Kalel Mullings keeps going steady in first offensive start with 111 yards, 2 touchdowns

Kalel Mullings didn’t change anything. 

Told by Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford that he would start on offense for the first time in his career on Saturday, the graduate running back prepared the exact same way he does for any game. Mullings didn’t fret at the fact that he would take the first snap, or that he might get an increased workload. 

“For me, I keep everything the same,” Mullings said. “I’m always preparing like I’m going to start, like I’m going to be playing every single snap of the game. So nothing really has to change, for me it’s just continuing to do the same thing I do every day.”

By not changing anything before the game, Mullings made sure he didn’t change anything during it, either. He rushed for 111 yards and two scores — his third-straight week with over 100 yards and two touchdowns — guiding the 12th-ranked Wolverines to a narrow victory over Minnesota. Mullings also touched the ball 24 times, compared to 11 touches for senior running back Donovan Edwards, stepping into a true lead-back role for the first time.

Mullings first drive as Michigan’s starting running back wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done. His first three rushes totaled just 2 yards, but the Wolverines moved the ball down the field without him. And when graduate offensive lineman Josh Priebe gave him a little extra space to maneuver, Mullings broke through, running 27 yards untouched to put Michigan on the board first. 

That steady first drive characterized Mullings’ day. He didn’t break off as many big runs as he has in weeks past, and he averaged just 4.6 yards a carry. But he constantly ran hard, fought for extra yards and softened up the Golden Gophers’ defense enough to keep the Wolverines’ offense moving. 

Nowhere was that more apparent than on a fourth-and-1 on Michigan’s own 34-yard line in the third quarter. Multiple Minnesota rushers broke through the Wolverines’ offensive line, leaving Mullings stuffed behind the line of scrimmage — until Mullings refused to go down. He instead spun away from the mess of tacklers and fell 3 yards forward, across the line to gain. 

Thanks to Mullings’ second effort, Michigan avoided giving the Gophers premier field position, and the Wolverines’ drive continued far enough down the field for them to kick a field goal — ultimately the deciding margin of the game. 

“He’s an absolute dude,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “Another 100-yard rushing performance, and obviously his first start, but … he’s going to be who he is. He just willed himself to some of those first downs. … He’s unbelievable in the backfield, and we gotta keep feeding him the ball.”

And even when the Wolverines didn’t explicitly hand him the ball, Mullings came up with it in his hands in one of the biggest moments of the game.

After Minnesota’s first onside kick attempt was successful, but called back due to an offside penalty, Michigan needed someone to step up. The Wolverines led by just three points with 1:37 left in the game, and they had failed to prevent touchdowns on the Gophers’ prior three drives. Another successful onside kick, sans offside penalty, would have turned a precarious situation even more shaky for Michigan.

But Mullings didn’t let that happen. He didn’t wait for the ball to come to him, instead falling forward once more to cover it up. With the ball in his hands, Mullings sealed the game.

“After the first one, I knew he was probably going to do the same thing, so I was a little more aggressive with it,” Mullings said. “I got it before it even got to 10 (yards), and just called it a day.”

Though he didn’t change anything leading up to it, Mullings had a special day Saturday, with another strong rushing performance in his first offensive start. And when the Wolverines needed a steadying presence to finally end the day, Mullings was the one who did that, too.

The post Kalel Mullings keeps going steady in first offensive start with 111 yards, 2 touchdowns appeared first on The Michigan Daily.


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