'Coming back for it all': Michigan All-America RB Blake Corum to return for senior season

Michigan football's star running back Blake Corum isn't done in college just yet.

Corum, who had a breakout season for the Wolverines in 2022, announced Monday afternoon on Rich Eisen's show he will return to Ann Arbor for his senior season because he feels he has "unfinished business."

"I'm a Michigan man through and through," he said. "I love playing for the University of Michigan. I love going to the big house and leaving it all on the field. I love the community, I love interacting with everyone. It was a tough decision, it was a business decision, but I feel like I have unfinished business.

"I didn't like the way I went out in the Big House, I don't like people remembering me being hurt, so I will be coming back for it all next year."

Corum was on pace to be possibly the best running back in the country last season before a knee injury late in the first half of Michigan's home finale against Illinois derailed the remainder of the season. The junior tried to return in the second half, but ran just once before he left the game for good.

He again attempted to play the next week, on the road against rival Ohio State, but once more left the game after running two times for 6 yards.The following week, Corum was ruled out before the Big Ten championship game when reports surfaced he needed surgery to repair his meniscus.

"Someone fell right in front of me, I jumped right over him and the safety caught me at the right moment," Corum explained of his injury. "Hyperextended it, tore my meniscus it needed to be repaired and I had a sprained MCL.

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"Tried going in at halftime, didn’t feel right. Tried playing at Ohio State, it didn’t feel right...There was honestly no chance (of playing in the CFP) because I couldn't cut the way I wanted to. Every time I tried to cut my knee would give out … I knew it was a big old tear.”

Corum didn't make it to Indianapolis — he had surgery on the day Michigan beat Purdue 43-22 for its second consecutive Big Ten championship — but did travel with the team to Phoenix for its College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with TCU. He was seen using crutches on the field and fans chanted, "one more year" as he made his rounds signing autographs before the game.

Corum, who was named the first-team All-Big Ten running back, finished the season running 247 times for 1,463 rushing yards (5.9 yards per attempt) with 18 touchdowns as well as 11 catches for 80 yards and another score. Outside of the Ohio State game where he touched the ball just twice, Corum scored a touchdown in every game and ran for more than 100 yards in every Big Ten contest.

Corum finished the season in the top 10 in the country in rushing first downs (second), rushing touchdowns (third), rushing yards (eighth), and yards per carry with a minimum of 15 attempts per game (10th).

He also tied a Michigan football record when he ran for five touchdowns against Connecticut in Week 3; only Ron Johnson against Wisconsin (1968) and Hassan Haskins against Ohio State (2021) had done so before in program history.

The Virginia native became Michigan's first consensus All-American running back since Chris Perry (2003) and first unanimous selection at the position since Bob Chappius (1947). He was also a Doak Walker Award finalist and became the first player under Jim Harbaugh to win all three of Michigan's postseason team honors: Bo Schembechler most valuable player, toughest player and blue collar awards.

Michigan will now return its one-two punch with Corum as the lead back in 2023 alongside Donovan Edwards, who took over as the focal point of the offense after Corum's injury. In three games as the starter, Edwards, a West Bloomfield native, ran 70 times for 520 yards (7.4 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.

Despite missing three games and serving as backup for the first three months of the season, Edwards finished the year just nine yards short of the 1,000-yard mark; running 140 times for 991 yards and seven scores. And while he played with a brace on his hand the final three games, he still caught 18 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown.

Michigan also expects to return CJ Stokes, Isaiah Gash and Tavierre Dunlap to the backfield. Running back coach Mike Hart's unit will also will add Cole Cabana, a four-star running back who was the No. 2 rated player in Michigan who had already joined the team for bowl practices, as well as Benjamin Hall, a three-star back from Georgia.

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football RB Blake Corum to return for senior year