Michigan Football Game Note Highlights Heading into Maryland Game
• Two Wolverines on the roster are native to the state of Maryland: Kris Jenkins (Olney), and Quinten Johnson (Silver Spring). Running back Blake Corum and linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green also played at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland.
• U-M ranks top-30 nationally in six offensive categories: total offense (30th), scoring offense (25th), red zone offense (16th), rushing offense (13th), sacks allowed (tied-fourth) and tackles for loss allowed (tied-first).
• The offensive line is the backbone behind those latter three rankings, having yielded 23 total TFLs and just eight sacks through 10 games. Center Andrew Vastardis (16th, 78.3) is the unit’s highest-graded run blocker according to Pro Football Focus College.
• The unit continues to protect quarterback Cade McNamara well, as McNamara has a 7:1 touchdown to interception ratio over the last three weeks, with the Wolverine quarterback averaging 19 completions, 256 pass yards, and 2.3 touchdowns in that span. McNamara has set season-bests in attempts, completions, yards, touchdown passes, and longest pass play in the last three weeks with the offense averaging 441 yards.
• McNamara has connected with eight different receivers on passing touchdowns this season: Cornelius Johnson (3), Luke Schoonmaker, Roman Wilson (2), Erick All, Andrel Anthony, Ronnie Bell, Blake Corum, and Mike Sainristil (1 each). McNamara has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 12:2 on the season.
• Michigan has registered 49 plays on offense of 20-plus yards (29 passing, 20 rushing), nearly five per game. The offensive unit has produced nine touchdowns of 50-plus yards and has scored in 34 of 40 quarters of play.
• Running back Hassan Haskins has four 100-yard performances in the last five weeks, including 150-plus yards in the last two games. Haskins has set career-highs across the board in November: in carries (31) and all-purpose yards (201) at Penn State and in rushing yards (168) against Indiana.
• According to PFF College, Haskins is the No. 3-graded running back in the FBS among full-time players (at least 100 carries) with a grade of 91.1. Haskins has 70 runs that have resulted in a first down, second among FBS players and 33.7 percent of the offensive total (penalties not included).
• Haskins is 15 yards shy of 1,000 yards rushing on the season. Haskins reaching 1,000 yards on the ground would be the 34th occasion of a U-M rusher doing so, and he would be the 22nd player to reach that milestone in a winged helmet.
• With two backs averaging over five yards per carry (Haskins, 5.03; Corum, 5.98) and a combined 21 rushing touchdowns, the run game may be even more potent than its No. 13 national ranking (225.1 yards per game). Averaging 98.5 yards per game on the ground, Haskins is No. 22 nationally and Corum is still 16th in all-purpose yards (135.44 yards per game).
• The defense lists top-30 in eight major categories: sacks (29th), rushing defense (28th), third down conversion rate allowed (17th), pass defense (eighth), pass efficiency against (seventh), and scoring defense (fourth).
• The defense has three players graded in the top 50 of all FBS defenders by PFF College (min. 100 snaps): Aidan Hutchinson at No. 1 (92.9), David Ojabo at No. 30 (87.5) and Brad Hawkins at No. 44 (85.7). That represents more than a quarter (27 percent) of all Big Ten players in the top 50 (11 total).
• The edge duo of end Hutchinson and outside linebacker Ojabo are the first pair in U-M history to both reach double-digit sacks (10.0 each) in the same season. They share the combined single-season sack record (20.0) with Mike Hammerstein (9.0) and Mark Messner (11.0) from the 1985 season.
• Both Hutchinson and Ojabo are 2.0 sacks shy of matching the single-season sack record at Michigan (12.0) held by David Bowens in the 1996 season. Hutchinson and Ojabo are currently tied for the Big Ten lead in that category and rank tied-seventh nationally with 10.0 apiece.
• Ojabo has at least a share of a sack in five straight games. He has also overtaken the U-M single-season forced fumbles record with five.
• Hutchinson being named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday (Nov. 15) marked the sixth Wolverine to win a weekly conference honor this season: Brad Hawkins and David Ojabo (both co-) on defense, Blake Corum on offense, Jake Moody on special teams, and Andrel Anthony (co-) as the freshman of the week honoree.
• Just the three other seasons in U-M history have featured so many different Big Ten Player of the Week winners since the honors were first introduced in 1987. The 1997 season (Brian Griese; Chris Howard; Glen Steele; Sam Sword; Jay Feely; Charles Woodson), 1998 season (Tom Brady; Tai Streets; Anthony Thomas; James Hall; Jason Vinson; Jay Feely), and 2006 season (Mario Manningham; Prescott Burgess; Willie VanDeSteeg; LaMarr Woodley; Garrett Rivas; Steve Breaston).
• U-M has at least one turnover forced in nine consecutive games with multiple turnovers in five games total. Ten (10) different players have at least one interception or fumble recovery on defense and Daxton Hill (two interceptions, one fumble recovery) is the only player with at least one of each.
• Twenty (20) different players have at least one pass breakup (50 total). That is the highest number of individual contributors to the team PBU total in the past 25 years.
• Despite a three-point weekend, kicker Jake Moody is still tied for 12th nationally with 9.9 points per game, the No. 4-highest scoring kicker. He has converted on 16 of his last 17 attempts with 99 total points on the season.
• Punter Brad Robbins set a new season-long with a 65-yard punt at Penn State. His previous long was 59 yards, and he also had a 60-yarder in the game. Robbins is up to a 45.9-yard average, which would rank No. 2 all-time for a single season at Michigan. His career average (42.1) is tied for fourth all-time.
• Robbins has yielded an even 30 punt return yards on 33 total attempts, pinning 14 punts inside the 20 with 17 forced fair catches.
• Both Moody and Robbins are semifinalists for the national awards given to the best players at their respective positions. Moody is one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award and Robbins is one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award. U-M is joined by Colorado State and Iowa as the lone schools with a semifinalist for both awards.
