Offense notes: Michigan 'grinds meat,' wins battle of two 'smash-mouth' teams

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The offensive identity of the Michigan Wolverines team during its 2021 and 2022 Big Ten championship runs was to play smash-mouth football. Rutgers, which traveled to Ann Arbor an undefeated squad, effectively ran the ball and stopped the run in its first three contests.

But as junior linebacker Junior Colson put it after Michigan’s 31-7 win over the Scarlet Knights, “there can’t be two smash mouths” on the same field. Without a doubt, Michigan exemplified that characteristic Saturday afternoon at The Big House, which warmed “the cockles” of head coach Jim Harbaugh‘s heart.

The Maize and Blue ran the ball 40 times compared to 21 passes, including 11 rushes while running out the clock in the fourth quarter. Senior running back Blake Corum notched 21 rushes for 97 yards and 2 scores, and the Wolverines totaled 201 yards on the ground, surpassing the 200-yard mark for the first time this season.

“They come in thinking they’re the bully. We bully bullies,” Corum said. “We take pride in that.”

“That’s the kind of game I think [legendary former Michigan head coach] Bo Schembechler would have been proud of,” Harbaugh said with a huge smile after his return to the sideline following a three-game suspension. “Grinding some meat, huh?

“If you can use all 5, 6 minutes of the clock at the end of the game, churn out, grind meat as [father] Jack Harbaugh [who was in the back of the postgame press conference room] would like to say, does say, is saying right now, then end with the football … that warms the cockles of the heart right there. And Bo would have loved it, too. He always talked about every game we went into, he wants to see 200 yards rushing on the ground, 200 yards through the air. That was accomplished today.”

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Michigan was nearly balanced in yardage, amassing 214 through the air. Junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy was efficient, completing 15 of his 21 throws for 214 yards and a score to tie the game up at 7-7.

The Wolverines flashed that balance on their second drive of the day, following a three-and-out on their first possession. They were backed up on their own 6-yard line after a 75-yard punt, but it took only seven plays and 3:31 to drive 94 yards for a 2-yard rushing score. The drive featured a 14-yard run by Corum, a 33-yard pass to junior running back Donovan Edwards and a 35-yard completion to a wide-open sophomore tight end Colston Loveland on a fake reverse flea flicker.

“It was huge. Rutgers went up 7-0, and we knew we needed to score, just for the energy,” Corum stated.

“Them scoring quick, we had to bounce back,” Loveland said. “First drive wasn’t what we wanted, and thenwe just stuck to what we do. Just straining — straining every block, every catch. And coaching staff did a good job giving us those opportunities to make those plays and be in that position.”

Loveland recorded career highs in catches (5) and receiving yards (75). He added a leaping catch to start the fourth quarter, picking up 28 yards on the first play of the stanza.

“Colston Loveland, I’ve been thinking this for well over a year now. He’s really great. Freak athlete, and a team guy all the way in every way,” the Michigan head coach raved. “I think the cat’s out of the bag. For a minute there it’s you know what … he doesn’t know it. He doesn’t know how good he can be. He didn’t know how good he is. Kind of always though maybe the longer it takes him to figure that out, the better off he’ll be. But the cat’s out of the bag.”

Michigan controlled the clock and, ultimately, the game. The Wolverines possessed the ball for 36:08, picking up 20 first downs. After gaining only 312 total yards in a 31-6 win over Bowling Green last week, Michigan hit 415 yards, averaging 6.8 per play with no turnovers.

The Wolverines did have two drives that fizzled out — once in the second quarter and the first possession of the third quarter — resulting in field goal attempts (one miss, one make). Outside of those two, Michigan scored each time it had the ball, besides running out the clock at the end.

J.J. McCarthy gets involved in run game

For just the fifth time in his career, McCarthy had 7 rushes in a game, tied for his second most in a contest behind the 10 he recorded in last year’s Fiesta Bowl, a 51-45 loss to Texas Christian. Four of his 5 rushes resulted in first downs, including runs of 16 and 22 yards in the second quarter. He also had a 9-yard read-option keeper on 4th and 1 on Michigan’s first possession of the second half — a drive that wound up lasting nearly 8 minutes — and an 8-yarder on 3rd and 5 later in the quarter.

“It’s great, especially when Coach gives him the chance to pull it, because the defense is gunning for myself, they’re gunning for [junior running back] Donovan [Edwards],” Corum said of McCarthy’s run-game involvement. “It opens it up for J.J. to get those chunk yards. When you can get chunk yards, it’s always great, and he’s capable of doing that. He reads it really well, and we work together. I try to get tackled, he pulls it and takes off. It’s good having a quarterback that’s versatile like he is.”

“He’s super athletic,” Harbaugh said. “I wouldn’t doubt that he could run a 4.4 … somewhere in the 4.4s. He’s just that good and that fast.”

Harbaugh said he’s spoken to some of the coaches of teams Michigan played after this year’s games, and Bowling Green’s Scot Loeffler — a former U-M signal-caller himself — harped on just how hard McCarthy is to stop.

“J.J.’s just really hard to defend,” Harbaugh said of what Loeffler told him.

“So, 214 yards throwing, 50 some yards of running by JJ. That’s a lot of production from the quarterback position … and when we needed it.”

Michigan freshman Semaj Morgan breaks out

Michigan freshman wide receiver Semaj Morgan had appeared in all three games entering Saturday but totaled only 25 snaps. He had a role in the game plan and took advantage.

“He’s been really ascending since he got here,” Harbaugh said. “But especially the last three, four weeks. Maybe call it five or six. Just making plays, but just serious about being good at football and dead serious about winning and helping the football team. That paid off.”

Morgan picked up 12 yards on a screen pass on the Wolverines’ aforementioned second, 94-yard touchdown-scoring drive. And he was the recipient of an 18-yard score, the first of his career (and second total reception) on a slot fade, a beautiful throw by McCarthy.

“It was a play we’ve been working on all week,” the Michigan wideout said of his touchdown. “And J.J. had faith in me and my coaches had faith in me that I could win a route and catch the ball.

“[Offensive coordinator] Coach [Sherrone] Moore told me that he wasn’t surprised and I was like, me neither. I just want to thank God for that. And I hope I can continue to contribute to my team.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

• Rutgers hadn’t allowed over 319 yards to an opponent this season but saw the Wolverines total 415. No Scarlet Knight opponent had more than 129 rushing yards this year, but U-M picked up 201 yards on the ground. U-M also posted a Rutgers opponent high 214 passing yards.

• Michigan scored 31 unanswered points (including 24 from the offense) after suffering its first deficit of the season, down 7-0 after an early Rutgers score.

• McCarthy surpassed the 200-yard passing mark for the 10th time in his career. His 51 rushing yards were the third-most he’s accumulated in a game during his career, trailing 57 against Penn State and 52 versus Texas Christian in 2022.

• McCarthy now stands 10th in Michigan history in career passing touchdowns, tying Tom Brady with 35.

• Corum’s 2,843 career rushing yards rank 11th all-time in Michigan history, 57 yards away from entering the top 10. After rushing for 2 scores Saturday, he tied Chris Perry for fifth in the U-M record book with 39 career rushing touchdowns.

• Senior running back Kalel Mullings rushed for a career-high 40 yards on 6 carries.