The number one ranked team in the college football scene, Michigan, sealed off a perfect 15-0 season on January 9, 2024, by capturing their first national championship since 1997, in a 34-13 victory over #2 Washington. The domination began early as Michigan tallied 174 rushing yards in the first quarter, along with two touchdown runs by breakout star Donovan Edwards. The Wolverines surged from there, maintaining a lead the entire game, with Washington sitting a score or two behind the entire time.
Hope seemed lost as, despite Washington's late touchdown before halftime to bring the halftime tally to 17-10 Michigan, Washington's Heisman finalist quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was miraculously intercepted by Will Johnson on the first play of the half. Michigan's defensive unit proved to be too much for Washington in the game through the second half, as it became a dogfight between Washington and Michigan's defenses to avoid allowing their opponents points. A 12-yard touchdown run with 7:09 left in the 4th by Michigan runningback Blake Corum sealed the lid on the title, giving Michigan a hopeful two-score lead. Michigan would win their tenth program championship, becoming the second Big Ten team to win a title in the CFP era.
Blake Corum would be named the game's Offensive MVP with two touchdowns under 134 rushing yards. Yet the impact of Donovan Edwards was also notable, as he "started off the game by electrifying NRG Stadium with 41- and 46-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter, becoming the first player since the BCS launched in 1998 to have multiple 40-yard touchdown runs in a championship game."The two runningbacks combined for 27 carries, 238 rushing yards, and 4 touchdowns in the game. ESPN states, "Edwards averaged just 28.1 yards in 14 games this year before Monday night's performance. He had only three touchdowns, tying the three he had two years ago as a freshman when he had just 35 carries all season. He reached the 50-yard mark just twice this season, with exactly 50 yards on nine carries against Bowling Green and 52 yards on 10 attempts against Penn State. His longest carry of the season was 22 yards."
Michael Penix Jr., the talk of the town before the season, due to his Heisman-worthy season and his part in leading Washington to 21 straight wins leading into the Championship, only threw for 255 yards and finished with a 53% completion rate in the big game. The performance was his third-fewest passing yards of the season.
"They're a good team. We just didn't execute in the moments when we needed to," Penix said, as reported by ESPN. "It's just about executing. I don't feel like they did anything -- I feel like we beat ourselves.
Michigan opened up its 2023 campaign in infamy. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended from the sideline for the first three games of the season due to recruitment violations from the 2020 season. A sign-stealing scandal and investigation would follow suit, as well as the controversial dismissal of staff member Connor Stallions for the sign-stealing, and Harbaugh was imposed another three-game suspension by the Big Ten. The high-ranked Michigan team was also going into the year after a major upset by TCU in the National Semifinals. The "Michigan versus Everybody" mentality, paired with the "Free Harbaugh" campaign added a national fuel to the fire that was the 2023 Michigan Wolverines.
The Wolverines would become the fourth 15-0 team in NCAA football since Clemson first did it in 2018. Jim Harbaugh would allude success to the scandals surrounding the season. "It went exactly how we wanted it to go to win every game," Harbaugh stated, as reported by ESPN. "The off-the-field issues, we're innocent and we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. And I'd like to point that out. These guys are innocent. Overcome that ... it wasn't that hard because we knew we were innocent."
"I'd say we came a long way, but in order to accomplish things like this, you've got to go to those dark places where everything's not great," Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy said. "And just the response, the urgency right after that last game last year, it was different. I knew it. Just from being on the podium last year and saying we would be back. I knew the guys that were coming back. I had this feeling that it was going to be where we are right now."
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