How Much Will Blake Corums’ Injury Affect Michigan’s Offense?

It was recently announced that Blake Corum will be needing knee surgery and will miss the rest of this season. The Michigan offense ran through Corum most of the season, but with him out now how will this Michigan team play? Let’s talk about how it will affect Michigan and if they can overcome it.

How Will Corum’s Injury Affect The Offense?

Corum has been the sole purpose of the Wolverines’ offense playing so well through the first 11 weeks of the season and losing him will certainly be a stinger, so some things will have to change. The main thing that will have to change is they will have to put more trust in J.J. McCarthy to play like the elite quarterback we all know he can be. If they pass the ball a bit more JJ McCarthy could elevate this offense immensely with his deep ball, and throw on the run ability. With J.J. McCarthy’s mobility, it could also open up a great opportunity in the RPO game or play-action game.

Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell are both great route runners, if you can get them going early and keep the run game established then teams will be shook on defense and not know how to play it. All year teams have prepared for Michigan by preparing to stop the rushing attack of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, now with their Heisman candidate running back down, you will have to open up the playbook and pass the ball. Teams will then be forced to make halftime adjustments for their passing attack which will give them the opportunity to get Donovan Edwards and the offensive line cooking, which will ultimately be the dagger in the game at that point.

Can Michigan Overcome The Rest Of The Year Without Corum?

As weird as it is to say, losing their Heisman candidate running back probably won’t hurt Michigan’s offense too much. When he went down it didn’t look too great for this Michigan team, as they almost lost to the three-loss Illinois Fighting Illini, but those worries were put to rest against Ohio State. Michigan came out early passing the ball and doing it well, then when Ohio State adjusted, Donovan Edwards arrived. The offensive line stepped up and Donovan went for 216 yards rushing and showed why Michigan should have no worries when Blake Corum ultimately goes to the NFL.

McCarthy has shown us, against one of the best teams in the nation, that he can be trusted with the ball in his hand. He knows what throws to make, when to throw the ball away and when to use his mobility to fix a broken play. He makes some extremely difficult throws look easy and has the mobility to get out of the pocket and throw on the run like it’s nothing. Once teams adjust though is when they can use Donovan Edwards’ amazing skill to run all over the defense. So while losing Blake Corum really sucks and will hurt the offense, this Michigan team will likely be able to overcome it easily. 

How Will Michigan Perform Without Corum?

This upcoming matchup against Purdue should be a breeze, but should not be looked at as a guaranteed win, because anything can happen in rivalry games. However, if they make it passed Purdue as they should, then they’ll have a tough matchup in the playoffs likely against TCU. This matchup will definitely be a tough one without Corum, but Edwards and McCarthy should be able to hold it down and they may come out with the win there. If that all happens, then they will have reached the ultimate goal of making the National Championship game.