The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OCTOBER 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 25 onship game to lead the Wolverines to a title. But Mullings was always available, and he made the most of his limited oppor- tunities in showing great vision, power — and yes, deceptive speed — when he got his carries. His 20-yard cutback touch- down run against Nebraska last year was an eye-opener and seemed to bode well for the post-Corum days. Some felt he could even split the carries with Edwards should he continue to progress. The grad student did that and more in the opener versus Fresno State. He led the Wolverines with 15 carries for 92 yards (6.1 per carry), putting the team on his back on a key fourth-quarter touchdown drive after the Bulldogs had scored to pull within 16-10. He was also quick to note it wasn't a one-man effort after his first- game heroics. "I feel like going into the season, me and Dono always just viewed it as kind of a team thing, us just getting the job done to ge t h e r," M u l l - ings said. "As far as my p e r fo r m a n c e [ a g a i n s t Fr e s n o State] — I think I played a solid game. Later on, as we were able to soften them up, I was able to crack some big runs, but there are definitely some things I need to clean up … things that weren't great. "But really, what was going through my mind was just continuing to throw those gut punches and continuing to soften up the defense. I used to play defense, so I know you don't really want to keep tack- ling over and over and over again. That's really what my mindset was … to keep trying to get some yards." Against Arkansas State, Mullings ex- ploded for a career-best 15 carries for 153 yards and 2 TDs. Through three games, he has notched 36 carries for 270 yards (7.5 average), with his yardage total ranking first on the team and fifth in the Big Ten. POUNDING THE ROCK In reality, that's always his mindset given his strength and build. At 6-foot-2, 233 pounds, Mullings is an absolute rock of a man, one of the reasons he started his career at linebacker. He is almost al- ways falling forward for extra yards after first contact and will likely continue to be the short-yardage back as the season progresses. All the backs, though, will need to step up while quarterback Davis Warren con- tinues to acclimate to his position. Mull- ings believes the group is up to the task. "The backs, we're always chasing to be the most physical group on the team. We view ourselves as kind of the lighthouse of this team, a group of guys that other guys can gravitate to and look toward," he said. "We continue to try to do that and, as the year goes on, regardless of how it goes, we'll continue to try and do that. "We'll try to assert our dominance and be the lighthouse that other guys can fol- low through the run game." To do that, he said, they need to get off to a better start on both sides of the ball than they did in a 31-12 home loss to Texas. Mullings and Edwards carried only 14 times between them for 66 yards, due in large part to U-M falling behind 14-3 early in the game. Warren threw 33 passes, more than the coaches would have hoped, and the backs became more involved as pass blockers. "It's hard to run the ball when you go down because it takes time off the clock, and you obviously need those seconds when you're down," Mullings said. "For a team like us, when we want to establish the run and assert our dominance that way, it's important that we're able to have success on that early in the game so that it can now open up the pass and open up other things. "It's our job on those first and second downs to get it to third-and-manageable. It's so important for us to be able to es- tablish a run game early — and early in the drives — so that we can avoid those third- and-longer situations." That will be the objective going for- ward. They know they're better than they showed against the Longhorns, and that the running game will be a big part of any success they have. Mullings figures to play a huge role. "I think the biggest thing for me has just been comfortability," he said. "When you take three years off of doing some- thing, it's kind of hard to get comfortable. But definitely learning from Blake last year and continuing to learn from Dono last year and this year, it's helped me a lot. It's helped me get comfortable and find my game — how I always played running back — again. "So, I feel like that's definitely the big- gest thing so far … just really getting com- fortable playing the position, and then adjusting to how the position is played in college. I feel like I've taken those two steps this year." NOT JUST A JOCK In addition to excelling on the foot- ball field, Mullings is an outstanding student. He'll earn a BBA from the pres- tigious University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 2024 and was recently featured on the MGoBlue. com website for his exploits as one of U-M's top student- athletes. Mullings hopes to pursue a career in real estate development. "I've always loved math and econom- ics and the idea of creating something from the ground up," Mullings said. "A lot of the lessons that I've learned through football and athletics are really applicable to starting and growing busi- nesses, and that's where the connection started for me." Not many can pull off the rigorous schedule balancing business school and football, but Mullings has found a way. He does schoolwork and studies between classes to help, yet he never misses a workout, having inherited his work ethic from his parents. Michigan proved to be the perfect fit for him as a student-athlete. "My dad played football and is the athletics-focused one, and my mom is the academic-focused one, so I've al- ways had that balance in my life," he said. "It is really easy to see when a school cares about its academic and ath- letic presence, and this whole university is clearly dedicated to both. That dedi- cation sold me. Getting into Michigan Ross was the cherry on top." ❏ ❱ Mullings "The backs, we're always chasing to be the most physical group on the team as possible. We view our- selves as kind of the lighthouse of this team, a group of guys that other guys can gravitate to and look toward."