HOUSTON — The expectations for Donovan Edwards could not have been higher.
As Michigan entered the 2023 season with already meteoric expectations and hype, everything centered around its run game. Junior and senior running backs Edwards and Blake Corum had both looked dominant. They had both taken control of, and won, games. And within the Michigan program, in the media and all over the college football landscape, the duo was hailed as the best in the country.
But for the first 14 weeks of the season, half of that assessment looked premature.
Corum thrived, earning numerous season and career records and shining in the season’s biggest moments. But Edwards couldn’t keep pace.
His yards per carry fell to nearly half of his previous year’s totals, and he scored a measly three touchdowns. At points, even a week ago in the Rose Bowl, it looked like Edwards had become an afterthought.
He wasn’t getting the touches. He wasn’t getting the yards. He wasn’t getting the spotlight, and it seemed like his star might have dimmed. And at points, that frustrated him
“I found myself, early in the year, stressing,” Edwards said. “Like, first game, OK cool, whatever. Second game, woof. Third game, yo? Fourth game like, what’s going on?”
But on Monday, on the biggest stage of his life, Edwards reemerged from backstage and took control of the show. The moment that had been expected — the moments that he was waiting and working for — finally arrived. And with its arrival came a national title.
“I was so excited for Donovan because I just felt like he needed that,” Corum said. “He needed it. He’s back. Dono is back.”
And it truly looked that way. All season, Edwards was just one cut, one jump, one step away from a home run. However, they’d routinely fall as fly balls instead. But on Monday, Edwards finally put the pieces together again.
Four minutes into the first quarter as Michigan stormed down the field for the first time, Edwards got his first carry. A handoff from junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy, Edwards drove straight towards the pile, seemingly destined for a short gain. But he wouldn’t let the play die, so just after first contact he bounced left, found a gap and took off for six points.
One pitch, one home-run scamper. And with his second appearance, he did it again.
This time taking the ball at Washington’s 47-yard line, Edwards shimmied right and waltzed into the end zone untouched. In two drives, with two carries, Edwards had delivered two touchdowns.
He had become the center of the show. He had created more points for the Wolverines than Washington would score. He had his moment.
But even through his frustrations, his reemergence wasn’t what he thought of.
“Is (my performance) a relief? Winning is the relief for me,” Edwards said. “… For me what has been implemented in my mind is the team’s success. I don’t care if I do bad, not no more, that comes with the game. But it’s not OK to continue to be in a slump and be pissed off at the world and be pissed off at people … Like Coach Harbaugh says, what’s good for the bee is good for the hive, and he’s darn right.”
For Edwards, after a year of personal frustrations while the Wolverines soared, he finally got both. His patience paid off, and having finally summited the mountain, personally and collectively, Edwards seemed content.
“I needed to have a year the way that I had this year to be able to continue to grow as a human being,” Edwards said. “ So I’m blessed. I’m happy with how everything has gone for me this far, even though it hasn’t been what I wanted it to be — I don’t care.”
And after the maize confetti rained down and the trophy was hoisted, McCarthy, Corum and Harbaugh sat down and tried to make sense of what they had seen from Edwards.
McCarthy contextualized things, he talked of the pride he felt for Edwards knowing how hard he worked and how much he had gone through.
But Corum put it bluntly:
“The Don is back.”
Because after a season of frustrations and imperfections, Edwards had his moment — twice. And the aftermath was a sea of maize confetti.