The Michigan Wolverines are one game away from their first individual national title since 1948, but they’ll have to get by the Washington Huskies and their fearsome passing offense to do it. Head coach Jim Harbaugh and his team are the No. 1 team in the country and favored by multiple points in the big showdown, but where does Michigan have the biggest advantage?
The Wolverines showcased their strengths throughout their undefeated season with statement wins over Penn State and Ohio State, and they finally got to show their resilience in a Rose Bowl comeback over Alabama. Here are the different ingredients Michigan needs to rely upon or prove to walk away with the program’s first College Football Playoffs National Championship trophy.
Washington has only allowed 11 sacks in their 14 games this season, and their offensive line was awarded as the best in the nation this year for their ability to protect quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The Wolverines showed they can absolutely wreck an opposing offense in Pasadena, as Michigan’s defensive line pressured Jalen Milroe on 12 of his 35 dropbacks and combined for six sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter kept faking pressure and bringing different blitzers to change the picture, making it impossible for the Crimson Tide to adjust. Penix handles muddy pockets much better than Milroe does, but star pass rushers like Mason Graham and Kris Jenkins could prevent the Huskies from throwing downfield as often as they’d like.
The Michigan running back has done two things better than anyone else in the country this season: find the end zone and move the sticks. Corum compiled 1,111 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns through 14 games this season, and a large portion of his prominence comes when he’s only a few yards away from success. PFF credits Corum as one of just seven Power 5 running backs to convert more than 70 first downs this season, and he’s the only one in the group with fewer than 250 carries. He landed the knockout punch against the Crimson Tide with a 17-yard rumble into the end zone in which he bounced off of at least four defenders. Michigan’s offense relies on staying ahead of the sticks, and Corum can keep turning third and 2 or third and 3 into first downs.
Washington has three future NFL receivers in its offense right now, including a future lottery pick in Rome Odunze. The Huskies average 350.0 yards per game through the air. It’s strength-on-strength, however, as the Wolverines allow just 150.0 yards per game. Washington will be Michigan’s toughest test yet, but the defense held a successful Alabama passing attack to just 116 yards on 23 attempts. Only two teams have thrown for more than 200 yards against the Wolverines, and both of them threw two interceptions. Michigan has allowed just seven passing touchdowns and intercepted 16 passes. If they’re going to beat the Huskies, they need to keep Penix quiet, and they might be the only team capable of that.
The Wolverines had never trailed in the second half of the 2023 regular season, so it was fascinating to see how they’d react when Alabama surged to take the lead late in the Rose Bowl. I wouldn’t say the Michigan passing offense passed with flying colors. The Wolverines punted on their first three second-half possessions and could only move the ball 20 yards after an Alabama fumble gave them a window. However, with less than five minutes on the clock and trailing by seven points, the Michigan offense led an eight-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy only dropped back to pass on four of those eight plays and two of them were flat routes, so the dropback passing offense is not a checked box if Washington somehow gets up by 14 points or more. But the Wolverines don’t need to lead for the entire game, either, and that’s a much larger margin for error.
The Washington defense has only allowed 24.1 points per game this season, just outside the top 50 in the FBS. As a pass defense, however, the Huskies are feast-or-famine. They have 16 interceptions as a unit, tied for the ninth-most in the country, but they are in the nation’s 11th-worst defense in passing yards allowed per game (267.1). They’ve surrendered 23 touchdowns, one of the highest totals in the Power 5. The Huskies’ defensive philosophy was on full display in the final drive against Texas, when they let the Longhorns drive all the way down the field before swatting away the final pass. It’s worked so far, and Texas has better receivers than Michigan, but that is too thin a margin to rely upon against the best team in the country.
