3 takeaways from Michigan's blowout win over UConn

Michigan football left no doubt for the third-straight week in a dominant win over UConn with seven different quarterbacks completing a pass.

The Wolverines are running through their non-conference, beating the Huskies 59-0, which puts U-M at a +155 score differential so far in 2022.

A special teams showcase, more stout defense, and a marathon day for Blake Corum led Jim Harbaugh's team to extend its unbeaten streak.

Another week in Michigan's historically weak non-conference slate this season means the takeaways are few and far.

How good will U-M be this fall?

That question remains unanswered, but there are still a few takeaways from the maize and blue's blowout win over the Huskies.

Let's take a look.

Michigan junior running back Blake Corum scored five times, shattering his three-touchdown career-high in the first half, scoring his third one-yard, goal line touchdown.

Despite having as many scores as starters on a basketball team, Corum only had 12 carries, and 41 percent of his touches were touchdowns.

Corum has sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy to thank for two of his three-goal line touchdowns. The junior tailback set up one on his own with a six-yard run, but the two others came by way of a McCarthy pass the play before that set the table for Corum's scores.

Still, the Virginia native went 12 for 71, averaging nearly six yards per carry to add to his five touchdowns.

That's not a bad day at the office.

Michigan's national prominence among special teams units is well-publicized.

It starts with kicker Jake Moody, a unanimous First Team All-American, who missed his first field goal -- since what feels like The War -- from 62 yards out.

Besides that, this highly praised special teams room showed why it deserves the love it's received.

Punter Brad Robbins pinned one punt inside the 10 and another inside the 20 with a game-long kick of 62 yards.

Senior safety and special teams ace Caden Kolesar, the leader of the position room, blocked a punt in the first half that set Michigan's offense up for a score.

And if that wasn't enough already, junior wide receiver AJ Henning took a punt back for six, the first Wolverine to return a punt for a touchdown since Donovan Peoples-Jones against Nebraska in 2018.

A heckuva day to be Jay Harbaugh.

Face it, y'all, we're not learning anything about Michigan's defense until next week, when Maryland comes to Ann Arbor for Homecoming.

Against UConn, Michigan hardly had a passer to rush, hence the zero sacks. The Huskies' offense wanted to run the ball against U-M's front, which they believed would give it no shot to run between the tackles.

Jim Mora's team drew up a lot of outside zones and off-tackle runs from the shotgun with some power runs out of Pistol and QB run designs mixed in.

UConn was so afraid to pass the ball that its quarterback, Zion Turner, totaled 17 yards passing, going 4-of-16 with a 33.3 QB Rating.

Mora's dedication to the run game on Saturday forced Michigan to task its edge players to seal and contain the outside run, which it did, holding the Huskies' rushing attack to 86 yards.

So far, under Jesse Minter, the defense is emulating its leader with its calm, collected, and clean play in the non-conference slate.

Nothing shiny, and there won't be any highlight reels from the starting defense's performance against UConn. But it continues to be squeaky clean and technically sound. The shutouts don't go for 60 minutes, but Michigan's starting defense hasn't allowed a point yet in 2022.

That's enough to believe that, in Big Ten play, the unit will be more than serviceable.

Of course, the ceiling is much higher, and there's a chance Michigan's defense is a world-beater. We can't say that yet, but we can all agree the floor is high for Minter's defense.

On to Maryland, Michigan's first real defensive matchup that'll allow us, and them, to gather more than just surface-level stuff.

Rejoice. The non-conference is over.

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