A pretty good title game with the University of Michigan always in the lead when iconic running back Blake Collum, a bulwark of physical strength, coursed into the end zone on a 12-yard run with 7:09 left. It went from one-sided to close to almost decisive. At 27-13. Great defensive back Mike Sainristil then made an 81-yard interception return for another touchdown, drawing an even bigger boom from the majority of Michigan’s 72,808 fans at NRG Stadium. Michigan (15-0) will win on its old-school strength, reflected in its 303 rushing yards, including 134 yards from Colm and 104 yards with two long touchdowns from Donovan Edwards. .
That reflection, often undesirably gnarled or bloody, was also evident in the numbers of Washington’s decorated quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who played in a stunning Sugar Bowl national semifinal against Texas. I just couldn’t find the precision to shine. On a night when they completed 27 of 51, Michigan’s secondary showed deft tackling, often for short yards, when they could almost always find receivers on short balls. Washington’s point total (14-1) was its lowest point of the season under second-year coach Karen DeBoer.
All of this has helped the Wolverines’ program go from 168-91 (.648) from 2000 to 2020 to 49-22 (.690) in notable alumnus and coach Jim Harbaugh’s first six seasons. ), which means that they now have 40 wins and 3 losses. (.930) They have qualified for the College Football Playoff each of the last three seasons, and this time they won the title.
Corum, who was chosen as the attacking player for this match, celebrated his victory from the podium immediately after winning the title. “With this, I bid farewell to you all. Business done!” the running back said.
Harbaugh brought his father, Jack, who coached Western Kentucky University to the 2002 Football Championship Subdivision national championship, to the podium. Jack Harbaugh, 84, took the microphone and repeated his son’s trademark, saying: “Who can do it better than us?” the remaining Michigan crowd roared, followed by Jim Harbaugh. It’s a great team. ”
Late in the season, the team defeated three teams ranked in the top four at the time: Ohio State, Alabama, and Washington State.
The Wolverines are also dealing with Michigan State’s own scandal — a famous incident exposed by Yahoo Sports in late October — in which Michigan staff members carried out an elaborate scheme to steal signs from future opponents. In a season that was full of commotion, we overcame a lot of noise to get here. A 30 year old rule by the NCAA. The NCAA is continuing its investigation without saying how it will affect the final title standings.
As the final game began, and the Michigan-dominated Washington crowd was barely settling in, the Wolverines began roaring through the gaping lanes. These early plays helped Michigan’s offense, which isn’t the program’s hottest unit at the moment, hogging the spotlight with trouble-free drives of 84 and 86 yards and leading the way in first quarter yardage. They raced out to a 229-74 advantage, making the Huskies unusually unhappy.
First, after a series of short but forward-moving plays, the third member of the running back corps, Michigan’s Karel Mullins, broke through the middle and easily gained 14 yards to Washington’s own 37-yard line. Then, after quarterback JJ McCarthy took a 4-yard sack, Edwards darted toward the middle, found an unwanted five-man mass there, bounced to his left, and opened up the end zone inside the left pylon. The sack proved harmless as it began moving through rough terrain.
To make matters worse for Washington, at 7-3, Michigan’s next possession looked easy. First, McCarthy threw a pinpoint ball deep into the right corner to Roman Wilson for 37 yards to the Washington 46. Later, on another play, Edwards started slightly to the left, but he didn’t like the scene there and just rushed to the basket. The right to undisturbed territory. He scored another touchdown 46 yards from the field, gaining 87 yards on two carries and giving Michigan 178 rushing yards on eight carries in the first quarter to give the Wolverines a 14-3 lead. We carried it into the second quarter.
Perhaps the signs of defeat didn’t match the mismatch in Georgia’s 65-7 win over TCU in suburban Los Angeles last January, but the final play of the first quarter nonetheless highlights it. It looked like it was. That’s when Colm, the mainstay of Michigan’s runners, saw himself merrily running through the middle, then turned to his left and roamed free, climbing 59 yards up the sideline all by himself. This caused Michigan’s noise to reach untold decibels, but Thaddeus Dixon caught Colm at the Washington 20, and the Huskies thwarted Jabbar Muhammad’s excellent defense on a short pass on third down. The score remained 17-3 for him instead of 21-3.
“It was just a misfit,” Washington linebacker Edejuan Ulofosio said of the defense on those plays, later saying, “They fixed it, but you can’t make explosive mistakes like that in a game like this.” Told.
At this early stage, Penix seemed perhaps overly excited. His extremely accurate performance in the Sugar Bowl national semifinal against Texas, where he went 29 of 38 for 430 yards, left him with two notable groaners that may cause some winces for a while. The first, less painful, third-and-goal pass to the back of the end zone went to great wide receiver Roman Odunze. The pass went over Odunze’s hands. The second, more painful, came early in the second quarter when Washington converted a fourth-and-7 from Michigan’s own 47-yard line. In that case, Penix retreated to find Odunze running free behind two defenders in the deep right corner, but the throw deflected wide to the right and Odunze twisted his body to the left before continuing I barely touched it.
Penix said he was “hurt” in the aftermath, quickly adding, “There was just a lot of love in the locker room.”
Still, the Huskies clearly weren’t the type to embrace blowouts. The Huskies set up 4:43 before halftime and took 11 plays to go 61 yards as the team rallied and Urofosio’s defense blocked the Washington 38’s fourth-and-3 try. On fourth down from third down, which even made fans flutter again, Penix threw to Jalen McMillan in the back of the end zone, creating a seemingly improbable 17-10 halftime score.
