Best of Week 7: How far can Michigan go with an old-school, dominant ground game?

Donovan Edwards takes it 67 yards to the house as Michigan takes a 24-17 lead vs. Penn State. (0:33)

In the Big Ten, Ohio State is a unicorn. It’s a hard-living, fast-driving, take-no-prisoners action flick. The Buckeyes are strobe lights and glow sticks. The rest of the league is a Tupperware party.

Except maybe Michigan.

The Wolverines thumped No. 10 Penn State 41-17 on Saturday, and that makes it hard to lump them into the rest of the Big Ten pack. They’re something different — even if we’re still not quite sure exactly how different. That Michigan was the better team Saturday is unquestionable. That Penn State managed 17 points was a near miracle. The Nittany Lions held the ball for just 18:04, and roughly 17:50 of that time was spent in third-and-long.

Instead, it was the Michigan ground game that offered true fireworks. Donovan Edwards ran for 173. Blake Corum ran for 166. Both had runs of 60-plus yards. It has been a winning formula for the Wolverines to run their monster backs into a brick wall again and again and know that, ultimately, the wall will give up.

And yet, cast against Ohio State’s seemingly unstoppable offense and suddenly rejuvenated D, it’s fair to ask if Michigan’s formula is ultimately good enough to win at the highest level.

Ohio State is dynamic and flashy. Michigan feels a bit like its coach’s preferred pants — not quite formal, not quite casual, completely functional and so bland it’s oddly interesting.

Last year, that was enough. Ohio State’s flash was impressive when it worked and a train wreck when it didn’t. Good or bad, it was interesting.

Michigan could be dull and predictable, but it rarely disappeared in big moments, and that was enough to punch a playoff ticket. And even after that, it was still clear that improvement was needed, and so Jim Harbaugh went through the motions of a QB battle perfectly designed to achieve the desired result. And now with JJ McCarthy, Michigan is again good and reliable and… mostly using the same formula it did a year ago.

To look down the Big Ten standings at teams like Penn State, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin or Purdue is to sift through a freezer full of vanilla ice cream. To look at Ohio State is to see a bottomless tub of 31 flavors with sprinkles and hot fudge. And what is Michigan? Not vanilla, clearly. But perhaps French vanilla?

Saturday’s dominance of Penn State was a statement. In the country’s second-richest (and, therefore, second-best) conference, Michigan stands out from the crowd. It is a team that made the College Football Playoff just a year ago, then seemed almost an afterthought all offseason, returned to the field with a plethora of wins against cupcakes that all added up to… what? Even after Saturday, are we ready to include Michigan on the same tier as the Buckeyes?

Perhaps the problem is us. Perhaps we’re fools, constantly dazzled by the shiniest object, and Ohio State polishes its chrome with the best of them. Perhaps we simply cannot appreciate the physical, run-it-down-your-throat-then-keep-running approach of the Wolverines.

After all, the Big Ten is about to cash a $1-billion-a-year TV check in exchange for long field goal drives (15-, 19-, 15- and 14-play efforts in Illinois’ 26-14 win Saturday) and Brian Ferentz ruining nepotism for a generation of spoiled rich kids. Certainly there’s an audience, and perhaps we simply lack the refined palette.

Maybe the takeaway from Michigan’s dominance of Penn State isn’t to suggest that the Wolverines are fun or ready for a showdown with that team down south to decide who makes the playoff. Perhaps all that needs to be said is that Michigan is 7-0, and we’re all going to have to keep watching.

We’re seven weeks into the season — the official halfway point — and that means it’s time to take stock of some of the storylines that have defined the 2022 campaign. So, put on your tuxedo t-shirt, pour yourself a tall Miller High Life (the champagne of beers) and settle in for our very formal presentation of the midseason’s best.

Best second-string QB: TCU’s Max Duggan

Could Duggan go from opening the season on the bench to earning an invite to the Heisman ceremony at season’s end? After losing the starting QB job to Chandler Morris, Duggan has emerged as one of the country’s most prolific players, with 16 passing TDs, four more on the ground and just one interception on the season. Saturday, Duggan helped TCU erase a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit against Oklahoma State to win 43-40 in double overtime.

Best renaming of a stadium: JMA Wireless Dome

After years of frigid performances at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse changed the name of its home stadium, and in doing so, changed its fortunes. The Orange thumped NC State 24-9 at the now-JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday, moving to 6-0 for the first time since 1987. Coincidentally, JMA Wireless is also the only company that will provide service for Jim Boeheim’s brick Motorola mobile he first bought in 1987 and still uses. Time is a flat circle.

