“Dugan takes a knee, and reality starts to set in for the Michigan Wolverines,” said Todd Blackledge, veteran color commentator for ESPN and announcer for the 2022 Fiesta Bowl between the TCU Horned Frogs and Michigan Wolverines. For many Michigan fans, this infamous game will forever be a forbidden few words of disgust.
For the players, this is just fuel for the next season.
Michigan Football is back, baby. However, as the Wolverines kick off their highly anticipated 2023 season, many fans and players have one question on their minds: How will this talented roster use disappointment from last season to propel them to new heights this year?
Week one, check. Michigan started their campaign with a week one victory over East Carolina, and the Wolverines showed very little weakness on both sides of the ball during Saturday’s 30-3 win.
The powerful offense fired on all cylinders, scoring 30 unanswered points until 0:05 seconds left in the fourth quarter. What surprised me the most about the victory was how the Wolverines utilized the passing game more than the highly anticipated duo in the running game.
JJ McCarthy showed off his cannon of an arm, completing more than 86% of his passes, while Roman Wilson, senior wide receiver, completed the hat trick with three touchdown catches.
On the other hand, running backs Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum had average games, both scoring one touchdown; however, neither ran for over 100 yards. That was the only complaint I had after the game ended. I have no worries about the run game for the rest of the season; they’ll get back on track. After all, their nicknames are “Lightning and Lightning.”
The Defense also showed its talent and extreme potential. Michigan featured impressive defensive plays, including a thrilling interception from Mike Sanristil on ECU’s second offensive drive of the game. The D-line also was impressive, holding ECU to only 103 yards of total rushing yards. Michigan outplayed the Pirates, putting pressure on the quarterback and squandering any hopes of offense every time ECU got the ball. ECU only found traction once Michigan replaced all its starters in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines need to build on this opening game, show improvements in the run game, get key players healthy, and continue to show dominance in the passing game. Michigan will try to do this next week on Saturday, home against UNLV at 3:30.
Corum had only one thing to say about the rushing attack on Saturday.
“When we’ve got guys like Roman Wilson and JJ McCarthy, we don’t need the run game; they can just slang that thing,” Corum said.
He was right, “slang” they did.
