Monday night marks the end of an era in college football. Not only is it the final curtain for one of the storied conferences in history but the end of the college football playoff in its current format. The semi-finals gave us one of the most memorable nights in recent memory. Can the championship game featuring the number one and two teams top it? Let’s look at both teams and give you some keys to the game and a prediction with our 2024 National Championship Game Preview.
The Huskies and Wolverines Meet In Texas
Embracing Their Image
By now you know all about the drama surrounding the Michigan program. There are two separate ongoing NCAA investigations, one for alleged sign stealing and the other for alleged recruiting violations. As a result head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for half the regular season. During Wednesday’s news conference, the question of course came up. Harbaugh said his focus is on Monday’s game.
“Yeah, we’re thinking about, we’ve got one phase line to go here, and that’s Monday night against Washington, and we’re going to do anything and everything in our power to get ourselves prepared for that football game. I don’t know if you want to live in Rumorville or speculation, but we just don’t really have any room to be doing that at this point. That’s done elsewhere.”
With their “Michigan vs. Everybody” attitude the Wolverines found a way to win a game they’ve lost in previous years. A big part of that is their defense. Through 14 games they rank first in the nation allowing only 245 yards per game. Furthermore, their 16 touchdowns allowed is second to Ohio State’s 15 but in one more game. Only three of their opponents managed to score more than 20 points in a game and eight were held to single digits. In their win over Alabama, they held the Crimson Tide to 288 yards and sacked Jalen Milroe six times.
The offense is led by the 1-2 punch of running back Blake Corum and quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The school’s all-time leader with 56 touchdowns Corum gained 1,117 yards on the year and had 83 and a score against Alabama. McCarthy threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns in the Rose Bowl win.
As we continue our 2024 National Championship Game Preview let’s shift to the Pac-12 Champions.
Ending On A High Note
The job Kalen DeBoer has done since coming to Washington from Fresno State has been pretty incredible. In two seasons the Huskies have gone 25-2 and are currently on a 21-game winning streak, the longest in FBS. That was after they went 4-8 in 2021. They also sit at 14-0 and captured the final Pac-12 championship beating Oregon. Not only is this the swan song for the league but Washington as well as they are heading to the Big Ten for 2024. In fact, we are guaranteed a rematch next year on October 5th when the Wolverines travel to Seattle.
Big Time Playmakers
Of course, having a quarterback the caliber of Michael Penix Jr. on your roster certainly helps. DeBoer was Penix’s offensive coordinator during his time at Indiana. When he went looking for a new home he followed his former coordinator to Washington. DeBoer talked on Wednesday about what makes Penix so special.
“He’s got a skill set that is — I think it makes him the best player in the country. The ability to throw the ball with accuracy, he can get rid of it super quick. He’s as low ego as it gets. It’s all about the team.”
The Heisman Trophy runner-up torched the Texas defense for 430 yards and two touchdowns. On the season Penix leads the NCAA with 4,648 yards through the air and is third with 35 touchdowns.
Washington has a ton of powerful weapons on offense. Running back Dillon Johnson was fourth in the Pac-12 with 1,122 yards and led in touchdowns with 16. However, he’s been playing hurt for most of the last half of the season.
To make matters worse, Johnson was carted off on the last offensive play of the game with a leg injury. The staff says he’ll play but if he can’t Will Nixon and Tybo Rogers would be the next players up though neither gained over 200 yards on the year.
When Penix throws, which is often, his favorite targets are Rome Odunze and Ja’lynn Polk. Odunze hauled in 87 passes for 1,553 yards and 13 touchdowns. Polk added 65 receptions for 1,122 yards and nine touchdowns. They were only one of four tandems to get over 1,000 yards in 2023.
As we continue with our 2024 National Championship Game Preview let’s give you a history lesson with the two schools.
Bowl and Series History
Michigan and Harbaugh broke a six-game bowl losing streak with the win over Alabama. In addition, they finally got over the hump after losing in the CFB semi-final the last two years. They sit tied for sixth alongside USC with nine national championships. However, only two of them (1948 and 1997) came since the poll era began in 1936.
On the other side of the ball, Washington has two national championships with the last coming back in 1991 when they were co-champs with Miami (Florida). The 1960 squad was named national champion by the Helms Foundation after beating top-ranked Minnesota in the Rose Bowl. The final polls were taken at the end of the regular season meaning the Golden Gophers went down as the “official” champ.
Monday night marks the 14th time the two schools have met. Currently, Michigan holds an 8-5 lead and has won the last two. The last time they met was in 2021 in Ann Arbor when Corum ran for 171 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-10 win.
Keys To The Game
On paper, this sets up as a classic match-up with the nation’s top pass offense versus the best defense in the country. Michigan has 16 sacks in their last four games including four against Iowa and six against Alabama. While Washington has only allowed 11 sacks all year. They must get to Penix or at least force him out of the pocket.
Of course, the Washington signal-caller is very familiar with the Big Ten from his time at Indiana. In fact, back in 2020, he completed 30 of 50 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-21 win over Michigan.
For Michigan to win they simply must do what they’ve done all year. That’s run the ball and control the tempo against a defense that’s given up more than 30 points six times. Defensive end Bralen Trice is the player to watch. He sacked Quinn Ewers twice in the semi-final and came up huge in the Pac-12 title game.
Who Wins On Monday?
One of these two schools will join a very select list of teams who’ve gone 15-0 in a season. Washington’s been great in clutch situations winning five straight single-digit games. In addition, a perceived lack of respect around the country helped fuel their play. For those that have followed our bowl projections Last Word was the only site that had the Huskies in the playoff going back to Week Seven where they never left. Speaking of the Pac-12 as we mentioned earlier it’s the final game before the league fades into the sunset. Washington is the first team since Oregon lost to Ohio State in the initial CFP title game following the 2014 season to make it and will be the last.
Could this be Harbaugh’s last game in Ann Arbor? There’s always speculation about him going to the NFL. With the ongoing investigations is this the year he bolts? Especially if they win it all. Look for this to be another down-to-the-wire contest in which Penix and the Huskies find a way yet again.
Washington 31-27
Thanks for checking out our 2024 National Championship Game Preview here at Last Word On College Football.
