Iowa’s defense had stifled its first four opponents to 23 points combined, picking up where it left off last year. But the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines walked out of Kinnick Stadium with a 27-14 win.
A big part of that was the performance of running back Blake Corum, who rushed for 133 yards, including a 20-yard score to ice the Wolverines’ victory.
“He’s an outstanding back first and foremost, really good football player,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said of Corum postgame. “And that didn’t surprise us. You can see that and then they’re good up front. Those guys last year and this year are really blocking well. If we can’t stop the run it’s tough. It’s easy to call plays when you can run the ball.”
I sure hope Ferentz wasn’t surprised. Corum torched Maryland for 243 yards rushing the week prior. The junior tallied 29 carries for a solid 4.5 yards per carry.
As Corum has made a name for himself as one of the best players in all of college football, linebacker Jay Higgins was well aware of the task at hand. He said the game plan was to limit the big play as much as possible.
“Big Ten running backs are always going to be different. He had a unique skill set, just trying to contain him,” Higgins said. “Obviously, Michigan thought highly of him in his last performance. We tried to keep them inside the box and then when we get there we get there, wrap them up and get multiple guys to the ball.”
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