ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Entering 2026, there were strong expectations that Michigan football was going to be an elite rushing team. After all, that had been the strength of the team the past five years, even when the offense was stuck in the mud. And, offensive coordinator Jason Beck had the No. 2 rushing team each of the past two seasons, at New Mexico and at Utah.
However, the rushing attack was inexplicably terrible. Until it wasn't.
The second half against Penn State saw the Wolverines break everything wide open, taking the 37 first-half yards and adding 174 in the final 30 minutes. And it all changed when freshman Tommy Carr came in to lead the offense.
Tailback Bryson Kuzdzal broke open the floodgates, but he said after the game that Carr's insertion
certainly made a difference.
"I don't know how much of it related to Tommy, but I know after the first half, none of us were feeling like we went out there playing how we were supposed to be playing," Kuzdzal said. "So maybe Tommy had something to do with it. Maybe it was just the team coming together and finally decided to play hard. But something happened, and we came out a different team."
It also helped that the offensive playcalling changed. Despite Beck having said on Wednesday that the Wolverines had all but abandoned the perimeter run game, the Wolverines still attacked the edges, with 10 of the team's 34 runs doing so, for just three total yards. The rhino position, played by Manuel Beigel, was in for most of the first-half plays, but relegated mostly to the bench in the second.
The maize and blue were at their best running inside, off-center, where they averaged 13.5 yards per carry. They managed 149 yards on 11 carries running between the left guard and center, and Kuzdzal said that it was more of the plan to run as they had, but they didn't get to it until the second half.
"I know going into the game, we had more of an emphasis on going downhill," Kuzdzal said. "I think we got to more of that in the second half and just started to open up. I don't know if there was any bigger change than that."
Before Saturday, Michigan's longest run was just 17 yards, but Kuzdzal opened the floodgates with his 43-yard touchdown. Savion Hiter added a 41-yard run later, but given that suddenly everything changed in that regard, what changed in Kuzdzal's estimation?
He says that he just saw the line do its job and he was then off to the races.
"Well, when I first got the ball, the line just spread open to see," Kuzdzal said. "So after that, it was just me and the corner. It was kind of just instinct making a move off of him, but I trusted my speed and everything we've been working on. So we saw the result."
Michigan will certainly have a challenge this upcoming week, as Indiana has the No. 4 rushing defense. The Hoosiers have allowed more than 100 yards just twice -- in Week 1 against North Texas, and last week against Nebraska.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan RB Bryson Kuzdzal explains sudden rushing turnaround
