Michigan football's Big Ten run has familiar feeling: 'We bully bullies'

It was just seven days ago when Michigan football's identity was called into question.

The Wolverines' run game wasn't nearly as strong as expected against a weak nonconference schedule, and for as polished as the pass appeared through two weeks, that cratered with J.J. McCarthy's three-interception performance in Week 3.

Sure, the defense dominated over all three weeks — again against extremely limited opponents, a point brought up more than a few times — so what had the unit really proved?

With Rutgers steamrolling through its first three opponents (highlighted by a Week 3 smashing of Virginia Tech featuring more than 250 rushing yards), there was at least the question of how Michigan would fare in its first Power Five test.

U-M GRADES: Another near-perfect day for defense

Running back Blake Corum and company gave the answer Saturday afternoon at Michigan Stadium, as head coach Jim Harbaugh returned from his three-game suspension to guide No. 2 Michigan to a 31-7 win over Rutgers.

“They come in thinking they’re the bullies," Corum said. "We bully bullies. We take pride in that.”

Michigan did its bullying in the most Michigan way — on the ground. Harbaugh, who was coaching in his 100th game at U-M en route to his 75th win as a Wolverine, described the contest as the "grinding the meat" afternoon former coach Bo Schembechler would have loved.

It started with a defense that rendered Rutgers' ground game moot, allowing just 77 yards on 23 attempts.

"I mean, that's just, that's a run wall," Harbaugh said. "That's big boy football. So proud of the guys."

"Big boy football" could describe the Wolverines' offense, too: Corum ran a season-high 21 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns, pacing an attack with 40 rushes for a season-best 201 yards.

It complemented a bounce-back game for McCarthy; he went 15-for-21 for 214 yards and a touchdown pass to freshman Semaj Morgan (the first of his career). But even McCarthy put in the work on the ground — his 51 yards (on seven rushes) was second on the team, giving the Wolverines' ground game space to operate.

Punched in the mouth

Rutgers appeared the bully for the first 60 seconds, at least.

Three plays in, quarterback Gavin Wimsatt found Christian Dremel on a slant route with Mike Sainristil in coverage.

U-M's star nickel back slipped — and got no help from safety Rod Moore, who took a bad angle — leaving nothing but green grass in front of Dremel for more than half the field, leading to an early 7-0 lead for the Scarlet Knights.

A three-and-out by Michigan didn't improve matters. The defense forced a punt of its own on the next drive, but the result couldn't have been much worse; a Rutgers-friendly hop made it a 75-yard punt, pinning U-M on its own 6.

"Could make the normal, the ordinary, person or team flinch," Harbaugh said. "They did not."

Instead, the Wolverines needed just seven plays to reach the end zone.

Some, such as Corum's 14-yard run off right tackle on second-and-8 to get the drive going, were vintage. Others, such as Donovan Edwards' 36-yard catch-and-run after a busted coverage on third-and-3, took advantage of Rutgers' miscue.

But the play of the drive was a reverse flea-flicker, with ball going from Edwards to Corum to McCarthy, and then 35 yards downfield to tight end Colston Loveland to reach the Scarlet Knights' 2. On the next play, Corum bulldozed into the end zone to tie the game.

"Yeah, I mean, it was a huge drive," said Loveland, who finished with a game-high five catches for 75 yards. "Them scoring quick, we had to bounce back. First drive wasn't what we wanted, so just stuck to what we do."

Rutgers moved its way through Michigan's defense once more. Wimsatt ran for a first down on third-and-5, then escaped for a gain of 15 on the next play before he connected on an 11-yard pass to get into U-M territory.

U-M's defense forced the Scarlet Knights into fourth-and-1 at the Michigan 28 as time expired in the first quarter — seemingly the clock striking midnight on Rutgers' time of offensive competence. The Scarlet Knights were whistled for a false start to begin the second, dropping back to the 33, and head coach Greg Schiano opted to attempt a 51-yard field goal — which Jai Patel missed short.

Imposing their will

Rutgers controlled the ball for 9:56 of the first quarter's 15 minutes, then just 13:56 over the final 45 minutes.

“Our mentality is you can’t run the ball on us," said linebacker Junior Colson, who finished with a game-high six tackles. "They tried to imitate us, just like our offense does smash-mouth, trying to run the ball. So that was our mentality: You can’t run the ball, you gotta try and throw it over our heads.”

That's when U-M took control. The Wolverines nearly matched their 21 first-quarter rushing yards on the fifth play alone of the ensuing drive, as McCarthy kept a read option on third-and-3 for a gain of 16.

On the next drive, McCarthy gained 22 on a designed run, leading to his connection with Morgan six plays later for a touchdown.

But perhaps his biggest run came early in the third, when U-M went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 36, McCarthy faked a handoff to Corum and casually rolled to the left side for a gain of 9.

“It's great, especially when Coach (Harbaugh) gives him the chance to pull it because the defense, they’re gunning for myself, gunning for Donovan, so it opens it up for J.J. to get those chunk yards,” Corum said. “He reads it really well, and we work together. I try to get tackled, he pulls it and takes off."

The Wolverines had other, flashier plays: Loveland's impressive leaping catch in the fourth quarter, Will Johnson's tackle for loss and, of course, Sainristil's 71-yard pick-six off a Rutgers fourth-and-2 midway through the third quarter to put the game away.

But running for 201 yards against a defense than entered the day allowing just 69.7 yards per game, No. 11 in the nation? While holding a rushing attack coming off a 250-yard game to less than a third of that?

Sometimes there's more to winning than just the flash. There's also, well, the smash.

"There can't be two smash-mouths," Colson said. "We were here first."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's identity? It never changed, as Rutgers win shows