On Thursday news broke that Michigan star running back Blake Corum is reportedly expected to undergo knee surgery and miss the remainder of the season—meaning he will be sidelined for Saturday’s Big Ten championship game and, should the No. 2 Wolverines get there, the College Football Playoff.
The injury is deeply unfortunate for one of the most exciting stories this season in college football and a key engine to Michigan’s current undefeated run. Corum got hurt in the Nov. 19 Illinois game and tried to battle back from it in last Saturday’s Ohio State game, but was clearly hindered. After only two carries, he did not return against the Buckeyes. Corum finished the season having rushed for 1,463 yards and 18 touchdowns (with a receiving TD, as well) and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
As to where Michigan goes from here, this isn’t something that tanks its chances at a Big Ten or national championship. Michigan has built its offense on a two-headed monster running back rotation, in part to guard against a scenario like this truly hurting it. Last year, Corum was the understudy to Hassan Haskins, and the system allowed both to stay fresh. This year, Donovan Edwards has played the understudy role to Corum. Edwards has a hand injury of his own to get healed up by New Year’s Eve if the Wolverines are in the Playoff, but he has already shown he’ll play through the pain, as he did against Ohio State. It certainly did not hinder him then, as he toted the mail 22 times for 216 yards, including ripping off explosive runs that went a long way to helping Michigan win the game.
The Wolverines don’t really demand much of their running backs in pass protection, but if they want to continue some semblance of a committee backfield approach, expect freshman CJ Stokes (273 rushing yards, one TD on the season) to get more carries in the future. It also might mean Michigan tilts a bit more into its explosive play-action passing game given quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s prowess with it in the seismic rivalry-game win.
As far as Corum’s Heisman prospects, it’s pretty clear that USC QB Caleb Williams already has one hand on the award and will likely secure it in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday. But the 2023 draft is another story. Corum will have to prove to NFL evaluators that he’s healthy throughout the process, and they’ll be tracking his recovery and how a knee injury may affect his explosiveness and speed. If he’s ready by the time the NFL draft combine comes around, it’ll be a subplot to the proceedings in Indianapolis. He’s not a consensus top-five running back on many draft boards, but he’s not much farther down the list than that.
