Michigan Football: 3 takeaways from the Wolverines 2017 season
By Connor Boyer
Karan Higdon becomes the guy
The tale of the year for the Wolverines was not getting it done against the big boys. Its all well and good to be able to run for 371 yards against Minnesota. But when facing tougher opponents Michigan was not able to run on anyone. Against Wisconsin, Michigan only ran for 58 yard as a team. Michigan would also only run for 100 yards as a team against Ohio State. Against Michigan State and Penn State, The Wolverines ran for 102 yards and 103 yards. That’s not good. If it happened once it could be a fluke. Four times in four losses means you cant run the ball.
Its frustrating too considering how much Jim Harbaugh likes to run the ball. The fact that Michigan could not be a consistent running team should be cause for concern. This is definitely a reason Michigan wasn’t able to be an elite team in 2017. Despite this there were some positives that emerged this year for Michigan.
Karan Higdon became the star of the Michigan running back corps in 2017. He started the year as arguably the 3rd running back behind Ty Isaac, and Chris Evans. But by the end of the year there was no debate who the number 1 man in the Michigan backfield was. Higdon made a habit of having long impressive runs, hitting holes and using his break away speed to turn a minimal gain into a long gain. The game that was the official coming out party for Karan Higdon came in week 6 against Indiana. Higdon ran for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns in an overtime victory. The last touchdown being the game winner. Without Higdon’s performance in that game Michigan probably would have lost the game.
Ty Isaac started the year strong but as more and more game came and went his old tendency of fumbling the ball returned, as well as nagging injuries. Because of this Karan got more carries and was given the opportunity to earn the starting role on the roster. With Strong performances against Indiana, Minnesota, and Rutgers, Higdon most likely will be the favorite to get the load of the carries in 2018.