PASADENA, Calif. — On Monday afternoon, as Blake Corum prepared to run out for warmups prior to the Rose Bowl, he paused for a moment, looked out upon the crowd, and then just stared down at his feet.
Within the next four hours, much of the senior running back’s legacy would be decided, and he knew it. Prior to the season, it was Corum that had said the year was ‘Natty or Bust.’ And, tied for the most rushing touchdowns in Michigan history with 55, Corum stood on the precipice of reaching both his individual and team aspirations.
Four hours later, his two desires would coalesce in one decisive moment.
On a second-and-2 with the game tied in overtime, Corum took the ball on an inside handoff, shimmied right, cut in the midfield, escaped one tackle and barreled through another. As he fell into the end zone, Corum, in one moment, set the Wolverines up to win the game and fell into the record books.
“Everything that I see out of Blake on a day-to-day basis and everything that Blake is, when everyone is tired, when it’s overtime, he’s going to be the guy that shows up just like he does in sprints when we run them in the off-season,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said of Corum. “It was nothing new for me. It was just amazing the world got to see it.”
While Corum’s game winning touchdown was the most memorable moment of his night, it didn’t define his game. Rather, Corum occupied his usual role: the workhorse back that the Wolverines’ offense ran through. And though Michigan was up-and-down, it was up when Corum was up, and down when he wasn’t.
On Michigan’s third drive, down 7-0, Corum made the offense go. His cuts looked sharper than they had all season, and in just four runs he gained 33 yards. But it was the end of the drive where he shined, taking a relative weakness of his and overcoming it.
With just two career receiving touchdowns, Corum has handed off seemingly all pass-catching duties to junior running back Donovan Edwards. He’s never been known as a receiving threat, and that’s exactly why Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh drew up the final play of the drive for him.
As Corum faked taking a handoff and leaked off of the line, he found himself wide open in the end zone for an easy eight-yard touchdown. He had turned what might’ve been perceived as a weakness into a strategic strength, and the Wolverines were seven points better for it.
“Situation wise, if I go in they’re just gonna think it’s a pass,” Edwards told The Daily. “But I mean, Blake’s dynamic too.”
Following that touchdown, Corum slowed for several drives. Throughout most of the second half he couldn’t find gaps and Alabama stuffed his runs, and as Corum went, so did the offense. But much later in the contest, with everything on the line, it was again Corum’s dynamism that saved Michigan.
On a fourth-and-2 with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Wolverines needing a touchdown, Harbaugh drew up another quick out-route pass to Corum. Corum caught it and took it for 27 yards before getting tackled, 10 of which were called back due to a blocking penalty.
With the game in his hands, Corum delivered to set up the touchdown that led the Wolverines to overtime. There, it took just two plays for Corum to help end the game, shimmying, cutting and falling into the end zone.
“It’s Blake,” Michigan wide receiver Tyler Morris said. “Sometimes that’s just what happens.”
On a clear Monday night in Pasadena, Blake Corum happened. Now, he’s in the record books, and the Wolverines are headed to the National Championship Game because of it.