The move that sent Michigan football fans streaming toward the exits was the signature jump cut from tailback Blake Corum. He’d taken a handoff from quarterback JJ McCarthy late in the fourth quarter of a game the Wolverines were looking to preserve and punctuated the afternoon instead.
Corum’s jump cut behind the line of scrimmage — from right to left, on a dime, with a wall of bodies ahead of him — opened a lane around the left side of U-M’s formation, the space left vacant by Maryland’s desperate collapse toward the middle of the field.
Corum sprinted into the open space and galloped down the sideline for a 47-yard touchdown that secured a hard-fought, come-from-behind 34-27 win over Maryland. His touchdown offered a fitting conclusion for an afternoon in which Corum enjoyed the best game of his career with backup Donovan Edwards unavailable due to injury. He carried 30 times for 243 yards and two touchdowns behind an offensive line that manhandled the Terrapins in the trenches despite missing left guard Trevor Keegan.
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McCarthy completed 18 of 26 passes for 220 yards and two scores in the first Big Ten start of his career. It was an uneven performance defined as much by missed opportunities and fumbles as the cool third-down conversions and clutch fourth-quarter touchdown to wide receiver Roman Wilson.
Cornerback DJ Turner and safety RJ Moten both notched interceptions of Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who absorbed two sacks and five quarterback hits from coordinator Jesse Minter’s blitz-happy unit. He took more and more punishment as the game continued — including one from defensive end Mike Morris that sent him to the medical tent — before backup Billy Edwards Jr. replaced him in the final minutes and led a touchdown drive and two-point conversion with 45 seconds left. But the Wolverines recovered the onside kick to seal the win.
Turning the tide
Coach Jim Harbaugh’s first critical in-game decision of 2022 arrived with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter and his team trailing for the first time this season. The Wolverines faced fourth-and-1 from the Maryland 33-yard line, trailing by 13-10, and Harbaugh had a little more than a few seconds to choose a field goal or a fourth-down try.
He rushed his offense to the line of scrimmage with McCarthy in the shotgun and Corum alongside. McCarthy caught the snap as the Terrapins scrambled into position and handed it to Corum for an inside run. Corum broke through the left side of the defense and raced to the end zone untouched for a touchdown that ignited the crowd, while forcing a Maryland assistant to angrily hurl his hat to the turf.
The fourth-down option reclaimed momentum after the Terrapins moved the ball easily for parts of the first half. Tagovailoa enjoyed his extended time in a comfortable pocket with the UM pass rush unable to generate pressure without blitzing. Maryland had started to believe.
Harbaugh’s decision proved game-altering, and Michigan never trailed again.
The good and the bad
In the span of a half-dozen snaps midway through the second quarter, McCarthy demonstrated the breadth of his playmaking spectrum — from the dazzling and electrifying to the foolhardy and headstrong.
His temporary unraveling began with a fumble on a designed run from Michigan’s 27-yard line, the ball ripped from his arms after gaining four yards. A recovery by wideout Cornelius Johnson gave the Wolverines another chance, albeit behind the chains on third-and-7, and that’s when McCarthy ignited the corn and blue crowd.
McCarthy’s quest to buy extra time in the pocket transformed into a zigzagging odyssey from right to left and back again before looping around the right side and scampering upfield to move the chains. It was the kind of play backup quarterback Cade McNamara simply can’t make.
Several plays later, on second-and-10, McCarthy again retreated deeper and deeper behind the line of scrimmage in hopes of summoning the spectacular. A pair of Maryland defenders sandwiched McCarthy as he released the ball to force his second fumble of the drive. Again, the Wolverines recovered when center Olu Oluwatimi smothered it.
Both plays are noteworthy in the wake of McCarthy’s recent comment about avoiding unnecessary hits. Prior to the win over Hawaii, McCarthy told reporters that he considers it selfish when he fights for extra yardage and exposes himself to contact.
It’s something he must improve as Big Ten play continues.
A perfect start
Scoreboard watchers across the country might have been puzzled when they saw the Wolverines leading by a touchdown eight seconds into a game that began with Michigan kicking off. The scenario seemed illogical.
Jake Moody lofted his kick toward Maryland returner Tai Felton at the 2-yard line. The ball clanged off Felton’s helmet and ricocheted into the path of several onrushing Wolverines. Reserve tight end Matthew Hibner pounced on the loose ball at the Terrapins’ 10-yard line, leaving Felton with nothing to do but scream and rip off his helmet in frustration.
Co-offensive coordinators Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss searched for an early dagger with a play-action pass on Michigan’s first play from scrimmage. McCarthy executed a great fake to Corum before sliding to his right and finding Luke Schoonmaker on a corner route for the touchdown.
With eight seconds gone, the Terrapins already trailed 7-0.
Injury report
The Wolverines entered Saturday’s game without several starters and key players who were sidelined due to injury.
Edwards (leg injury), Keegan (undisclosed injury), tight end Erick All (undisclosed injury), inside linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (soft-tissue injury) and McNamara (leg injury) were all unavailable.
Edwards’ replacement, true freshman CJ Stokes, fumbled on his first carry against Maryland and never touched the ball again. His miscue led to a 52-yard field goal for the Terrapins that saddled UM with its first deficit of the season, 13-10.
Schoonmaker became a larger part of Michigan’s offense with All unable to play. His early touchdown kickstarted an afternoon in which he had more catches in the first half (five for 50 yards) than he did in any game last year. He finished with a team-high seven catches for 72 yards.
Former four-star prospect Giovanni El-Hadi took Keegan’s place at left guard for the second consecutive game.
Contact Michael Cohen at mcohen@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.