The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1510053
NOVEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 27 now the tackles, you can see those guys sticking together and filling out, as well. It looks like it's coming together." Stanford transfer Drake Nugent has been outstanding at center, and the veteran guards — Trevor Keegan at left and Zak Zinter at right — really picked it up when the Wolverines hit the road for games at Nebraska and Minnesota. Michigan dominated up front against the Cornhuskers' then-No. 1 ranked run defense, paving the way for 249 rushing yards. While there were some pressures on McCarthy and a few hits in the Nebraska game, there weren't any sacks in that contest (a 45-7 U-M win) or in a 52-10 pasting of Minnesota a week later. On the ground, they ran for 201 yards against Rutgers in addition to the 249 vs. Nebraska. Pass protection wasn't great against Indiana — they allowed 4 sacks and got McCarthy hit — so there's still room for improvement. "The plays we mess up, it's just one person," Keegan said. "Once we get all the guys doing their assignments, this thing's going to be special. We're going to get rolling … it's just little things at this point. So, it's going to come. I swear, it's coming." RUNNING BACKS — B Many fans wondered, "what's wrong with these guys?" when senior Blake Corum and junior Donovan Edwards weren't dominating in the first several weeks, but there were many reasons for it. No. 1, teams are scheming to take it away. We saw it from the opener against ECU, when the Pirates were bringing safeties to the line at the snap, and at various times throughout. The numbers have still been solid for Corum — 96 carries for 546 yards, 5.7 per carry, with 12 touchdowns — and he and Edwards have started to run harder. Senior Kalel Mullings, meanwhile, has really emerged as a big back, averaging 6.4 yards on 23 carries before missing the Indiana game with a wrist injury. Junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy had com- pleted 111 of 142 passes (78.2 percent) for 1,512 yards with 14 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions in seven games. He also added 3 rushing TDs in that span. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL