Last year J.J McCarthy said Michigan would be back better than ever. After back-to-back semifinal heartbreakers, Michigan was indeed back and this time on a bigger stage than they were the year before, in the College Football Playoff national championship game.
The Wolverines had their two toughest games of the season before the championship, making their path extremely difficult. In their final regular season game during rivalry week, they narrowly escaped their toughest test of the season against Ohio State in “The Game”. The following week the Wolverines handily beat Iowa in the Big Ten championship to solidify themselves as the top seed in the College Football Playoffs.
Michigan made the playoff, but had to face a rather unexpected opponent than they thought, against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Despite all the doubt surrounding McCarthy and Michigan before the game, they still hung on for a hard-fought, one score win. After beating two top five teams in three games, the Wolverines were seemingly destined for glory.
After the semifinal win against Alabama, McCarthy was reminded of his vow he made after their second straight semifinal loss last season, which was to fight for more than just a semifinal berth.
“The fight started week one” he responded, “I feel like we just did a tremendous job of responding to all that [adversity] and pushing through, and we’ve got one more game left, so the job is not finished yet.”
The job was in fact “not finished” as the undefeated Washington Huskies awaited in the CFP title game, the only thing left standing between Michigan and its first championship in 26 years.
Come Monday night, all eyes were tuned into the national championship game, and the stage was set with Michigan and Washington. The game had the potential to be a classic, with the fact that they were not only the lone undefeated teams remaining, but also that they were the top two ranked teams in the country.
Running Back Donovan Edwards got things started early for Michigan with two explosive touchdown runs, leading them to an early 14-3 lead. Late in the second quarter, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. responded with a touchdown pass, cutting the lead to only 17-10 heading into the locker room.
After halftime, Michigan’s star defender Will Johnson intercepted Penix’s first throw of the half, a massive shift in the game which led to a Michigan field goal.
The Huskies managed to keep things within a score until midway through the fourth quarter, when Michigan’s Blake Corum went for two touchdowns, the final blow being a one yard touchdown run with 3:37 to go in the game.
The mentality which McCarthy and the Wolverines held that the job was still unfinished, remained all the way through the final whistle of their entire season. Michigan won big, 34-13, ending the ten year era of the four team playoff.
When asked about his late heroics Corum praised his team as a whole. “God gave me the faith…We came back as a team, we came back as brothers, and this is what we came back for. We came back to get a natty, we came back to win for Michigan, and we did it. I’m just so blessed.”
Corum’s late touchdowns propelled him to offensive player of the game honors. Himself and his backfield counterpart Donovan Edwards led the Wolverines to an all-time national championship game record, 303 rushing yards.
Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh also held high praise for his squad, speaking about the significance of their season after the game, and the mark they will leave on the history of Michigan football.
“This was a spectacular team. And I would just say there are over a hundred Michigan men that are on this team in uniform tonight. And what they’ve done for the last 372 days is amazing. They’re champions. Simply known as national champions.”
The biggest question over the off-season for Wolverine fans will be if coach Harbaugh decides to stay with them, or return to the NFL with a team in need of a new head coach and turnaround. Michigan’s status as an elite title contender would be hurt barring a departure from Harbaugh, so the team and fans will hope that their title-winning coach will stay for at least one more year.
Meanwhile for the runner-up Huskies, they finish with a very respectable 14-1 record under second year head coach Kalen DeBoer. Winning is nothing new for DeBoer, who has a record of 104-12 with several different teams at the collegiate level.
The inevitable departure of Michael Penix Jr. will leave shoes almost surely too big to fill for Washington, so they will be hoping new faces will step up and fill roles of Penix and other key starters who will be leaving as well.
Washington will be hoping that their somewhat surprising run to the championship is a sign of even bigger things to come, and lead to years of success in the near future.
