Highlights, instant impressions as Michigan football bullies Washington

Michigan football bullied Washington on Saturday night at the Big House and here are our instant impressions as well as highlights. 

If there is one thing Michigan football needed to find in 2021, it was an identity and on Saturday night, it was clear that the Wolverines have found it.

Michigan faced a strong defensive team in Washington and the Wolverines won the game with an absolutely dominant effort from the offensive line in a 31-10 win.

On the three touchdown drives in the second half, the Wolverines barely had to throw the ball. Washington knew what was coming but was powerless to stop it.

Blake Corum scored three touchdowns when it was all said and done including this 67-yard run in the second quarter.

Corum got 67 yards there, but he also got 104 more as the game wore on and finished with 21 carries for 171 yards and three scores. The second touchdown came on the opening drive of the third quarter and it was one of the most impressive U-M drives in recent memory.

Leading 10-0 at halftime, Michigan put together an eight-play, 73-yard drive to open the third quarter and didn’t even attempt a pass. U-M also had two other 10-play drives in the fourth quarter that ended with touchdown runs by Hassan Haskins and again by Corum.

While the running game was off the charts, Aidan Hutchinson was too. He notched two sacks and forced a fumble on a key fourth-down stop.

That stop came with Michigan leading by 14. After, the Wolverines were able to put the game away late thanks to the tandem of Corum and Haskins, who combined for 326 yards on the ground.

And for Blake Corum, that’s back-to-back 100-yard games and five rushing touchdowns so far in 2021. It’s also back-to-back games with over 300 rushing yards as a team which is a hell of an accomplishment, especially with one game coming against Washington.

Now that we’ve covered the highlights, here are some instant impressions.

Harbaugh has eased the pressure

This was a huge win for Michigan football and Jim Harbaugh. He wasn’t necessarily on the hot seat to start the season but a losing campaign might have been it for him.

Now, he’s got an impressive win to back up what he’s been saying about this team. Yes, Washington lost to Montana last week but it has a bunch of talented guys on that defense and if Michigan football can do that to the Huskies, it can do it to Big Ten teams too.

Harbaugh and the Wolverines have a long way to go. But for recruiting and momentum, this was gigantic. Michigan football beat a big-time program and did so convincingly.

QB questions linger

As well as the offense moved the ball, Cade McNamara didn’t play well. He made a key throw on third down to Cornelius Johnson in the first half but finished with 44 yards and completed just 7-of-15 passes.

It’s true that the play-calling didn’t give him many chances to make plays down the field and neither did Washington’s secondary.

And if you don’t need to throw the ball, why do it?

That being said, McNamara was shaky at times and I shudder to think what would have happened if the Wolverines needed him to win that game with his arm.

It’s not like he was terrible and he did a great job of managing the game. But J.J. McCarthy could probably manage the game well too and he’s a quarterback who has already shown an ability to make throws McNamara and most college QBs can’t make.

Mike Macdonald was a great hire

This was the first big test for Mike Macdonald’s defense and it passed with flying colors. The corners still give me plenty of reason for concern and the pass rush has to be more consistent outside of Hutchinson.

But the best development was the run defense. Washington has a veteran offensive line that got embarrassed a week ago and the Wolverines made them look even worse, holding the Huskies to 1.6 yards per carry.

Michigan dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball and the ability to do that should give them a chance to beat just about anyone in the Big Ten, outside of Ohio State.

To do that, Michigan will need more of its quarterback than what McNamara showed Saturday. With that said, the 21-point win over Washington was still a massive step forward.