Here’s our weekly “KNOW THY RIVAL” column as Michigan plays while OSU rests.
On Maize Out Day, No. 5 Michigan crushed #10 Penn State last Saturday, 41-17, with another dominating second half. Heck, the score could have been worse, but Michigan stalled in the red zone for their first two possessions settling for 3 each time. JJ McCarthy was 17/24 for 145 yards and a pick-6, but when you amass the amount of yards on the ground like the offense did, who needs bombs? Just control and keep Penn State guessing, of which the Michigan offensive coaches did a masterful job.
The offensive line and wide receivers all should have earned game balls for the enormous holes every back had to run through! Donovan Edwards gained 173 yards on 16 carries and 2 TDs. Blake Corum had his usual 28/166 and 2 TDs.
Best Game Recap!
https://twitter.com/UMichFootball/status/1582141887636393984
Michigan gets a week to rest and recover from injuries while sitting in first place at 7-0 (4-0 Big Ten). Penn State dropped to 5-1 (2-1), and their hopes for a division championship took a hit. Michigan, showing a bland offense the last two weeks, opened up the play calling and showed next week’s opponent, Little Brother (i.e. Michigan State), more to worry about.
Run, Blue, Run!
The Michigan Wolverines are daring anyone to stop their run game. Penn State, then the #5 ranked team in the nation in yards per game, tried. 418 yards later it was clear they had no answer for the combination of Michigan’s Thunder and Thunder of Edwards and Corum. The two men accounted for 339 of those yards and all four rushing TDs. Michigan may have found that other back to rest Corum!
I can’t remember back-to-back touchdown runs like that, coach Jim Harbaugh said.
Edwards TD
First, Donovan Edwards, who up until the game had just 137 total rushing yards in the first six games, took a JJ McCarthy hand off, scooted right, and behind two huge blocks, ran off a 67 yard TD to put Michigan ahead. Watch as the safety gets faked out.
Donovan Edwards put him ON SKATES ⛸🤯@UMichFootball | @DEdwards__ pic.twitter.com/kAUFWxUSGJ
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 15, 2022
Then, on their next offensive play, after PSU tried a fourth down conversion from the Michigan 39 and was stymied, Corum galloped 61 yards for a score. Back to back back breakers. 128 yards in two plays!
Wolverine Bites:
- Mike Hart returned to the sidelines after leaving the game with Indiana after suffering from a medical emergency. Welcome back, coach!
- When will we realize that Blake Corum could be having one of those incredible years as an RB but yet gets little to no recognition for the Heisman?
Penn State entered today ranked 5th in the nation in run defense.
Blake Corum has ran for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns midway through the 3rd quarter 👀pic.twitter.com/X87pZpy6Z7
— 247Sports (@247Sports) October 15, 2022
3.Great time for a week break before the Michigan State game! Get to rest and work on the red zone plays!
4.Love for the D! Here are some rankings for the D:
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- Total Defense 4th 250 yds per game
- Scoring Defense 5th 12.1 ppg
- Passing yards allowed 9th 164.1 ypg
5. Mike Morris is a beast at DE. Eight of his tackles are for losses, and he leads the team with 5 QB sacks.
6. In fact, the team has 14 different players with sacks this year! 14!
7. Love these differentials!
Michigan football differentials vs Penn State:
+24 points 〽️
+295 total yards 〽️
+307 rushing yards 〽️
+1.8 yards per play 〽️
+18 first downs 〽️
+28 total plays 〽️
+23:52 time of poss 〽️Total domination. 7-0.
On to MSU. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/fjaAkWLIv8— Chillindamos (@Chillindamos1) October 16, 2022
Notable Quotables
Blake Corum on the back to back runs:
“It’s a game changer, right? The two-game changing plays. I think it kind of put them to sleep. After two big plays like that, had the defense kind of like, ‘What the heck? What are we doing?’ You know, kind of shut them down.”
“The offensive line knows that if they give Blake and Donovan space, any kind of crack, they’re going to make the most of it.”
