As return trip to Columbus looms, Donovan Edwards is defined by more than one game in 2022

It’s hard to forget Donovan Edwards’ last trip to Columbus. 

22 carries, 216 yards, two touchdowns. With star running back Blake Corum injured, Edwards stepped up. The then-sophomore running back’s two fourth-quarter scores — from 75 and 85 yards out, respectively — are forever etched in the history of The Game, sealing the Michigan football team’s first win in Columbus in over two decades. 

For many, that 2022 iteration of The Game is when Edwards officially became a “Michigan legend.” For many, it’s his defining moment in a Wolverines uniform, and a moment that set expectations for Edwards that he hasn’t always met in his two seasons since. 

But for Edwards, as good as that Saturday in 2022 might have been for him, it doesn’t define him or his time at Michigan. 

“To me it doesn’t really matter, because I have a body of work that I’ve put on display,” Edwards said Tuesday. “Ultimately, one play or one game doesn’t define who I am. Inside Schembechler Hall, people know who I am as a man, who I am as a person. That’s what matters the most to me.”

In his four years with the Wolverines, that’s something that Edwards has grappled with finding. He felt the weight of the expectations that came with that electrifying sophomore campaign, and with a quiet junior year, he didn’t live up to them. 

Edwards’ talent shined through in the National Championship, and he finally broke through by scoring two touchdowns. But just like a 2022 game against Ohio State doesn’t define him, that success doesn’t define him either. Edwards grew through the adversity he faced from someone who expected to jump to the NFL at his first opportunity to a mature leader who’s stuck around even as the going has gotten tough this season. 

“It’s not the year I wanted to have,” Edwards said of his senior season, in which he has tallied 578 yards and four touchdowns. “ It’s not what I wanted to be, you know, just statistically wise. But I’m proud of how I’ve been able to carry myself and the leader that I’ve become and having the respect from the guys that surround me.

“Was it always pretty or perfect? No. Have I missed pass protections? Absolutely. But that’s a part of the game, and I’m not perfect. I’m a human being.”

While Edwards may have let himself get down over his struggles in the past, that hasn’t been the case this year. Taking on a leadership role as one of Michigan’s captains this season, he hasn’t let the ups and downs of a 6-5 season get to him. According to senior fullback Max Bredeson, Edwards’ fellow captain, you’d never be able to tell how Edwards’ day went because he’s always in a good mood around the building. 

As Edwards prepares to return to Columbus, he of course wants to help the Wolverines win the biggest game of their season and to help his team beat its biggest rivals. But he’s not focused on the individual aspect of it, or what it would mean for his personal legacy at Michigan, And he’s definitely not looking back to 2022 and putting those expectations on himself again. 

“It’s not trying to replicate anything for me,” Edwards said.  It’s just doing what we have to do to win the football game. I found myself trying to be something I was in the past, and that past is over. So I have to look forward to what’s going to be.”

So yes, it’s hard to forget what Edwards did during his last trip to Columbus. But as he prepares to suit up as a Wolverine for likely the last time Saturday, Edwards wants to be remembered for so much more than just that one game. 

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