Michigan football: Blake Corum vs. Kenneth Walker, who’s better?
Michigan football’s Blake Corum has been arguably the best running back in the country this year. Game after game, Michigan has called on him to be their bell cow, and he’s answered every call in every way.
From five touchdowns against UConn to almost 250 yards against Maryland, Corum has made it difficult for himself to match his production, yet has consistently been able to do it, making him a contender for the Doak Walker award and maybe even the Heisman.
Of course, given the rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State, comparisons have been made between Corum and last year’s Doak Walker winner and Heisman hopeful Kenneth Walker.
While there are many variables to sort through, today we’re going to do our best to cut through them and determine which one had the better first half of their season.
The numbers
Through seven games, Corum has rushed for 901 yards and 13 touchdowns, which rank him third and first in the country respectively. He has managed this on 146 carries, which equates to about 21 per game, putting him at 6.2 yards per carry. Corum has also caught seven passes for 35 yards.
The production has been consistent, as since starting Big 10 play, Corum has run for over 120 yards and had at least one touchdown in every game. Corum also only totaled 34 carries in Michigan’s three non-conference games, not far from what he’s getting per game these days, but averaged 6.9 yards/carry in those games, not far from his season total.
Walker, on the other hand, tallied 997 yards and nine touchdowns leading into the Michigan game. Walker did this on 129 carries, putting him at 6.2 yards per carry — just like Corum. Walker wasn’t much different in the passing game either, with four receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Walker’s numbers were a little more hit-or-miss than Corum’s. On one hand, he put up over 200 yards against Northwestern and Rutgers, and very nearly had a third against Miami. On the other hand, 61 and 84 yards against Nebraska and Indiana were much more pedestrian, especially considering he had around the same amount of carries.
This is about as close as you can get. I didn’t realize just how close these two were statistically before really looking at it, but they’re almost identical. However, almost identical is not in fact identical, and Corum’s three additional touchdowns put him slightly over the edge.