Karsen Barnhart, the utility offensive lineman who has played just about every position on the line last year and this year, on Coach’s complimentary statement that” he’s tougher than a $2 steak”:
“I think what he sees from me is someone who’s a hard worker and shows grit. Somebody who doesn’t complain…When I have an issue, I don’t just sit there and sob about it. I don’t talk down to the team or anything. I just do my 1/11 to keep grinding and help the team.
“I take my role to the best ability I can. Whatever the team needs me to do, that’s what I’m here to do.”
Next Week – Little Brother comes to town!
The team knows exactly what is at stake next week when the Spartans of Michigan State come to town. 7-0 means nothing. They want revenge for last year!
Tell us about it, Trevor! Keegan, the Wolverines left guard, was blunt in how it felt after last year’s loss.
“Ever since we lost last year…[t]hat bus ride home, it sucked, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Yeah, it still pisses me off, and we’re gonna do everything to prepare for this game. We got the bye week to get healthy, and we’re gonna be ready to roll.”
Game specifics
The game will be nationally televised by ABC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM.
Whoa Nellie! This team will be locked in by that time!
Meanwhile, in Columbus where the Buckeyes rested on their bye week, our Garrick Pitt shares what has Ohio State ranked #2 in the nation this season.
By Garrick Pitt
Bye weeks in football can be the worst. Well, at least from a fan’s selfish perspective, like my own. The Buckeyes had the week off to rest and take time to prepare for their next opponent, the Iowa Hawkeyes. The good thing for fans is that the rivalries never take a day off
We are midway through the season and there is plenty to talk about. We will break down the Iowa game, C.J. Stroud’s path to the Heisman, the crowd favorite AP Top 25, and we will even touch base on that team up north. Let’s jump right in.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Some Buckeyes fans have been waiting for this one. Five years removed from the 55-24 beatdown from the Iowa Hawkeyes and Ohio State is finally looking for a little revenge. Iowa enters the game sitting at 3-3 on the season after suffering back-to-back losses to Michigan and Illinois, division leaders.
The Buckeyes enter with the second-best total offense in the nation and will see a boost this Saturday with the expected returns of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Miyan Williams. Through six completed games, Ohio State has played at home in five of those games and will host their sixth home game of the season when they welcome the Hawkeyes to Columbus on Saturday.
The good news? The Buckeyes haven’t dropped a game at home to Iowa since 1991 and are 13-2 in their last 15 meetings since then.
C.J. Stroud
C.J. Stroud is a big part of why the Buckeyes are the team they are today. The star QB leads the nation in QBR and is tied for first in touchdowns thrown with 24, doing so in one less game than the next QB on the list.
He is on pace to finish the regular season with 3,474 yards and 48 touchdowns, two shy of Dwayne Haskins’ record setting 50 touchdown passes thrown during the 2018-19 season. And who are the beneficiaries of this?
WR’s bro!
Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka have taken over in the absence of Smith-Njigba and one can argue that they are two of the most talented receivers in the game today. The lack of mistakes made by Stroud, and the talent he has surrounding him, make for a recipe of success. We are only halfway through the season but expect Stroud’s name to be included in this year’s list of Heisman candidate finalists
AP Top 25
There is nothing that gets college football fans more riled up like a Top 25 list and this week is no different. The newest AP rankings came out Sunday morning with Georgia keeping the #1 spot. Ohio State, on a bye week, stayed at #2 with Tennessee and Michigan rounding out #3 and #4. I could write an entire college thesis on why each team deserves the yardnumber one spot, but we are going to zero in on the Buckeyes and Michigan for this one.
Big Ten and competition
There are fourteen teams in the Big Ten, yet it appears that the B1G title is going to end up either going to Ohio State or Michigan while everyone else stands by and watches.
This is not to take a shot at the rest of the teams that are doing well (looking at you Illinois) but the gap between the Buckeyes and Wolverines and the rest of the conference is undeniable. Not to overlook any current opponent for either team, or with only six games into the season, but both teams seem to be on an inevitable collision course for a historical shootout on November 26th.
THE GAME!
“The Game” is one of the greatest rivalry games in the history of the sport and this year’s contest has the potential to be one of the best of all time, mimicking the infamous 2006 battle. I will admit that I am one of the last people to ever give Michigan any kind of credit. But the rivalry is at its best when both teams are at the top of their game and that is exactly where we currently stand. O-H!
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