Michigan beat Maryland
The Michigan Wolverines edged out a win on Saturday against Maryland at home in Ann Arbor at the Big House with a 34-27 victory for Jim Harbaugh and his boys.
Passing
In the closest game of the season, the Michigan Wolverines winner of the quarterback battle, JJ McCarthy did not impress me much. Throwing 18 for 26, two touchdowns, 220 yards and rushing five times for five yards was unimpressive, not to mention a 67.6 QBR and two fumbles.
Rushing
But the impressive thing in Saturday’s game, was the career high output by Junior running back Blake Corum. With 30 carries, Corum rushed for 243 yards with a long of 47 and 2 touchdowns, extending his touchdown streak to now four with one in each game so far this season. He’s the first to break 200 yards since Karan Higdon did in 2017 and the most since Denard Robinson’s 258 yard game against Notre Dame in 2010.
Defense and Special Teams
Corum’s great rushing performance doesn’t negate the mediocre performance from the receiving core and the dreadful showing by the Wolverines defense this week. On paper the defense gave up 269 yards in the air, 128 on the ground and three touchdowns while picking up 2 INTs and only 3 sacks. Another shocker was a rare miss from Jake Moody who ended up 2/3 on FGs and characteristically 4/4 on extra points.
Next Week @ Iowa
Some worry lingers from this display in preparation for the first away game of the season against Iowa. Thankfully the Iowa Hawkeyes are not looking their usual strength at 3-1 with their sole loss coming at home against Iowa State and starting the season with 10 total points of scoring through the first two games. Iowa’s fourth week shutout against Nevada falls into a similar category as the Michigan Wolverines blowouts in the first 3 weeks, and their 27-10 win against Rutgers doesn’t prove much. Iowa’s run game is just about their main source of offense with two TDs on the year in comparison to the passing game who boast a singular touchdown, the same amount as the defense.
A win is a win, but hopefully this weekend’s sad performance will spark some kind of fire in them that will lead to a stronger showing against a more capable team.
