Greg Schiano breaks down challenges of Michigan's running game

Nobody has been able to slow down, much less stop the Michigan Wolverines’ running game and Heisman candidate running back Blake Corum. Up next to try their luck is the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, led by head coach Greg Schiano. During a recent press conference, Schiano broke down the challenges of stopping Michigan’s running game.

“Well, it’s hard. I mean, why do they have a good running game? They have a very good offensive line,” said Schiano. “They have two really good backs; probably more, but two that play a lot. And a quarterback that can run and pass. So you have to defend the pass, defend his run, the offensive line is doing a good job blocking, and they got two upper-echelon running back.

“So, it’s one of the better outfits in America on offense. That’s why you look at where they’re ranked in all those statistical categories, they’re up in the top. Have we played against people like that? Yeah, we have.”

This season, Rutgers has done a decent job at taking away opposing offenses’ best threat, except in their last game against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are another team known for their dominant rushing attack. They were able to dominate the time of possession (41:02 to 18:58) and rushed for 253 yards on 53 attempts.

Schiano knows his team will have to be better than their best performance of the season and definitely better than they were last week.

“We have to do a great job; we have to be at our very best to have a chance to slow them down. Are you going to stop them? No. No one’s stopped them. But, we’re going to do everything we can, to the best of our ability, and see where that stacks up.”

Many have tried this season to stop the Wolverines’ run game and Corum, and all have failed. The Wolverines have rushed for more than 150 yards in every game thus far. Michigan has been held to under 200 total yards rushing and just three games, and it wasn’t by much. The lowest rushing output, 165 yards, came in their 31-10 victory on the road against Indiana. It wasn’t as if the Wolverines’ offense struggled but more so that the game plan for that week appeared to be crafted around J.J McCarthy‘s passing ability. That week the sophomore quarterback from La Grange Park, IL, threw for 304 yards completing 28 of his 36 pass attempts with three touchdowns and one interception.