Opinion: Michigan football has the best one-two punch in the nation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Michigan Wolverines remained unbeaten on Saturday after defeating Northwestern for the seventh straight time in the series, 33-7.

The maize and blue came out of the gates rather slow — they were up 10-7 at halftime — but Michigan came out like a man on fire in the second half and dominated. The Wolverines outscored the Wildcats 23-7, and both the offense and defense wreaked havoc against Northwestern.

The main reason for Michigan’s 457 yards of offense, was its rushing game — all 294 yards of it. Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins both had fantastic days, they had 119 and 110 yards respectively, and they both had two touchdowns each.

The combination of Corum and Haskins has been daunting for any team to match up against all season. Only twice this season has both running backs been held under 100 yards (Rutgers and Wisconsin), and only once was the combination of the two been held under 100 yards (Wisconsin).

Michigan is now ranked fifth in the nation in rushing, as it averages 253.3 yards-per-game, and two of those schools ahead of the Wolverines are predominately running teams in Air Force and Army. Michigan is also the only school to have two running backs in the top-50 in rushing yards — Blake Corum is the No. 20 rusher with 729 yards and Hassan Haskins is No. 42 with 602 yards on the season. Just remember there has been a few games when the starters have been benched in the fourth quarter because the Wolverines had such a big lead — imagine if they played the entire game.

What makes the Wolverines ground game so unique is both running backs are so different, but yet they are the same in the fact that they make defenders miss and they both know how to get the yards when needed. We hear them call themselves ‘thunder and lightning and it is true. When Corum hits the hole with nobody in front of him, he’s gone. When Haskins gets some contact, he’s going to keep churning his legs to gain additional yards, and neither goes down easily.

On Saturday Hassan Haskins had a lot of great runs, but none better when he dragged an entire pile an extra five yards. After the Northwestern game, Jim Harbaugh talked about the physicality that Haskins brings to the table.

“You could just imagine — Hassan, you know our love for Hassan,” said Harbaugh. “The respect we have for him as a football player, a physical football player — it’s every week where we go, ‘Can’t have a more physical run than that.’ Next week, there’s another one. ‘Wow, that’s even better!’ Then the next week, ‘Can’t possibly have another one,’ and then he does. This week, the same thing. That really, that play really got our team going. Tremendous momentum-type of shift that way. He’s phenomenal.”

Blake Corum also had plenty of nifty runs, like when he had four consecutive runs that put Michigan into the red zone which Corum capped off with a score. Jim Harbaugh and Corum talked a little about how both running backs complement each other in the run game.

“Yeah, he just — the two of them, they’re both great running backs,” said Harbaugh. “There’s something about the dynamic of Hassan one play, Blake the next. The difference. They’re both great, but there’s some slight differences that make them both really special — and hard to defend, I would think. At least, that’s what I see.”

“Yeah, we complement each other real well – great one-two punch,” said Corum. “We both bring different things to the table, so defenses have to get prepared for that. We feed off each other and it’s great.”

There are a lot of great running backs in college football like Kenneth Walker, Bijan Robinson, and Treyveon Henderson to name a few, but no team has both Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins like Michigan has the pleasure of having. The Wolverines statistically have the best one-two punch in all of football, and it’s not hard to see when watching the games.

Last year the running back rotation was a mess when Michigan tried playing four running backs, but the coaching staff has done a fantastic job of figuring that out and primarily playing Haskins and Corum. The running game has been the identity of the team this year, and the combination of ‘thunder and lightning’ will need to continue to carry the load if the Wolverines are going to sore to new heights — like winning the Big Ten.

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