| • Michigan is 7-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1974-75. It’s the third time under head coach Jim Harbaugh that the Wolverines have started with a 7-0 mark to begin the season (2016, ’21). • U-M is scoring 42.7 points per game and allowing 12.1 points against, on average. The only teams with top-10 rankings in scoring offense and scoring defense are Georgia (second, defense; eighth, offense), Ohio State (second, offense; fifth, defense), and Michigan (third, defense; sixth, offense). • The only teams with an average scoring differential above 30 points are Ohio State (+34.7), Georgia (+32.5), and Michigan (+30.6). • U-M has scored points on its opening possession in six of seven games this season, including three straight at Iowa, at Indiana, and against Penn State. Five of those six scores were touchdowns. U-M is out-scoring its opponents by a cumulative tally of 159 to 37 in the first half with only four offensive touchdowns allowed. • Michigan’s +214 cumulative scoring differential trails only Ohio State (+243) and Georgia (+228) for the best in the nation. It’s the same figure posted by the 1976 squad through seven games, and the 2016 team (+238) is the only U-M team with a better mark since 1905. • Dating to last season, U-M has totaled 37 rushing touchdowns across its last 11 games (24 in the first seven games of 2022, 13 in the final four games of 2021). • Blake Corum has 666 rushing yards and six touchdowns across four Big Ten games thus far, averaging 5.87 yards per carry in conference play. Across his last 12 Big Ten games (dating to 2021), Corum has totaled 1,198 yards and 10 touchdowns on 5.95 yards per carry. • Corum ranks second in the country in rushing yards (901), 28th in yards per carry (6.17), and first in total touchdowns (13). He also ranks second in the country in first downs (57), trailing Marshall’s Khalan Laborn (60) on 43 fewer carries. • Corum has produced 11 of Michigan’s 39 explosive offensive plays (20-plus yards). He has at least one run of 20-plus yards in six of seven games this season; Colorado State limited him to a 19-yard rush. • Four pairs of backs in U-M history have both reached 150 rushing yards in the same game: Corum and Donovan Edwards against Penn State; Corum and Hassan Haskins against Washington (2021); Karan Higdon and Chris Evans against Minnesota (2017), and Butch Woolfolk and Lawrence Reid (1979). • PFFCollege credits Corum with 37 missed tackles forced on 146 carries this season, tied for the second-most among Big Ten backs (Chase Brown, 54). • So far this season, the offensive line has paved the way to an average of 6.22 yards per sack-adjusted carry, and 6.9 yards per play overall. • The U-M offensive line has permitted 31 negative plays on 479 offensive snaps (just over four per game), or on 6.5 percent of all offensive snaps. When the line does allow a sack, it comes on an average of 5.10 seconds to throw, the second-most time to throw among those with 120-plus dropbacks. • Opponents have hurried or sacked a U-M passer 14 times (nine sacks, five hurries) across 28 quarters of play. U-M ball carriers have lost just 61 yards on 284 non-sack rush attempts. • J.J. McCarthy’s completion percentage remains the best in the country among qualified passers at 77.1 percent (111-of-144). Six of his nine passing touchdowns have come against the blitz and he averages 14.3 yards per attempt on play action. • McCarthy has accounted for 10 touchdowns overall with a 6.2 touchdown percentage through the air. His season-long yards-per-attempt figure (9.01) ranks 15th in the nation. He also ranks 11th in pass efficiency (170.6) and has an NFL passer rating of 118.9 this season (10th). • When McCarthy starts and finishes a Michigan drive, U-M has produced 27 touchdowns and 10 field goals on 55 possessions, translating to points on 67.27 percent of drives. In his six starts, the team has scored in 29 of 32 red zone trips (90.6 percent) with 26 touchdowns. • Bell leads all pass catchers in receptions (35) and yards (429), while Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson are tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns (three). Six different players have at least one touchdown catch. • U-M has some of the nation’s most efficient pass-catchers. Wilson (3.42 yards per route run) and Bell (2.62) each rank top-50 nationally among wide receivers with at least three targets per game, and Wilson is third in the Big Ten. Luke Schoonmaker is 15th in the country among tight ends. • U-M boasts a pair of scorers in the top 10 in the country — Corum (11.1 points per game) is second in all of FBS competition and kicker Jake Moody (10.3) ranks sixth. • Opposing offenses have been held to 4.0 yards per play, including a stingy 2.9 yards per rush. Opponents have lost 217 yards on tackles for loss, more than 30 yards per game. • Mike Morris leads the team in TFLs (7.0) and sacks (5.0). Morris has 22 combined sacks, hits, and hurries (pressures) in true pass rush sets — fourth-most in the nation — on 137 pass rush snaps. The three players with more than his 22 pressures have 184, 221, and 253 pass rush snaps, respectively. • Mike Sainristil has been one of the Big Ten’s best slot coverage players, allowing one reception every 13.2 snaps in coverage in that part of the field. • Among punters with at least one punt per game (seven), Robbins’ 4.37-second hang time is the best in the country, according to PFFCollege. He is the only punter in the nation above 4.3 seconds. The average among Big Ten punters who meet the same qualifications is 3.90 seconds. • With Robbins directing the unit, no opponent has registered a punt return of 10-plus yards since U-M played Ohio State in the 2017 season (102 punts). So far this year, return attempts gained 3.4 yards on average. • Thirteen (13) of Robbins’ 18 punts have been downed, fair caught, or rolled out of bounds. The other five have been returned for a combined total of 17 yards. U-M is No. 3 in the nation in net punting (45.0 yards per attempt). The slim difference between Robbins’ yards per punt (46.2) and net yards per punt has long been the veteran’s calling card. • Robbins’ special teams partner Jake Moody has allowed nine returns on 50 kickoffs this season (18 percent return rate). When opponents do attempt a return, they start at their 16-yard line on average. • Moody is closing in on the top-five all-time scoring list at Michigan. He is currently tied with Remy Hamilton (sixth) with 280 points. also cracked the top 10 in career scoring at U-M with 265 points (seventh). An even dozen points will give Moody fifth place outright, and then he can focus on passing Mike Gillette (fourth all-time, 307 points) for most points ever by a Michigan kicker. • PFF ranks Michigan as the No. 3 team in overall grade; second in rushing grade; third in special teams and tackling; fourth in run defense; fifth in total offense; seventh in total defense; 10th in pass coverage; 15th in pass rush. • Easily the most well-represented state on the roster, there are 37 Wolverines on this year’s team who are natives of the Wolverine state. |
