Blake Corum sets Michigan football single-season touchdown record vs. Ohio State
There's never been a running back in the history of Michigan football who has scored as many touchdowns in a season as Blake Corum.
Corum plowed through the end zone on a fourth-and-1 in the first quarter of Saturday's clash against No. 2 Ohio State for the touchdown to make it a 7-0 game. The score was his 21st of the season, breaking a tie with Hassan Haskins (2021) for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season in program history.
The touchdown gives him 52 for his career — that's still No. 2 all-time, though Anthony Thomas' record (55) remains within striking distance.
Corum was an All-American a season 2022, when he ran 247 times for 1,463 yards and 19 touchdowns.
He appeared well on his way to breaking the single-season record at that time — he tied a program record with five scores vs. Connecticut to set the tone — however in the second half of the penultimate game of the regular season, Corum was tackled from the side and tore his meniscus.
Though he would try to suit up the following week against OSU, after his first two rushing attempts he determined he couldn't cut, left the game and was sidelined for the season. Instead of opt for the NFL, Corum decided to return to Ann Arbor for "unfinished business" and though much of that is about winning on the field, he also said he wanted to leave a legacy during his time at U-M.
One way to do that is to more score touchdowns in a single season than any player in the history of the winningest program in college football history; a trend he started in Week 1 and never stopped through the entirety of his final year in the maize and blue.
Corum scored once in Week 1, three times in Week 2 and then had a pair of touchdowns with 101 rushing yards in the final non-conference game. He got his first 20-carry game against Rutgers and though he came up just short of 100 yards (97) he scored twice more.
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Corum's numbers dipped from there — he had a five game stretch against Nebraska (74), Minnesota (69), Indiana (52), Michigan State (59) and Purdue (44) where he never even had 75 rushing yards in a contest, however he racked up eight more touchdowns, that included a trifecta against the Boilermakers to begin November.
Corum, finally, broke out against what appeared to be the toughest test all season, No. 1 ranked Penn State. He ran a season-high 28 times, combined that with a season-best 145 yards and added a pair of touchdowns to seal the deal.
Last week, he scrimmaged for 103 total yards against the Terrapins and took it easy on them with just two scores to get to an even 20 for the year.
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Corum entered Saturday with 180 carries for 888 yards (4.9 yards per game).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Blake Corum sets Michigan football season TD record vs. Ohio State
