84 days until Michigan football: Blake Corum advanced stats, how U-M prepared him for NFL
There are 84 days until the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines football team takes the field in the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State. Each day until then, we’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
With 84 days until Michigan kicks off the 2024 season, we look back at running back Blake Corum’s 84.0 PFF grade and some of the advanced statistics from the 2023 campaign. Corum’s overall rating ranked second on the offense, behind only quarterback J.J. McCarthy (90.6).
As he did the past two seasons, Corum ran with great power last year. He saw 624 of his 1,245 rushing yards come after contact, averaging 2.42 yards after contact per rush. The latter number was actually quite down from the 2022 campaign (3.35) and his even higher number in 2021 (3.84).
Another number that was down was the amount of missed tackles Corum forced. It was 30 in 2023, despite carrying 10 more times (258) than he did the previous season (248), compared to 73 in 2022.
There’s a chance Corum recovering from a torn meniscus and MCL suffered in November 2022 played into the way he played, which included less elusiveness. It’s important to note, though, that he was at his best at the end of the season, forcing 4 and 3 missed tackles in the two College Football Playoff victories. He didn’t have 4 missed tackles forced in any game that season before posting the figure in the Rose Bowl win over Alabama.
Corum had 25 runs of 10-plus yards and 13 of 15-plus yards. He saw 31.8 percent of his rushing yards come on breakaway runs (15-plus yards). He totaled 75 first downs.
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The Michigan running back and national champion became a third round NFL Draft pick (No. 83 overall) to the Los Angeles Chargers. Speaking on the Rich Eisen Show this week, Corum explained why he believes playing at U-M prepared him for his opportunity at the next level.
“I think what Michigan prepared me for was just being where my feet were, taking it a day at a time,” Corum said. “And that’s kinda what I’m doing here, just being where my feet are, taking it a day at a time, going into each meeting, each practice with a growth mindset, understanding that, hey, I might make a mistake today, but I’m gonna grow from it. I’m gonna learn from it, from the good and the bad.
“Also, coming from a pro-style offense, playing under center, playing in the pistol and things like that prepared me for what we’ve done with this offense so far, what I’ve learned. And just being a Michigan man — a good, down-to-earth human being. I think Michigan definitely prepared me for this position.”
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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