In a cavernous and crestfallen Michigan locker room, amid the stunned silence of a dream season gone unexpectedly and unfathomably awry, an unlikely protagonist waited for the inquest he knew was coming. Inch by inch, reporters tiptoed closer and closer to running back Kalel Mullings, a converted linebacker whose goal-line fumble in the second quarter had swung momentum even further toward the emboldened underdogs from Texas Christian. The media members danced around the ball security-shaped elephant in the room with questions about the stunning nature of the Wolverines‘ second consecutive loss in the College Football Playoff semifinals and about Mullings’ move to tailback following a season-ending knee injury to starter Blake Corum.
But the unavoidable questions could only be avoided for so long. And soon enough, the painful subject was delicately broached: What happened on the botched handoff between quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Mullings, who was aligned as a fullback in a three-point stance and then lost the ball in a pile of bodies when Michigan faced first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, a double-figure deficit already showing on the State Farm Stadium scoreboard?
“I just went to take the handoff like usual,” Mullings said. “I didn’t really get it too cleanly. I kinda went to put it away and fall forward for that half yard, really. And then it just slipped, obviously. And then it took me like — I didn’t even process that the ball had — it was so fast that, like, I didn’t even process that the ball was on the ground. By the time I went to go try and get it, they’re D1 football players, too. If the football is on the ground, they’re gonna hop on that.”
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And sure enough, they did. The Horned Frogs recovered Mullings’ fumble in the end zone for a touchback that robbed Michigan of its best scoring opportunity in a lopsided first half. Another touchdown from TCU extended the lead to 18 points by the 4:56 mark of the second quarter in a game the Wolverines never led, their undoing largely attributed to self-inflicted wounds: questionable playcalling, unusual substitution patterns from running backs coach Mike Hart, two pick-6s thrown by McCarthy, a mistimed snap with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, and the mishandled goal-line exchange with Mullings. When it finally ended after nearly five hours of real time, the Horned Frogs advanced to the national championship game with an unforgettable 51-45 win.
That Mullings stood dutifully by his locker and faced the music spoke volumes on an evening that was unquestionably among the most painful of his career. He politely fielded questions from any and all media members who sought an explanation for his fumble, even as some of his more prominent Michigan teammates — most notably McCarthy, who had thrown two interceptions and fumbled twice in the most turnover-prone game of his career — refused to fulfill their postgame responsibilities. It was Mullings who personified accountability.
All of which has made Mullings’ early-season redemptive arc in 2024 that much more satisfying for a player who changed positions multiple times, alternating between linebacker and running back during the first few years of his career, before finally earning his place as the No. 1 tailback in a run-heavy, run-dependent Michigan offense that would suddenly be lost without him. Mullings carried 17 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s pulsating win over No. 11 USC, including a breathtaking 63-yarder in which he broke tackles, dragged defenders and willed the stagnant Wolverines toward the end zone for an eventual game-winning score. He leads the team in carries (53), rushing yards (429) and rushing touchdowns (four) through the first four weeks of the season.
“He can take it the distance, as he’s shown,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said after Saturday’s win. “He can run you over. He’s just done everything for us. He’s a great pass protector. He’s been incredible. Last year he averaged 6 yards a carry. So it’s not a surprise with how good he is and what he’s done. But to see him take the next steps and really make those explosive plays [is awesome]. And when the game is on the line, he wants the ball in his hands and he makes plays happen. He’s a star. He’s a game-breaker.”
The quote from Moore is one that, a few months ago, most fans might have expected would be attached to Donovan Edwards, the former five-star recruit who appeared poised to inherit the workhorse role once Corum’s career concluded. After all, it was Edwards who had exploded for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the national championship game against Washington. And it was Edwards who rampaged for 520 combined yards and three combined touchdowns in games against Ohio State, Purdue and TCU to conclude the 2022 season after Corum tore his meniscus and underwent surgery.
But despite entering the year as Michigan’s unquestioned lead back — and being voted a team captain along the way — Edwards has been the statistically less-effective runner than the 6-foot-2, 233-pound Mullings in three of the Wolverines’ first four games:
The production Mullings managed against USC was particularly herculean given the Wolverines’ change in quarterback from Davis Warren, a pocket passer, to Alex Orji, a non-vertical threat. So limited was Michigan’s downfield passing attack with Orji running the offense that it wasn’t until the team’s final drive that he finally completed a pass for more than 9 yards. Instead, Moore and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell entrusted Mullings to carry the ball eight times for 83 yards on what proved to be the game-winning possession, even as the Trojans understandably stacked the box with defenders who knew Michigan was unlikely to pass.
“I just feel like that’s just a representation of who we are, you know?” Mullings said after the game. “Always straining until the very end. Throughout that drive, you know, it was just grit and grinding out. We like to say, ‘grinding meat.’ We were just grinding meat that whole time, killing the clock and getting down there.
“Shout out to the O-line, shout out to [H-back Max Bredeson], shout out to everyone, man, clearing out holes. And we were just able to execute. At the end of the day, a lot of football is about what you do when you face adversity, so it feels good to be able to face some adversity and overcome it.”
The punishing 10-play, 89-yard drive that won Michigan the game underscored key differences between the running styles of Mullings and Edwards, with the former appearing to be better suited to anchor the offense, regardless of who plays quarterback for the remainder of the season. Mullings churned out 5.65 yards per carry after contact against a revitalized and revamped Trojans defense coordinated by D’Anton Lynn. And he’s averaging 5.3 yards per carry after contact across the Wolverines’ first four games, which ranks fourth nationally behind Ashton Jeanty of Boise State (6.3), Kaleb Johnson of Iowa (5.8) and Jonah Coleman of Washington (5.4). Edwards, meanwhile, is averaging 2.9 yards after contact per carry, including a lowly 1.6 against the run-minded USC defense.
Even Moore couldn’t deny what has become obvious for the outside world to see when asked if Mullings should be the team’s No. 1 tailback against Minnesota on Saturday (Noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App) and beyond.
“I think he earned the right to be in that conversation and talk about it, have those conversations with both of those guys,” Moore said earlier this week. “But those are the things we’ll talk about with them. Kalel played a heck of a game, and you can’t deny the effect that he had on the game. So we’ll just have those conversations as an offense.”
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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