Sophomore Running Back Blake Corum Isn't Letting His Early Success Distract Him From The Bigger Picture

The Michigan rushing attack has looked unstoppable through the first three weeks of the college football season, and Blake Corum is leading the charge.

Prior to our fourth interview with Michigan running back Blake Corum on Monday, I received a text at 6:53 PM that read, "running behind a little, just got out of practice." Normally we start our live broadcast at 7:00 PM, so we figured we'd get the show started and bring Blake on for a later segment. Instead, Corum sprinted back to his home, logged on the computer and was ready to field our many questions at 7:06 PM.

I would imagine that type of frantic pace pretty much sums up life for Blake Corum these days. Between class, autograph sessions, practice, games on Saturdays and interviews, it seems like the sophomore standout from St. Francis Academy is constantly on the move - always moving forward, always improving. 

When he's not running all over the field on Saturdays, Corum can often be found perfecting his craft in the weight room or on the practice field - something that head coach Jim Harbaugh has taken notice of ever since the talented running back arrived in Ann Arbor. 

"Yeah, it was very inspiring the way the guys played. Really tremendous play. Talk a little bit about some of the real guys that are standing out so much and getting used to being good, getting a lot of practice being good — Blake Corum, special player. The way he trains in the offseason, let me just describe that to you for a bit. It’s all out, all the time. His endurance, his strength — he’s like a stalker of finding the ways to get into the weight room," Harbaugh said of Corum during Saturday's postgame press conference.

"The door’s always open to getting stronger, getting better. From the day he got here, from the day he arrived on campus, he’s just a tremendous example of somebody that has an amazing, tremendous work ethic. Gets that from his dad, James Corum. The branch doesn’t fall too far from the tree. He’s a shining star. He’s playing great football."

Harbaugh's postgame comments represent just a small fraction of the praise that is being heaped on Corum after the first three weeks of the 2021 college football season and for good reason. Not only is Corum currently the No. 3 leading rusher in the country, he also leads the nation in scoring with 8 total touchdowns and in all-purpose yards with 193.7 per game. With his impressive performance against NIU over the weekend, Corum became the first Wolverine since Denard Robinson in 2011 to record three consecutive 100-yard rushing performance, and the first running back to do it since his current position coach Mike Hart did it in 2007.

Corum's early success has led some within Michigan circles to start using the word "Heisman" when talking about the Wolverine running back. Fortunately for Michigan fans, Corum says the constant praise doesn't have any impact on his hunger to be great.

"I definitely hear it, I see it on social media platforms. What goes through my mind is that I've got to keep working, its only been three games," said Corum. "The sky is really the limit. I can set that as one of my goals, but then again, I'm really focused on this week. I'm focused on what I'm going to do against Rutgers.

"We'll see at the end of the year. We'll see who's in New York. We'll see who the contenders are for the Heisman - I hope it's me. I'm going to do everything I can to be there, but I'm a team guy, so I'm going to do everything I can to help my team win."

"I want to kill everything in front of me, so that doesn't really motivate me. I want to win regardless," said Corum.

Michigan (3-0) plays host to Rutgers next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.