Michigan Football’s Blake Corum promised return to playoff and delivered

It is hard to go undefeated in conference play and win back-to-back Big Ten Championships, but that is exactly what Michigan football has done.

Last year’s Team 142 set the stage for a repeat to be possible, said “enough is enough” in terms of losses to OSU, and Team 143 took the baton and kept it rolling.

In the last two seasons, Michigan is 27-2, which is the second-best record behind only Georgia, which is elite company to be in the presence of.

Ohio State hasn’t done better, Clemson (despite their long home winning streak, which was snapped against South Carolina) hasn’t done better, and Alabama (who is in the playoff darn near every season) hasn’t done better.

Oh, and by the way, Michigan football is undefeated at home for two straight seasons, and can make it three straight next year.

None of those other blue bloods can claim what Michigan can claim over the last two years.

This repeat of greatness, and a chance to win a national championship this time around, was all started by Blake Corum at the end of the game in the Orange Bowl last year.

Last season, Michigan wasn’t ready to play Georgia. Despite having about a month to prepare, the Wolverines looked very slow and unfocused, and it almost seemed like they weren’t truly trying.

The main reason for that was Michigan was satisfied with their season. They didn’t have actually winning the CFP as a goal on their list, and it showed.

Last year, Michigan’s two main goals were to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten Championship. Once those came to fruition, anything else left on the table was just extra.

This time around though, that loss to Georgia only made Michigan work harder during the off-season, and they used it as fuel to beat OSU again, make it back to Indy, and potentially get another crack at the Bulldogs.

This year’s team is focused on winning the national championship. They weren’t last year. That’s the main difference.

Blake Corum literally manifested a return trip back to the playoff. There was that iconic photo of him, JJ, Donovan Edwards, and Andrel Anthony soaking in Georgia’s trophy ceremony on the sidelines after the Orange Bowl.

Blake Corum delivers on promise to Michigan football fans

He literally said to Michigan fans in the stands still hanging around after the game, “I promise you, we’ll be back…”

For a huge portion of the 2022-23 season, Corum carried Michigan on his back and willed Michigan football to an 11-0 record.

Corum got hurt in that 11th game, and had season-ending knee surgery, as we all know, but the rest of the team just picked up the slack from him and continued the race.

It’s not often that you see things manifested like that, as emotions can cause players to say things they might not necessarily believe.

Or sometimes, players might say things in spur-of-the-moment scenarios without properly thinking about them, but Corum said his statement, and to be honest, I think most people actually believed him.

And lo and behold, it came true. We will forever owe Blake Corum a debt of gratitude not just for keeping his promise but for being a major player in the culture change for the University Michigan football team.

Corum got Michigan to Columbus, and now it is time to finish the job for him, and at the very least, make a trip to the national championship.