Best party guest: Sam Pittman

Pittman lectured us on the need to bring top-shelf beverages to parties earlier this year, but BYU is prohibited by the school’s code of conduct from serving up any of Pittman’s favorites. KJ Jefferson returned to action to throw for 367 yards and five touchdowns in a 52-35 win over the Cougars. On the upside, Pittman left a case of O’Douls in visiting locker room because he’s just that good a party guest.

Worst preseason prediction: Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea

Lea said the Commodores would eventually become the best team in America.

Vandy lost to Georgia on Saturday 55-0, as Stetson Bennett IV threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns. There’s still time for Clark to be proven correct, we suppose, but by the time it happens, there’s a decent chance Stetson Bennet V is ready to take over the Bulldogs’ offense.

Best new trend: Firing your coach

Colorado nixed Karl Dorrell on Oct. 2, took a week off, and returned to pick up win No. 1 on Saturday (the last FBS team to get its first win of the year) with a 20-13 overtime victory over Cal. Five teams have axed their coaches so far this season. Before the firings, those teams were a combined 1-15 vs. FBS foes. Since firing their coaches, they’re a far more respectable 7-4. Then look back at teams that parted ways with coaches before October concluded last year, and nearly every one is in a better place, including USC and TCU among the nation’s best teams. So, the evidence is clear. Write a very big check, fire your coach, win a bunch of games. Someone tell Auburn.

Brent Venables finally got a Big 12 win Saturday. It probably felt a bit like getting your dinner free because you finished a 96-ounce steak. Yeah, it’s a win, but there’s bound to be some vomit soon afterward.

With Dillon Gabriel back in the saddle at QB, the Oklahoma offense was exceptional, racking up 701 yards of offense — the Sooners’ most in a Big 12 game since 2018. That’s the good news.

The bad news for Venables, the defensive mastermind, is Oklahoma surrendered 42 points to Kansas, the fourth straight game the Sooners have allowed 40 or more.

This season has served as something like a “Twilight Zone” episode, where Venables rubbed the lamp of some diabolical genie. After a decade leading Clemson’s staunch defense, he finally landed his dream job, returning to Oklahoma as head coach. The cost? His defense will make Jason Bean look like Joe Burrow.

But hey, a win is a win, and Oklahoma now has one in conference play, and no matter what happened last week, at least Sooners fans can still remind Texas that they actually beat Kansas.

Coastal Carolina entered Week 7 as one of just two remaining undefeated teams outside the Power 5. Unfortunately, no one told the Chanticleers’ defense.

Grayson McCall threw for 358 yards and three touchdowns in the loss, but it was not nearly enough.

Old Dominion running back Blake Watson carried 18 times for 256 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring runs of 25, 58 and 67 yards.

On the 67-yard run that put ODU up 42-21, Watson hits a crowd of Chanticleers defenders, who each stumble and flail like a guy trying to make his way to the bar at Ocean Annie’s at 2 a.m.

Blake Watson crosses goal line for 67-yard touchdown

A quarterback who looks like he played base for Foreigner in the early 1980s threw a touchdown pass to a receiver who looks like he played rhythm guitar for .38 Special on that same tour, then the receiver, Jordan Whittington, celebrated with a really big cow — as one does.

Jordan Whittington scores the Texas touchdown and celebrates with Bevo the mascot.

Iowa State had its share of chances to knock off No. 22 Texas on Saturday, with QB Hunter Dekkers turning the ball over once in the end zone and, on the Cyclones’ final drive, fumbling deep into Texas territory. In the end, Iowa State lost 24-21, but for bettors who had the Cyclones +15.5, it was of little concern. Matt Campbell’s run of success as a touchdown (or more) underdog in Big 12 play continues to be a near lock. Iowa State has now covered in 15 of its last 16 games when a dog of seven points or more in conference play.

With their 24-9 win over NC State, Syracuse is 6-0, bowl eligible and, with a preseason win total of five, have officially hit the over at the season’s halfway point. Syracuse joins UConn (2.5), Kansas (2.5) and Duke (3) as teams to have already eclipsed preseason predictions.

It wasn’t just Knoxville where Tennessee fans were celebrating. One BetMGM bettor laid down a cool $100,000 on the Volunteers to win outright at +240. That return will buy a really nice victory cigar.
http://www.espn.com/espn/rss/news