Offense notes: Red zone woes dampen otherwise dominant day vs. Spartans

It was another dominant day at the office for the Michigan Wolverines, who moved to 8-0 on the season with a 29-7 win over Michigan State on Saturday night in Ann Arbor. The main objective was to get Paul Bunyan – with his custom-made Maize pants – back home, but the Wolverines know they left some style points on the field.

Junior running back Blake Corum, who finished the game with 177 rush yards and 2 total touchdowns, wanted to see more points to reflect the domination U-M unleashed on the Spartans.

“You want to win,” he said after the game. “I would say we got out of it what we wanted to [out of the game].. But we’ve got to score. I want to blow them out, and it should have been a blowout. We’ve got to get better in the red zone — and we will.”

Michigan took this one personally after blowing last year’s game in East Lansing. It was thorough and decisive, like most games have been this season. The Wolverines feel like they take their verbal shots and respond with their play on the field.

“We’ve had numerous teams come in here just yapping their mouth,” sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. “We just like to talk back with action. We don’t like talking back with words. That’s just extra stuff. We just want to do what we do.”

Corum bails out red zone woes

Of course, Michigan is missing on the opportunity to make more dominant statements by settling for field goals in the red zone. Too often, they are setting early downs inside the 20-yard line on fire. Saturday night, 4 of Jake Moody’s 5 field goals came from the doorstep of the end zone.

“That’s going to be a huge improvement for us, a huge focus going forward. We’ve just got to get it done,” McCarthy said. “It’s basic execution, scheme. There are so many things we just have to unpack and unravel, really get into the film room and understand the why. Why aren’t we getting in there?”

The two times that Michigan did find the end zone in this game, Corum was the one leading the charge. His 33 carries on the night marked a season- and career-high. And he has zero issues with the workload.

“I can handle more. That’s just my work ethic,” he said. “I’ve always had that. Last year, when I went to the weight room … I just feel like I left some things out there. But there’s always the offseason. I was working for a great year, not necessarily just one game. But obviously, it pays off. It paid off today. I wish I could have some runs back. I hit the ground. I tried to hurdle, and he caught me in the air. I thought it was going to be 70.”

JJ McCarthy making big strides as a scrambler

Many believed that McCarthy’s leg up in Michigan’s offseason quarterback battle was the potential for big plays through the air. For better or worse, the Wolverine offense has largely been untouched in terms of approach, but McCarthy’s legs have added a different dimension.

McCarthy added 50 yards rushing on 7 attempts to his 15-for-25 performance for 167 yards and a touchdown throwing. The argument could be made it was his “worst” passing game of the year, especially against a porous secondary. But the moments with his legs were critical.

“I feel like using my legs in some of those key situations is huge, in football in general,” McCarthy said. “Being able to do that in live game situations is huge. Throwing the ball away, that’s another thing. I was going for one read and it wasn’t there, so just throwing the ball away. That’s all a constant work in progress.”

Head coach Jim Harbaugh sees it, too.

“It was big,” Harbaugh said after the game. “There was a third-down conversion that they picked up. Really great plays. One time a free runner was on him, and he was able to get out of it, get out of the pocket and convert a really great throw to [tight end Luke Schoonmaker]. The offense, if the pass to Ronnie Bell would have counted, would have been two straight games without a punt. 

“The way our offense just consistently picking up the first downs, moving the football, putting points on the board. Again, an outstanding quarterback was just cool as could be the entire night. Going through his reads. When we had pressure, he was able to avoid it. Just played really good football. Really proud of the way he’s playing.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

• Corum’s 177 rush yards marked the fifth-straight game he has eclipsed 100 yards this season, giving him 9 career 100-yard games overall.

• Corum grabbed his first receiving touchdown of the season on a pop pass from McCarthy in the second quarter. His rushing touchdown extended his streak to 8 games and his 15 total touchdowns are tied for the FBS lead through 9 weeks.

• Michigan’s offensive line did not allow a sack in Saturday night’s game. This is the second time they accomplished that feat this season (Indiana, Week 6).

• Graduate wideout Ronnie Bell extended his streak to 21 consecutive games with a reception. He finished the day with 4 catches for 53 yards.