Much Ado About Rushing
By now you may have read that Blake Corum is 3rd in total rush yards while Hassan Haskins is 31st.
While we all "see it" with the running game through three weeks, I thought it would be interesting to share some facts about Michigan rushing statistics. Note: this is not a prediction, projection or estimation about where our team will end up, just some facts to pass the day before UFRs.
1. Hassan Haskins is currently 41st all time with 1,278 yards. Only Jon Vaughn (1989) has more yards than Haskins on fewer attempts. Haskins has a 5.5 career YPC, while Vaughn finished with a 6.3 YPC on 226 touches - Haskins is currently at 231.
2. Blake Corum is newer to the backfield and thus is No. 86 all-time on Michigan's rushing list with 481 yards - with 407 of those coming this year. His 6.5 YPC is strong compared to other rushers with significant playing time, and only John Vaughn has both more rushing yards and YPC than Corum. (Please note, I said both).
3. There are a few backs with higher YPC and fewer yards than Corum - for instance Jim Smith had a career 7 YPC on 56 carries from '73-76. And Steve Breaston (!!!) had a career YPC of 7.6 on 42 carries which is dope. Speaking of WRs Desmond Howard had a 10.8 YPC on 23 career carries and my namesake Mercury Hayes had a YPC of 9.1 on 20 touches.
4. You might be asking, who has the most YPC all time for Michigan? Well a few players each had 1 rush for 30-50 yards each but lets skip those for now. The highest YPC carry for anyone with multiple carriers in their Michigan career is AJ Henning who has 5 carries for 115 yards (23.0 average), followed by Roman Wilson who has 3 carries for 62 yards (20.7 average). How good has Henning and Roman Wilson been with this offense? Their total of 8 touches for 177 yards is very close to Charles Woodson who had 9 career rushes for 167 yards and a 18.6 average.
(My only prognostication in this space is that historically, WRs from Michigan do not carry the ball often. Whether it was Calvin Bell, David Terrell or Jehu Chesson, WR rushes never really went above 20 or so - aside from Breaston who had 46. I believe given the opportunity, Henning has a chance to have 20 touches this season alone).
5. Enough about WRs, let's bring this back to RBs. Most of you know that Michigan's all-time leading rusher Mike Hart has 5,000 career rushing yards with 41 TDs and a 5 YPC average. That's impressive and who knows in this age of transfers and early departures if this will ever be broken. So in the meantime lets just enjoy the ride of watching Blake Corum score a TD every 7.8 times he rushes the ball or Haskins scoring a TD every 16.5 times he rushes the ball. For comparison's sake, Mike Hart scored on every 24.7 rushes which will happen when you tote the ball 1,015 times and don't have Northern Illinois on your schedule.
4.
September 21st, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
Edit: A bit of sloppy copy but you get the point. Hope you enjoy the stats.
September 22nd, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
i appreciate the effort you put into this post!
September 24th, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^
Thank you, sir!
September 21st, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
For comparison's sake, Mike Hart scored on every 24.7 rushes which will happen when you tote the ball 1,015 times and don't have Northern Illinois on your schedule.
Hart had 117 yards and 1 touchdown against Northern Illinois in 2005. Only reason I remember is that it was my first time watching a game in person...and it was way closer than it should have been.
September 21st, 2021 at 3:59 PM ^
It's often forgotten bc of the Penn State game, and the dark years that were ahead with The Horror, Rich Rod and Late Hoke, but 2005 is up there in terms of really stupid seasons. 7 pt Loss to Notre Dame after Henne fumbled on the 1. First loss to Wisconsin since pre-Alvarez, first loss to Minnesota since Harbaugh was QB, both by 3 pts. Top it all off with a 9 pt blown fourth quarter lead vs OSU who scored with 30 seconds left, and just an incredibly dumb ending with a Cal/Stanford Band is out on the Field type play in the bowl loss to Nebraska.
That was an 11 win team sandwiched between Rose Bowl seasons that somehow managed to go 7-5.
September 21st, 2021 at 5:46 PM ^
First loss to Wisconsin since pre-Alvarez,
Not contesting your larger point about 2005, but Michigan lost twice to Alvarez-led Wisconsin teams in '93 and '94.
September 21st, 2021 at 5:54 PM ^
Oddly enough, it was also the last year we won at Kinnick.
September 21st, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
This post makes me turgid with joy.
This season could end up being very special.
September 21st, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Mike Hart had everything of an elite college back except the break-away speed, and he is turning Corum into the turbo version of himself.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
"Haskins has a 5.5 career YPC, while Vaughn finished with a 6.3 YPC on 226 touches - Haskins is currently at 231"
I enjoyed this post and find this one really interesting. With all of the great O-lines (and last years was not one of them) and backs over the years, it's just hard to believe that Haskins is near the top. Really says a great deal about his ability to find yards wherever available.
September 21st, 2021 at 3:26 PM ^
... and maybe even more importantly, almost never losing yardage. Which was also quote the feat given the state of the O-line.
September 21st, 2021 at 3:36 PM ^
Haskins is awesome and is an elite yards after contact back, but I will note that offensive numbers have been inflating over time. Vaughn's 1990 season where he ran for 6.3 ypc ranked him 8th in college football. Haskins's 2020 season ranked 44th with 6.1 ypc.
September 21st, 2021 at 4:55 PM ^
That's so wild to read.
I also see this year's run game as a revitalized version of Michigan. Michigan runs the football. But in 2021 that means speed in space. We will still mash you 30-35 times per game. Try and stop us.
Its the perfect fit for the program.
September 21st, 2021 at 8:59 PM ^
Damn that's a good title
September 22nd, 2021 at 3:44 AM ^
Cool stuff, OP!
Sadly, I think we only have one more year with Blake, and this may be the last year we get with Hassan. I think Hassan could potentially get a day 2 draft grade in which it would probably makes sense to declare, given how short RB careers are these days. Might as well start earning one year sooner and get paid for that year of wear and tear. And Blake is Blake.
I wonder if Mike's career rushing record will ever be broken. He really was a unicorn in that he was elite at everything except long speed, which made him less desirable to the NFL.
September 22nd, 2021 at 8:53 AM ^
I was always intrigued by Hart's NFL career. He made the Colts roster and played due to injuries. He certainly could have latched on for a few more years as a practice squad guy, special teamer or journey man - but it seems like he understood what his career path was. He wanted to coach, and I respect that he followed that by climbing the ladder for the past decade.
September 22nd, 2021 at 7:10 AM ^
Gotta be honest, I ducked at the end there. ;)
September 22nd, 2021 at 9:44 AM ^
I like the stats and the OP. I love Haskins the back and the (apparent) human. I also think Haskins makes Corum better simply because he's so different. I do think Corum is a special back.
That all being said, 2 of the bigger games of Corum's career have come against MAC snacks. I'd love to see the numbers at the end of the Big 10 season. I'm hoping we have 2 1000 yard rushers at the least.
September 22nd, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
Blake will be here one more glorious year. Maybe Hassan as well.
And they had good O-Lines!
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