Ground and Pound: Michigan Rushes for Eight TDs, Races Past Northern Illinois

Saturday, September 18

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Michigan

3-0 , 0-0

Northern Illinois

1-2 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Northern Ill.

Michigan

Hassan Haskins (Michigan Photography)

Ground and Pound: Michigan Rushes for Eight TDs, Races Past Northern Illinois

9/18/2021 3:27:00 PM | Football

Box Score Highlights vs. Northern Illinois Postgame Notes Player Participation PDF Boxscore In the Trenches Podcast: Northern Illinois Postgame Photo Gallery

By: Dave Ablauf, Chad Shepard

» The Wolverines scored a touchdown on each of their first nine drives, leading by as many as 60 points in the win.
» Michigan totaled 373 yards on the ground, led by Blake Corum's third straight 100-yard game (125 yards) and three touchdowns. Of Michigan's nine touchdowns, eight came on the ground.
» Cade McNamara found Cornelius Johnson for an 87-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the third-longest touchdown pass in program history.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: #25 Michigan 63, Northern Illinois 10
Records: U-M (3-0), NIU (1-2)
Attendance: 106,263
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Sept. 25 -- vs. Rutgers (Michigan Stadium), 3:30 p.m. (TV: ABC)

Postgame Press Conferences: Jim Harbaugh | Players

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 25-ranked University of Michigan football team scored a touchdown on each of its nine first drives and led by as many as 60 points, remaining perfect on the season in a 63-10 victory over Northern Illinois at Michigan Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 18).

The Wolverines (3-0) once again dominated on the ground, rushing for 373 yards and eight touchdowns. Sophomore Blake Corum led the way with his third straight 100-yard game, rushing for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Hassan Haskins had a pair of second-quarter scores en route to 56 yards rushing, with freshman Donovan Edwards finding the end zone twice for the first scores of his career to go with 86 total yards rushing.

Junior Cade McNamara was 8-for-11 for 191 yards with both a rushing and passing score, highlighted by an 87-yard touchdown strike to classmate Cornelius Johnson for the third-longest touchdown pass in Michigan history.

After yielding a Northern Illinois field goal on the Huskies' first possession, Michigan's defense kept NIU off the board until 8:28 remaining in the game. Thirteen Wolverines recorded at least two tackles, led by graduate student Josh Ross (six) and senior Vincent Gray (five).

Michigan grabbed a 14-3 lead after the first 15 minutes of action behind a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from McNamara and Corum. Sandwiched between Michigan's scores was an NIU field goal after Michigan halted the Huskies' drive at the three-yard line for their only points of the quarter.

The Wolverines continued their one-yard touchdown runs in the early stages of the second quarter, getting a short-yardage plunge from Haskins for a 21-3 lead at the 12:55 mark of the period. Haskins recorded his second touchdown with 6:15 remaining, stretching for the end zone at the end of a five-yard run to the left to cap a 71-yard drive and give U-M a 28-3 advantage.

After forcing the Huskies into their third straight punt, McNamara found Johnson for an 87-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive for a 35-3 lead with just under two minutes remaining before the half. Neither team scored in the waning moments of the half, sending Michigan to the locker room with a 35-3 lead.

It was all Michigan in the third quarter as Corum scored twice in the first eight minutes, highlighted by a 49-yard touchdown run. Senior Gemon Green recorded Michigan's first interception of the season with 7:25 on the clock, running it back to the three-yard line to set up Edwards' first career touchdown carry to stake Michigan a 56-3 lead. Edwards again found the end zone minutes later, cashing in with a 59-yard score for a 60-point U-M advantage.

NIU found the end zone for the only time of the afternoon in the middle stages of the fourth quarter as Michigan coasted to the 53-point win.

U-M will continue its home schedule with a homecoming matchup against Rutgers next weekend (Sept. 25). Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ABC.