Photo Credit: Aaron J. Thornton
By Aaron J. Thornton
The Michigan Wolverines football team opened the 2022 season with a victory over the Colorado State Rams in Ann Arbor on Saturday. The 8th ranked Wolverines, who were favored by 31, put together a balanced attack from both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball.
The experienced backfield ran for 234 yards on the day led by Blake Corum (76 yards, 1 TD) and Donovan Edwards (64 yards, 1 TD). But the Wolverines also got 50 rushing yards and a TD from Sophomore Quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Running Back C.J. Stokes added 35 yards as well. The passing game never really got going as anticipated by many with the deep and experienced group of receivers Michigan has. Wide Receiver Roman Wilson had one of the few highlights catching the ball and taking it for a 61 YD touchdown for the first score of the game. Cade McNamara was given the call to start at Quarterback and played all of the first half. Despite going 9/18, he did add 136 passing yards and 1 TD. Probably most important was the fact the Wolverines offense had zero turnovers in the game.
Michigan’s defensive group impressed, coming up with 7 sacks, 11 tackles for a loss, and holding the Rams to 82 rushing yards for the game. A lot of the talk during the off season was who would replace defensive nightmares Aiden Hutchinson and David Ojabo who both went to the NFL. However, the transfer Eyabi Anoma (1 sack, 1 TFL) looks to be a good candidate to step in and lead on one of the ends.
The other much talked about topic is who will be named the starting Quarterback for Michigan. The QB battle surfaced last year with highly recruited 5-Star J.J. McCarthy coming in as a Freshman against McNamara. The then Sophomore McNamara won out and ended up leading the Wolverines to a win over rival Ohio State, a Big Ten Conference title, and a playoff berth. But this year, some fans still believe McCarthy should be starting or Michigan could risk losing the talented youngster to the transfer portal. Well next week, McCarthy will have his opportunity as Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has named him the starter for game two when the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors come to Ann Arbor for a night game under the lights. In the post-game press conference, McNamara did express his surprise of the “unusual” situation after telling the media he had his best camp.
Final Score: 51-7
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