Heading into the week one opener against East Carolina, most expected that the Michigan Wolverines would do what they do best offensively - bully teams up front and dominate with an elite pair of running backs. That didn't happen.
For the Michigan offense, it was the passing attack that dominated the afternoon. Led by an incredible performance by junior quarterback JJ McCarthy and senior wideout Roman Wilson, the Wolverines did most of their damage through the air to open the season. As for the rushing attack, running backs Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum finished with a combined 110 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries.
Meeting with the media on Tuesday, Edwards discussed his thoughts about the week one performance.
"Overall for me on the game, ECU had a really great gameplan to stop the run," Edwards said. "Eight, nine, ten people in the box. I checked on ESPN at halftime to see how many yards I had, it said 6-for-5 (6 carries for 5 yards). I said, 'dang.'"
Although Edwards said he thought the team played well overall, he admitted that the rushing attack faced some adversity - and that he viewed it as a good thing.
"I'm kind of happy that it happened," Edwards said. "As a ball carrier, as a skill player, it's like, 'how can I adjust from that.' When something's not working, or something's not there for me, what can I do better for myself? Instead of there being small holes that I can hit or big holes I can hit, what can I do personally - or other ball carriers that are carrying the ball - what can we do better? That's why I'm very grateful from the game, to see what can we do when there's nothing we can do."
The Wolverines will have another opportunity improve their rushing performance this weekend in Ann Arbor against visiting UNLV. The Rebels (1-0) gave up a total of 409 yards to Bryant in week one, including 179 yards on the ground. While it's likely that UNLV will look to take a page out of ECU's book to limit the impact of Corum and Edwards, it's a pretty safe bet that Michigan will look to make a statement with the running game on Saturday.
Kickoff between Michigan and UNLV is scheduled for 3:39 pm ET on CBS. Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson will be on the call.
More must-reads: