Last year when the Michigan football team emerged victorious over the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Wolverines junior running back Blake Corum was a complete non-factor. Now this isn't because the Buckeyes defensive game plan successfully bottled the All-American up. In fact, it was backup running back Donovan Edwards who had the game of his life in Michigan's win. No, Corum was a non-factor because he had suffered a knee injury two weeks earlier that ended up being so serious that it required surgery, which caused Corum to miss Michigan's final two games of the season, in the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff.

Michigan's 2022 season ended with just as much disappointment as Corum's did. The Wolverines were upset by TCU in the College Football Playoff Semi-Final, and leaving fans to wonder if their opportunity to win a National Title had passed them by.

Fast forward one year, and Michigan now just needs to secure three more wins in order to call themselves national champs for the first time since 1997, but Blake Corum and the Wolverines have undoubtedly returned with a vengeance and marched toward history this season, as noted by Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.

“Corum, playing in his final game at Michigan Stadium, broke Hassan Haskins' single-season team record for rushing touchdowns with his 21st and 22nd scores. He did it against an Ohio State defense that had allowed only three rushing touchdowns all season.” This came just weeks after Corum had broken Anthony Thomas' career record for rushing touchdowns while at Michigan. Meanwhile, the record that Michigan set in their win over Ohio State is even more impressive.

“The Wolverines became the first Big Ten team to win 30 consecutive regular-season games, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.”

That particular nugget is hard to believe. On one hand, it's hard to believe that in the long history of the Big Ten, this is the first time a team has won thirty regular season games in a row. On the other hand, given the traditional strength of the Big Ten, it's equally difficult to believe that any team could win thirty straight games. We're not talking about a Conference USA team that rampaged through overmatched opponents on a weekly basis. We're talking about a Michigan team that has had to beat Ohio State three consecutive seasons to get to those thirty wins, which was recently unthinkable given the one-sided nature of the rivalry up until 2021.

With up to three games remaining, Corum has a chance to continue to ascend within the Michigan football record books. Only 203 yards behind Tyrone Wheatley, it's possible (if not likely) that Corum will end up in the top five of Michigan's all-time rushing leader list. As for the Wolverines, with Jim Harbaugh returning from a three-game suspension, it's reasonable to think that Michigan should be listed as co-favorites for the National Championship along with the two-time defending champs, the Georgia Bulldogs.