Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 6 days until 2022 season
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. 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 just six days until Michigan football kicks off the 2022 season, we take a look at a star, former U-M running back Tyrone Wheatley, and an under-the-radar current player, senior wide receiver Cornelius Johnson.
Tyrone Wheatley
Wheatley is arguably the best Michigan player that the Wolverines nabbed from in-state. He excelled at Dearborn Heights (Mich.) Robichaud, before joining the Maize and Blue and becoming a workhorse back (his 688 career carries rank seventh in U-M history) and one of the program’s best of all time.
Wheatley impacted from the jump, rushing 86 times for 548 yards and nine touchdowns as a freshman. The next three years, he notched double-digit rushing touchdowns and racked up well over 1,000 rushing yards. His biggest season actually came his second year, when the Michigan running back registered 1,357 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground while also adding three scoring catches.
His 4,178 career rushing yards and 47 career rushing touchdowns rank fifth and second in Michigan history, respectively.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh hired Wheatley as his running backs coach, a position Wheatley held from 2015-16. He’s now the Denver Broncos running backs coach.
Cornelius Johnson
Michigan needed a wide receiver to step up following Ronnie Bell‘s ACL injury in the 2021 season opener. While it wasn’t always Johnson, with a different pass-catcher emerging each game, it felt like, he was the most consistent of the bunch.
Johnson caught an 87-yard touchdown pass in week three against Northern Illinios, before having his best game of the season a few weeks later at Wisconsin. In Madison, he caught two passes, both touchdowns, for 47 yards, including on a flea flicker that opened the floodgates in the 38-17 blowout win.
All told, Johnson led Michigan with 627 receiving yards on 40 receptions with three touchdowns. He has seven scores for his career and, with 942 career yards, is set to break the 1,000-yard barrier this coming season.
With Bell back in the fold, position coach Ron Bellamy said that should help free Johnson up, after he faced some double-teams and bracketed coverage last season.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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