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Michigan football: Blake Corum vs. Kenneth Walker, who’s better?

By Jacob Bruetsch

BLOOMINGTON, IN - OCTOBER 08: Blake Corum #2 of the Michigan Wolverines runs the ball during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on October 8, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - OCTOBER 08: Blake Corum #2 of the Michigan Wolverines runs the ball during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on October 8, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III, right, runs for a gain as Maryland’s Tarheeb Still closes in during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211113 Msu Maryland 142a
Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III, right, runs for a gain as Maryland’s Tarheeb Still closes in during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.211113 Msu Maryland 142a /

Strength of schedule

Who the numbers are coming against is another big factor. It’s one thing if someone has a big game against a team I could put up 100 yards on. It’s another if they do it against great competition.

Michigan has been dogged for their strength of schedule throughout the season. This hurts Corum a bit, especially with his five-touchdown performance against UConn. Recently, though, the competition has gotten stiffer, and Corum has held up. Against Iowa, a top-15 rush defense, Corum put up a solid 133 yards and a touchdown. Against Penn State, who came into the game as a top-five rushing defense, Corum had 166 yards and two scores, averaging almost six yards per carry.

For comparison, Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who’s received some Heisman buzz in his career, managed just 3.4 yards per carry.

Corum has played some tough teams, and has risen to the challenge each time.

Walker didn’t face the same tests early in the season. He faced only one top-50 rushing defense in his first seven games, coming against No. 41 Miami. To be fair he played well, with 172 yards on the ground. However, this is against a defense that allowed an average of 139 yards. When that’s the best defense you’ve gone against, that’s not great.

We can talk about Michigan’s weak non-conference schedule all we want. If the vast majority of Corum’s success came in those three games, we’d be talking about it a lot more. But his ability to dominate against quality teams was something Walker had not done up to this point in the season.

Winner: Blake Corum

Kenneth Walker had a special season last year. He absolutely deserved the Doak Walker Award, and probably deserved an invite to New York City. It’s also possible that Corum will cool off in the back half of the season, which would leave no question in this comparison. However, all things considered, up to this point in each player’s season, Blake Corum has been the better back.

Overall Winner: Blake Corum

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