HOUSTON — A year ago, Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy stood on the sideline of the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Arizona after TCU clinched a berth in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship. I watched as purple confetti flew down.
“I’ll be back,” McCarthy said in the postgame press conference. “I promise you that.” And he went out.
This was McCarthy’s first loss in his career at the University of Michigan, and a heartbreaking loss for the team. From the first team meeting in January after losing in the Fiesta Bowl, Michigan was different. The training was even more intense. The bond has become stronger. Many players who could have been selected for the NFL draft returned for another year of eligibility in search of the program’s first national championship in more than 25 years.
373 days later, No. 1 Michigan State defeated No. 2 Washington State, 34-13, to become national champions for the first time in the BCS or College Football Playoff era.
“To accomplish something like this, you have to go to a dark place where everything goes wrong,” McCarthy said after his win. “The reaction after the last game last year, the sense of urgency was different. I knew it. I knew the guys that were coming back. I felt like we were going to be where we are now.”
Its resilience was stress tested during a truly unique run. University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has been suspended twice for a total of six games due to NCAA and Big Ten investigations into illegal scouting and a ban on recruiting and coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. (which means he coached the team for only 60% of the season). Michigan State in 1952 was the last time among all programs that the coach of an AP National Championship winning team appeared in fewer than nine games. difference? The Spartans played nine games of the season instead of 15.
Michigan’s undefeated title run ended in early November, hours before a high-profile game against Penn State when Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy during sign-stealing. When he found out about his condition on Twitter, he faced a new obstacle. scandal. That led to lawsuits and infighting with the University of Michigan’s conference, leaving innocent players targeted.
“At one point, you couldn’t even turn on social media without seeing us on the news,” defensive lineman Kenneth Grant said. “It was really crazy. Personally, I didn’t even want to be on social media anymore.”
The players gathered before the Penn State game and decided enough was enough. The program was fixed. No matter who led the program on an interim basis, whether it was offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore or running backs coach Mike Hart (or safeties coach Jay Harbaugh), one thing remained the same: , it was excellence. The Wolverines were the only team in college football to get there by winning every game in their schedule and defeating four of the top 10 teams in the final CFP rankings.
Early in the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff National Championship, the University of Michigan had a season-defining moment. The Wolverines took an early lead, but it disappeared. Michigan got the ball back with 9 minutes and 15 seconds left in the game, and Washington was within one point.
From that moment on, Michigan pounced like a leopard, as Coach Harbaugh often shows his team before big games in a nature documentary. McCarthy scored on a 41-yard catch-and-run over tight end Colston Loveland, setting a school record for Blake Collum’s 26th touchdown run in a season. On the next drive, senior defensive back Mike Sainristil took an errant pass from Michael Penix Jr. and returned it 81 yards deep in the red zone. This play will be looped in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the next 100 years. Two plays later, Colm scored touchdown number 27 and the rout began.
“We’ve played in a lot of big games and we’ve played in a lot of close games,” Loveland said. “We have a lot of experience in close games. We have a lot of older players who have experienced close games. They know how everything works and what it takes to win. .”
The University of Michigan has 16 starters returning for the 2022 Fiesta Bowl. The 14 starters for Monday’s CFP title faced Georgia in the 2021 Orange Bowl semifinals, losing 34-11. This team’s DNA was forged by the fires of failure.
“That’s our mindset,” Sainristil said. “We just wanted to get this thing done.”
On a stormy night with a leaky roof and lightning strikes in Houston, Michigan won its first national championship since 1997 and its first in the title game era. This time when the confetti fell it was maize and blue. Instead of standing alone as a witness, McCarthy was surrounded by his family and teammates as he hoisted the elusive rectangular trophy.
“No high school has ever won 1,000 games,” Harbaugh said. “No other university has achieved 1,000 wins. No other professional team has achieved 1,000 wins. It’s the University of Michigan. To achieve 1,000 wins and win the national championship in the same year is even more amazing. I’d love to hear from you.
“Who can do it better than us?” Harbaugh continued. “Nobody!”
