J.J. McCarthy calls Blake Corum 'one of the most valuable players on our team'

Few non-quarterbacks in recent years have meant more to an offense than Blake Corum has to Michigan, keying in so much of what the Wolverines want to do. And after Corum topped 100 total yards and accounted for a pair of touchdowns in the Rose Bowl, his quarterback was singing his praises.

Speaking with reporters on a conference call ahead of the national championship with Washington, J.J. McCarthy said Corum is one of, if not the most valuable player for the Wolverines. Having led Michigan in touchdowns this season and scoring the game-winner against Alabama, the lofty praise is not misplaced.

“Extremely valuable. I feel like he in my eyes is the most valuable player of our team. There’s so many of them that are right up at his caliber, but especially from an offensive perspective, I feel like he’s one of the guys that makes our offense go. Just everything he’s been through, all the adversity that he’s been through, just from his upbringing to this past year, just everything about who he is and just his character, how he attacks every single day, it just rubs off on all of us,” McCarthy said.

For two seasons now Corum has shined for the Wolverines. A potential Heisman finalist campaign in 2022 was cut short due to injury and Corum decided to come back to Michigan for a senior season to chase a national championship.

In 14 games, he’s rushed for 1111 yards and punched in 25 touchdowns on the ground while adding 117 receiving yards and a score through the air.

And beyond the statistical excellence, he’s central to the identity and ethos of that has seen Michigan win three straight Big Ten championships and head to the national championship game.

“It’s just one of the most valuable players on our team if not the most,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy clarified some of his remarks from Wednesday

McCarthy on Thursday clarified some remarks he made on Wednesday about sign-stealing and trying to catch up to the competition, saying that he was not implying the Wolverines went around the rules to make up ground.

He had also said on Wednesday that he suspects around 80 percent of college football programs engage in legal sign stealing, an assessment that he did not back down from. McCarthy, who was asked about the subject on Wednesday on a conference call with reporters, singled out rival Ohio State and said that the Wolverines suspected their signs were known on the opposite sideline in 2019-20.

He stated that “we had get up to the level that they were at, and we had to make it an even playing field” which many took as an admission that players and coaches at Michigan knew about the impermissible scouting done by former staffer Connor Stalions to steal signs.

“The clarification comes along with when I said we’re trying to level the playing field. It’s not in terms of how we steal signs or anything remotely close to that. It’s just about how we protect our signs, how we camouflage our signs. You know, we were one of the first teams to put the big black sheet in front of our boards, so teams can’t see it from watching film on us. It’s just leveling the playing field and protecting our signs, and disguising our signs to help us have that advantage,” McCarthy said to ESPN’s Marty Smith on Thursday.