With the winds of change again swirling around college football, more and more teams are finding that rapidly increasing numbers of positive COVID tests are sidelining players and, eventually, cancelling bowl games.

From the outside, Michigan (this is the time to go find a piece of wood to knock on if you're the superstitious type) seems to have been able to avoid positive cases. Beyond that, lingering injuries are starting to heal and Michigan is returning to full strength at a time where it will be needed most.

The most prominent lingering injury is that to running back Blake Corum's ankle. Though he played in the regular season finale against Ohio State and the B1G championship game against Iowa, he tallied just 11 carries over the two games. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was asked about Corum's health this morning, and it seems like Michigan's two-headed monster at running back may be ready for either to receive a full slate of carries.

"Blake is healthy. We're a healthy team, and that's where we're fortunate. Being able to take the last few weeks and get ourselves back to 100 percent, because as everyone noticed the last few weeks of the season, we were playing some really tough teams, but we had some bumps and bruises along the way, certain players being out. But the good thing for us is the next man stepped up and was always ready.

"We're excited now that we're finally back to full speed and healthy. Just having great depth has allowed us to be in this position. Other than the few weeks where we had to put a lot on Hassan's plate, we've been able to have great depth and have different guys step up, whether it's Blake, whether it's Donovan, and so we're excited to finally get a chance to see a full-speed Blake Corum.

"I think a little bit of what people saw about him in the Big Ten Championship Game was him catching himself back up to full strength, and he's ready to go, he's excited, and we're glad to have him back to 100 percent."

Corum met with the media after Gattis and was asked about his injury, and he echoed Gattis. "You know, personally I feel great. I feel like my ankle is finally back. I feel like I have my cutting ability, my speed and my top-end speed, my burst. I feel like I have all that back," he said.

Having both of Michigan's near-1,000-yard backs healthy will add a much-needed dimension against a Georgia defense that has allowed just 81.7 rushing yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry this season.

"Georgia is pretty stout. They're a stout defense. They have a good front seven," Corum said. "I mean, we've just got to continue doing what we do. There's no need to change anything. We've had a wonderful year. Offensive line has done great, our tight ends have done great, our receivers, everyone has done great. Just continuing to prepare and watching film on them and just keep going."

Gattis has watched copious amounts of film and sees two units whose identities are based on physicality colliding. From what he's seen, it appears the advantage will go to the team that can withstand the most swings, both metaphorically and in terms of momentum.

"Just talking about a heavyweight match-up, it's about wearing down the opponent necessarily, not necessarily going out and striking a knockout because both teams are going to respond early on in the game, and so for us it's about sustaining success, taking positive plays, obviously creating explosive plays, but even if we don't take or create explosive plays, just taking positive plays is going to be the key.

"It's going to be a train wreck inside. I mean, it's two smashmouth teams kind of going against each other and endurance is going to play a big piece in that, who's able to win the fourth quarter, who's able to win the line of scrimmage late in the game is going to be the key to who wins the game."

Wide receiver Mike Sainristil said that Georgia is indeed a dominant defense, but Michigan's offense has crafted their identity to counter physically imposing defenses.

"Physical physicality is the brand of football we play here. That's just the motto we have on this offense is we call it PSP, which is physical smart precise, and as you see the first word is physical. That's just how we play football here. That's what we want to do," Sainristil said.

"That's what we instill into our guys, and that's just how it's going to be. This game of course is going to be one of those physical games, and it's going to come down to the most dominant side of the ball winning, and that's how we're attacking this game."

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