Michigan Football: Is the Wolverines running game for real?

Michigan football dominated on the ground against Nebraska. But can the Wolverines keep it up against Northwestern?

When you watch what the Michigan football team did to Nebraska last week on the ground, it’s hard not to get excited. The Wolverines, against the 20th-ranked run defense, dominated, racking up 285 yards and scoring four rushing touchdowns.

That’s the kind of football Jim Harbaugh has wanted from the Wolverines, but against Notre Dame at least, it wasn’t at all successful. And heck, even for much of the game against SMU, Michigan football struggled to pound the rock, which is what made Saturday’s performance against Nebraska so encouraging.

Running the ball well is essential to winning in college football, especially in big games. The quarterback play has been criticized and blamed for much of the big-game defeats the past few seasons, however, the struggles of the running game have also been well documented.

The bottom line is that if Michigan really wants to have a chance to win the Big Ten and do anything beyond that, it needs to have a great running game. Even if the goal is 10 wins and the Rose Bowl Game, UM has to run the ball effectively to have a chance to beat teams like Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State, not to mention others like Northwestern and Maryland.

Michigan Wolverines

The other team, of course, is Ohio State. We have learned that the Michigan defense, no matter how great, can’t win games by itself. Especially not when it has been worn down from being on the field too long because the running game can’t get going.

That happened a lot last season in big games, yet last week against Nebraska was a sure sign of progress. The offensive line did an incredible job, as did the receivers and tight ends. Donovan Peoples-Jones had a beautiful block on Karan Higdon‘s touchdown run and the front five got a push more often than not.

The offensive line was particularly effective when it was pulling. It was also good in pass protection yielding only three pressures to a defense that had racked up 10 sacks in two games.

6.4 yards per attempt is an impressive number for a game and for the season, the Wolverines 5.15 and 220 yards per game (36th in the FBS). This week, Michigan football faces Northwestern, who ranks 41 in run defense and allows 3.9 yards per rush. The Wildcats also rank 27th in the S&P rankings on defense, as well as 60th overall. UM ranks fifth overall, 24th on offense and fourth on defense.

The point though is that Northwestern will provide another test for the running game. On the road, it should be a good challenge for the offensive line, which has some major tests ahead in the next month or so.

Obviously, the running game is about more than the offensive line. Higdon and the rest of the running backs need to play their part too, but last week, they did, as Higdon, Tru Wilson and Christian Turner also ripped off runs of 17 yards or more.

Hidgon is averaging 7.9 yards a carry and has 364 yards and three touchdowns. Chris Evans has 178 yards (5.9 per rush) and Wilson is getting 6.5 per rush on 23 attempts for 153 yards.

All the backs have had their moments, but Higdon is special. He has three runs of more than 40 yards this season and as long as he can keep racking up yards, this Michigan offense should be just fine.

Hopefully, this running game is for real. It seems like it is but we will find out more Saturday against Northwestern.