no points on the board during the first 10 minutes of U-M's 38-17 win over Wisconsin in Madison, which was a defensive battle early. U-M had first-and-10 from the Badgers' 39-yard line, and McNamara handed the ball off to running back Hassan Haskins, who pitched it right back to the signal-caller. McNamara bounced twice, then fired it downfield to Cornelius Johnson, who caught the touchdown pass 5 yards deep in the end zone for the first score of the game with 4:18 left in the opening quarter. 5. Haskins Goes Up And Over — Heading into the Wolverines' Oct. 9 game at Nebraska, the team hadn't trailed all season. But when U-M was down 29-26 with just under six and a half minutes to play and momentum on the side of the Huskers, it turned to Haskins. On second-and-3 at Michigan's own 25-yard line, Haskins, behind a pulling guard and tight end, took the handoff and ran to his right. He found a seam and broke it outside the right hash, before a defender with an angle was set to meet him around midfield. Haskins leaped into the air, taking off at his own 45-yard line, and hurdled over the Husker. He landed at the 50-yard line and ran another 25 yards be - fore being banged down. His epic run set up a game-tying field goal in the 32-29 win. 1. DE AIDAN HUTCHINSON — A team captain and U-M's MVP, Hutchinson capped off an outstanding career with his best season yet. He racked up a single-season program-record 14 sacks to go along with 62 tackles, 16.5 stops for loss, 12 quarterback hurries, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. He led the Wolverines with a 94.5 Pro Football Focus (PFF) overall grade and 74 pressures on 425 pass- rush snaps. The 10th defensive player to be named a Heisman Trophy finalist, the 6-6, 265-pounder finished second in balloting, one of three U-M players to ever do so and one of six Wolverines to finish top two. He was a consensus All-American and first-team All-Big Ten pick, and he won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football for the Big Ten's best player. Hutchin - son became U-M's highest drafted defensive player of all time when the Detroit Lions se- lected him second overall in April's NFL Draft. 2. RB Hassan Haskins — The 6-1, 220-pound bruiser ran around, through and over defenders en route to 1,327 yards and a single-season program-record 20 rushing touchdowns. He racked up more rushing yards in a season than any Wolverine since his position coach, Mike Hart, ran for 1,361 in 2007. He posted 825 of his yards after contact, which ranked 13th nationally, and churned out a national-best 103 first downs. He had just 6 negative rushing yards. Haskins was named a second-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and third team by the As - sociated Press, while also receiving consensus first-team All-Big Ten honors. The Tennessee Titans picked Haskins in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. 3. OLB David Ojabo — He and Hutchinson became U-M's first-ever duo to notch a combined 25 sacks in a season, with Ojabo contributing 11 of his own. The 6-5, 250-pounder added 35 tackles, including 12 for loss of yardage, 3 pass breakups, 8 quarterback hurries, 1 fumble recovery and a single-season program-record 5 forced fumbles. The Nigerian-born, Scotland-raised breakout star was a con - sensus first-team All-Big Ten selection and earned second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press. He was a pro- jected first-round NFL Draft pick before tearing his Achilles at U-M's pro day, but was still taken in the second round, No. 45 overall to the Baltimore Ravens. 4. RB Blake Corum — Despite missing two contests with an ankle injury, Corum rushed for 952 yards and 11 touch - downs on 143 carries. He also added 24 receptions for 141 yards and 1 receiving touchdown. One of eight Big Ten players with 900 or more rushing yards, the 5-8, 200-pounder flashed his big-play ability, with 4 rushes of 50 or more yards, tying for the Big Ten's lead. The Marshall, Va., native averaged 6.7 yards per carry, which slotted fourth in the conference. He was a third- team All-Big Ten honoree from the coaches and honorable mention by the media. 5. RT Andrew Stueber — The 6-7, 338-pounder was named a second-team All-American by the AFCA, and first-team All-Big Ten from the coaches and third team from the media while helping lead U-M's Joe Moore Award-winning unit up front. He graded out as the Wolverines' top pass blocker with an 81.2 mark, didn't commit any penalties and led the squad in fewest pressures (7) and sacks (1) given up. The Darien, Conn., native was chosen by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN TOP FIVE INDIVIDUAL PLAYS TOP FIVE INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS