• The Wolverines are building on a 16-game home winning streak dating back to 2021. It is the longest home winning streak under head coach Jim Harbaugh and the program’s best since a 16-game streak from 2002-05 under coach Lloyd Carr.• Twenty (20) players made their Michigan debuts against East Carolina, including 11 true freshmen and eight transfer additions.
• First-time starters (at U-M) were five in number including two on offense (Myles Hinton, Drake Nugent) and three on defense (Keshaun Harris, Keon Sabb, Josh Wallace).
• Quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 26-of-30 pass attempts (86.7 percent). Only Elvis Grbac (20-for-22; 90.9 percent) has recorded a better single-game completion percentage in program history (minimum 20 attempts). Grbac’s performance also came in September (14, 1991, against Notre Dame).
• In McCarthy’s 14 starts, U-M has produced 59 touchdowns and 26 field goals on 145 drives in which McCarthy starts and finishes the possession. That means 40.6 percent of McCarthy-led drives lead to touchdowns and points are scored on 57.9 percent of all such possessions.
• McCarthy is up to 30 career passing touchdowns, five shy of entering the top 10 all-time. He recorded 15 consecutive completions against ECU, a single-game record among quarterbacks under Harbaugh.
• According to Pro Football Focus, McCarthy was 16-of-17 for 159 yards with all three touchdowns when the defense did not blitz on Saturday. He was 6-for-6 on play-action concepts. The deep ball (20-plus yards downfield) was in tune, with 3-of-5 attempts connecting and an average time to throw of 4.06 seconds, a product of the pass protection.
• Receiver Roman Wilson joined Devin Funchess (2014 against Appalachian State), Desmond Howard (1991 against Boston College), and Ron Kramer (1955 against Missouri) as the only Michigan pass catchers with three or more touchdown receptions in the season opener.
• Wilson nearly reached his 2022 touchdown total (four) in one afternoon to begin the 2023 season.
• With four receptions for 33 yards last weekend, running back Donovan Edwards is up to 42 career catches for 498 yards. Four more catches will put him in the top 10 all-time, and he’s 12 yards shy of Tyrone Wheatley for seventh place on the all-time U-M running back receiving list.
• Fellow back Blake Corum passed two rushers to take sole possession of 15th place all-time (2,565 career rushing yards). Corum is 335 yards shy of breaking into the top 10 all-time. He now has 32 touchdowns in 31 career games played.
• Rob Lytle and Gordon Bell (1975) are the lone duo in Michigan history to share a backfield and each rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. Corum (1,463 rushing yards in 2022) and Edwards (991 yards) hope to become the second pair to achieve that feat.
• The Wolverines were a late field goal away from the program’s first season-opening shutout since 1978 (Illinois). U-M shut two opponents out to begin a season that decade (Northwestern, 1972).
• Overall, the defense was efficient, limiting the Pirate offense to 116 yards across the first three quarters including a third quarter in which ECU totaled four plays for three yards of offense.
• The season’s first turnover came courtesy of defensive back Mike Sainristil (interception). Sainristil also recorded the final turnover of 2022, in the CFP Semifinal last season.
• U-M’s pass rush was active up front in the opener despite ECU quarterback Mason Garcia releasing the ball in 2.82 seconds per pass attempt (18), on average. Defensive lineman Mason Graham led the defense with four hurries on 16 pass-rush snaps, according to PFF.
