The Michigan Wolverines ended their decade-long losing streak and became college football national champions with a 34-13 victory over the Washington Huskies. While the opponent disappointed a promising draft prospect, head coach Jim Harbaugh won his first major title.
Washington vs. Michigan: At a glance
- The Michigan Wolverines did their thing and dominated on the floor en route to their first championship since 1997.
- Draft prospect quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had a generally weak day with two interceptions, costing his team the chance of a possible comeback.
- Jim Harbaugh celebrated the first major title of his coaching career.
Washington vs. Michigan: The Analysis
Anyone who only watched the first 17 minutes of this game will have gotten the impression that Michigan had everything under control here. The Wolverines dominated with their run game and brutally punished disorder in the Huskies’ front line. Donovan Edwards opened with a 41-yard touchdown and after a red zone drive by Washington that ended with a short field goal, things happened very quickly for Michigan: just four plays later, Edwards marched unstoppably towards the end zone again, this time over the 46 yards.
A punt by the Huskies was followed by Michigan’s third score. This time they settled for a 31-yard field goal, but that was preceded by another long run. Blake Corum ran for 59 yards into the red zone. However, for some reason there they tried to do it through the air, which was unsuccessful.
As a result, Washington recovered a little, but was initially unable to score because Michael Penix Jr., under pressure, missed a wide-open Rome Odunze on a go route including busted coverage by the Wolverines on 4th down, thus ending a promising drive. However, the Huskies defense stayed in control afterwards and stopped the momentum of the Big Ten champions. After a turnover on downs by Michigan, the time had finally come: Washington found the end zone.
You increased the pace, threw faster, shorter passes and got into the swing of things better. 42 seconds before halftime, Penix finally found Jalen McMillan for three yards in the end zone to make the score 10:17 at halftime.
Washington vs. Michigan: Penix interceptions seal defeat
However, the second half began with an interception from Penix to Will Johnson on the first play after the break. But Michigan only punished this to a limited extent. After two false starts and again unsuccessful pass attempts, only James Turner’s second field goal was ultimately on the cards. The Huskies responded with a 45-yard field goal from Grady Gross, prompting a defensive battle that lasted into the fourth quarter.
Apart from a few isolated pinpricks here and there, no offense really made any progress and we saw six punts in a row. Only a 41-yard laser from JJ McCarthy to tight end Colston Loveland broke the spell and breathed new life into Michigan’s offense. Shortly afterwards, Corum ran twelve yards for the touchdown that made the preliminary decision.
The decision ultimately came down to cornerback Mike Sainristil, who caught an interception on 4th & 13 deep in his own half and carried the ball back over 80 yards to just before the other end zone. Shortly afterwards, Corum finally put the lid on the game with his second touchdown.
It is the twelfth national championship title for Michigan and the first since 1997. It is also the first title for head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is only the second coach alongside Pete Carroll (USC, Seahawks) to win both a Super Bowl and a National Championship Game in college football.
#2 Washington Huskies (14-1) vs. #1 Michigan Wolverines (15-0)
Result: 13:34 (3:14, 7:3, 3:3, 0:14) BOX SCORE
Washington vs. Michigan: The most important statistics
- It was magical: Michigan was extremely effective on early downs, but had no luck on 3rd down. In ten attempts, only one new 1st down was achieved on 3rd down. They also missed their only attempt on 4th down. But Washington was also only marginally better on 3rd down (2-14).
- Michigan has now held its opponents to fewer than 25 points in 15 games. The last time Minnesota did that was in 1903.
The Star of the Game: Run Game (Michigan)
It is the Wolverines’ great strength and they demonstrated that against Washington. Both Edwards and Corum (2 TD each) each ran for more than 100 yards and McCarthy also showed his dynamism on the ground towards the end. As a team, they had 303 rushing yards. Washington was able to stop the Wolverines’ run at times, but they still did the most damage.
The flop of the game: Michael Penix Jr. (quarterback, Washington)
The Heisman finalist didn’t have his best day in his final game for Washington. He consistently missed open receivers for potential chunk plays and missed others in critical situations, whether or not he was under pressure. His two interceptions were also his responsibility, the second one finally broke his team’s neck. It was clear from the start that the Huskies could only keep up if Penix reached his top form. But that wasn’t the case.
Analysis: Washington vs. Michigan – that stood out tactically
- The Wolverines had a lot of success with the run game at the beginning, which was mainly due to the fact that they attacked the gaps against the Huskies’ mostly easy boxes and Washington simply wasn’t particularly disciplined here. In some cases, individual gaps were covered twice, others not at all. In addition, the Huskies’ front usually pounced on the running back’s first move, which, especially in Edwards’ case, found gaping holes after a cut and with a lot of patience.
- A lot of shifts and pre-snap motion were also helpful, which further unsettled the Washington defense. They played a lot of nickel, a lot of off-coverage and sometimes even cover-4, especially in the red zone. As the game progressed, they switched to more press coverage, which helped limit underneath throws. They also made fewer mistakes against the run by appearing more organized and guarding the gaps better.
- Michigan barely blitzed, especially in the beginning, and relied on its four-man front for the pass rush. Behind them, they relied on 2-high looks and often also on cover-3 and often dropped seven players into coverage, which Washington took advantage of quite late in the first half with faster, shorter passes. The run game, however, did not benefit from such easy boxes because the D-line was very dominant and quickly closed any gaps.
- One tool that helped Washington stop the run in the second half was run blitzes that led to tackles in the backfield. In general, they defended more aggressively and read the game better, for example on screens where safeties were ready to tackle very quickly.