Tag: Donovan Edwards

Michigan 31, Rutgers 7

Different game, same result. Michigan has started this season with some remarkable consistency, if a lack of explosiveness. The Wolverines beat the Scarlet Knights, a Big Ten team, by a 24-point margin a week after beating BGSU, a MAC team, by 25 points. That came a week after a 28-point win over UNLV, which followed a 27-point victory over ECU. Michigan points, from week one onward: 30, 35, 31, 31. Opponent points: 3, 7, 6, 7. Michigan now leads the country in scoring defense, giving up just 5.8 points per contest. Oklahoma and Ohio State are tied for #2 at 8.5 points allowed per game.

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Michigan 35, UNLV 7

Defensive Tackle U. Michigan is putting together a nice crew of defensive tackles, and the least heralded one is the guy making plays most consistently, it seems. Sophomore Mason Graham made 5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks against UNLV, eating up the interior offensive line repeatedly. The Rebels ended the game with 61 rushing yards on 31 attempts, which includes sacks, but still . . . the middle was stuffed up all day. Kris Jenkins made 5 tackles and 0.5 sacks and Kenneth Grant made 4 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 pass breakup. The title of this section is a little facetious, but the defensive tackle play has been terrific.

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Michigan 30, East Carolina 3

Football is back! All is right in the world when it’s football season. In another few days, the NFL season will be back and we can all enjoy Heaven for a few months. It has been a long off-season for me on an individual level, and this is also a chance to break away from the 2023 Season Countdown and get back into a groove with writing about various topics.

This was a boring matchup. I like seeing different opponents, but with East Carolina, there were no storylines. It’s not a geographical matchup. When I looked through the roster and coaching staff, there was no crossover. East Carolina doesn’t recruit in the state of Michigan. No transfers or ex-staffers from Michigan. There was no angle. The most interesting aspect going into the opener, aside from seeing who starts for Michigan, was . . .

. . . Peacock. The Peacock stream sucked. I signed up for Peacock on Friday because there’s really no other reason to do so earlier. And I don’t really care about the expense. I’ll pay $5.99 to watch a Michigan game. But when I’m paying for it, I expect a good product. When I paid for cable, I expected ESPN and FS1 and BTN to give me a good product. Otherwise, I’ll just turn off the volume and think through it myself. I don’t need Mike Tirico and one of the Simms brothers to tell me what’s happening on the game. Peacock actually complied – presumably on accident – when there was just no audio for several minutes. The fourth quarter feed got blurry, too, but maybe that had something to do with my local internet. But Peacock also cut out a play, there was no pregame show, the halftime show was boring, and oh yeah . . . the Simms kid isn’t exactly top-notch. If I wanted crappy analysis, I would watch some of the ex-Buckeye talking heads like Josh Perry and Joey Galloway.

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2023 Season Countdown: #13 Donovan Edwards

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Name: Donovan Edwards
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: West Bloomfield (MI) West Bloomfield
Position: Running back
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #7
Last year: I ranked Edwards #15 and said he would be a part-time starting running back (LINK). He ran 140 times for 991 yards and 7 touchdowns; and caught 18 passes for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns.
TTB Rating: 90

Edwards was a borderline 5-star prospect in the class of 2021, and he has not disappointed. As exciting as his 11-reception day was against Maryland his rookie year, nothing compared to his two huge rushing touchdowns against Ohio State last year, breaking the back of the reeling Buckeyes. He had a 75-yard rushing touchdown, and that wasn’t even his biggest play of the game; instead, it was the 85-yarder, which ranks as the #8 longest rushing play in Michigan history.

Edwards got his chance to really stand out after Blake Corum was injured against Illinois. Despite having a broken right hand that forced him to carry the ball exclusively in his left (non-dominant) hand, he had a huge game (216 yards) against Ohio State, ran for 185 yards against Purdue, and ran for 123 yards against TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. He was 9 yards away from giving Michigan two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season.

The 2023 season should be another standout year for Edwards, who has now proven himself on some of the biggest stages of college football. While Corum does return and Edwards may be a nominal “backup,” he should get plenty of opportunities in both the running and receiving phases of the game. There has been talk that he has been lining up in the slot, which makes sense because of the departure of Ronnie Bell. Michigan fans also hope that Corum can stay healthy for the entire season, because the outcome against TCU may have been a little different if Michigan’s Heisman-caliber running back had been available for the playoff game. But Edwards is an excellent back in his own right, with game-breaking receiving abilities and big-play speed. There’s a good chance that this will be his final season in Ann Arbor, so let’s enjoy his wearing a winged helmet as much as we can.

Prediction: Part-time starting running back; 1,050 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns; 30 catches for 350 yards, 4 touchdowns

Michigan 43, Purdue 22

Hail to the Victors! It is truly incredible what this team, these coaches, and these players have accomplished over the past couple years. Michigan is 25-2 in that span. Back in the olden days, a 13-0 record would be good enough to be voted a national champion. Regardless of what happens in the College Football Playoff, this team is a national championship-caliber squad. Furthermore, Jim Harbaugh has cemented himself as one of the best coaches in modern football. If I had to name a top three, it would include Harbaugh, Urban Meyer (ugh), and Nick Saban (ugh again). Harbaugh has taken over struggling program after struggling program and made them elite, from Stanford to the San Francisco 49ers to Michigan. A lot of coaches are in the right place at the right time, including guys like Jimbo Fisher, Gene Chizik, Ed Orgeron, etc. to make once-in-a-lifetime runs and then fall off precipitously. There are very few who can consistently redirect a program wherever they go, and Harbaugh is one of them.

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