Blake Corum stepped off the bus at the Rose Bowl wearing a Barry Sanders jersey. Then he scored two touchdowns in Michigan's thrilling victory over Alabama on Monday, including the game-winner in overtime on a run Sanders would have been proud of.
This wasn't just a nod to one of the greatest running backs of all time. Corum considers Sanders a key influence in how he runs the ball himself.
Asked this week which running back has shaped his game the most, Corum said, "There’s a lot, but I wore his jersey the other day so I gotta say his name: Barry Sanders."
"That’s who I watched the most, just how elusive he was, how he could take nothing and turn it into something. In my opinion the greatest running back ever," Corum told Robert Griffin III on his podcast RG3 and The Ones.
"And then you go to the mindset, I try to have the mindset of Beast Mode, Marshawn Lynch -- just run through a mug, over and over again," Corum said. "I try to have that mindset, Barry Sanders’ elusiveness and then my own little taste to it, but those are the two I like to watch the most, Beast Mode and Barry Sanders. I just try to grab a little from (each) and turn it into my own thing."
It's been working for Corum, whose 17-yard touchdown Monday in overtime on which he broke a couple tackles like Barry gave him sole possession of the Michigan record for all-time rushing touchdowns with 56, passing former national champ Anthony Thomas. Corum has a chance to join Thomas as an immortal next Monday against Washington.