The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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20 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2023 Morris laughed uproariously at that memory. "I was like, 'Keep running! Keep run- ning!'" he said. "That's the worst feel- ing, getting caught from behind. The next play, when I got the ball, I struggled to get into the end zone. The referee gave me the touch- down, and thank God for that. "Now you can go back and come out from the huddle and somebody says, 'You got caught from behind,' and I say, 'I scored the touchdown anyway — so shut up.'" Michigan's 2022 win put a charge in former Wolverines just like it did the cur- rent crew, No. 23 observed. "Think about that," Morris said. "Michigan hadn't played in Ohio Sta- dium in what, four years? Everybody said, 'When they come to our house, it's going to be hard for them to do anything.' "For him to go in there and do that, es- pecially in the second half, think about that. That's the money half. That second half, you go out there and do what he did? That's incredible." Edwards even raised the bar in the money half. Michigan as a team posted only 10 rushing yards in the opening 30 minutes. The sophomore carried only 5 times for 11 first-half yards, his right hand sporting a noteworthy cast from a previous injury. Morris pondered whether the low early totals involved Edwards running tentatively due to the injury. Edwards insisted a run-stacked OSU defense had more to do with the ground shutdown. "Ohio State's game plan was to stop the run," Edwards pointed out. "They did a really good job of doing that — at first. We were able to get our passing game going, and they had to respect our passing game, too. I don't think they were respecting it at first. "The safeties were 9 yards away from the line of scrimmage. That makes it harder on my part to try to get past the second level, then get past the third level. They weren't respecting the pass game, so their safeties were really down. "Our quarterback was able to get it go- ing, and they started respecting our re- ceivers. It was really easy at that point. What I'm seeing in the second half, they were respecting our pass game and the safeties were backed off. I was able to do what I was able to do — making safeties miss, and using my God-given speed to carry off the long runs." MEMORIES FOR A LIFETIME, AMONG PLAYERS AND FANS Morris noted Edwards might not dwell on his achievement for a while, or really feel it sink in for perhaps a decade. "But when somebody walks up to him and says, 'Can I shake your hand? You gave me the thrill of my life, the way you played against Ohio State,'" Morris mused. "That's what happened to me. Ten years later, somebody came up to me and shook my hand, because of what I did at Ohio State. I laughed, and said, 'What?' When he explained, it all came back." In fact, it happened again recently, 37 years after the fact. Morris found himself dining at Benny's in Ann Arbor with a couple of former colleagues, and again received the four-decade handshake. He makes sure to credit his offensive line, just like Edwards does. "In my old age, I've learned," Morris said. "I had a huge offensive line. They were humongous, and I had a lot of love from those guys. They took care of me." Edwards understands that what hap- pened on OSU's turf last November won't ever go away. But he's got bigger fish to fry, he insists, and he'll worry about reliv- ing the Buckeye busting sometime down the road. "I don't think about it anymore," Ed- wards offered. "My expectation is just to win a national championship. Beating Ohio State is something I look forward to, but I have a bigger goal in mind — winning the national championship." That would likely need to start with a third straight win over Ohio State, a feat Michigan hasn't accomplished since Charles Woodson made magic from 1995-97 around The Big House. Edwards Edwards "My expectation is just to win a national championship. Beat- ing Ohio State is something I look forward to, but I have a bigger goal in mind — winning the national championship." This season, Michigan will use a tag-team rushing attack with Edwards and All-American Blake Corum sharing the carries and giving opposing defenses nightmares. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL