Michigan Wolverines Wins 2024 National Championship
Written by quietmoneyradio_admin on January 9, 2024
The No. 1 Michigan Wolverines used a punishing rushing attack to down the No. 2 Washington Huskies 34-13 in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship game at NRG Stadium in Houston.
It is the first national title since 1997 for Michigan and 10th overall NCAA football crown for the winningest program in college football history.
Michigan (15-0), which became the first college football program to reach 1,000 all-time wins earlier this season, rushed for 303 yards and four touchdowns as a team in handing Washington its first loss of the season.
Washington struggled to get much going on offense for much of the first half until Huskies quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Penix Jr. connected with Jalen McMillan for a 3-yard touchdown pass on fourth and goal with under a minute left in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 17-10.
The defenses from both teams tightened in the second half as each side exchanged field goals early in the third quarter before forcing punts on six consecutive drives.
Michigan added an insurance score on a Blake Corum 12-yard run halfway through the fourth quarter to take a 27-13 lead.
With Washington needing a score to keep themselves in the game, the Michigan defense came up with arguably the play of the game as Mike Sainristil intercepted a Penix Jr. pass and returned it for 81 yards to set up a second Corum touchdown.
Corum finished the game with 134 rushing yards on 21 carries with the two touchdowns, while Edwards added 104 rushing yards on six carries and two touchdowns to power the Wolverines ground game.
Michigan’s national championship caps a season filled with controversy off the field for the Wolverines.
The NCAA credits Michigan with 10 football championships, while Michigan claims 12. The 1932 and 1947 titles that Michigan counts as winning are not recognized by the NCAA.
“It couldn’t have gone better. It went exactly how we wanted it to go, to win every game,” Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters after the game.
In the battle of the nation’s last two undefeated teams, Michigan got the scoring started early, when Wolverines running back Donovan Edwards broke out for a 41-yard rushing touchdown on the game’s first drive. Edwards doubled the Wolverines’ score on the team’s next offensive drive after busting a 46-yard touchdown run to put Michigan ahead 14-3 in the first quarter.
Edwards’ two touchdowns are the second- and third-longest touchdown runs in CFP championship game history, trailing only Alabama’s Derrick Henry’s 50-yard score in 2016.
