Winners and Losers from the 2024 College Football National Championship

Winners and Losers from the 2024 College Football National Championship0 of 6

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In a college football season where recruiting violations, a sign-stealing scandal and two separate three-game suspensions for Jim Harbaugh dominated the headlines, Michigan unleashed its dominance on the scoreboard.

The Wolverines capped off a spotless season by limiting Washington’s explosive offense. After jumping ahead with a big-play running game, quarterback J.J. McCarthy authored a fourth-quarter touchdown drive en route to a 34-13 win.

Call it a tainted title if you will; Michigan is the national champion.

The Wolverines finished the season 15-0 and celebrated their first national title since way back in 1997 when Lloyd Carr was at the helm.

After last year’s 65-7 laugher of a title win for Georgia over TCU, this one had plenty of twists and turns. In the end, though, Michigan was too much.

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Wolverines got the job done in rugged Big Ten fashion. The only real beauty after a frenetic start for the Wolverines was a five-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to close the game in the fourth quarter and close out Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies.

Too many mistakes stood in the way of a magical Washington run, and there were plenty of winners and losers from the showdown.

Winner: Michigan With Another Memory-Making, Fourth-Quarter Drive1 of 6

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Nothing was going right for Michigan’s offense. Clinging to a seven-point lead built mostly in a quick-start first quarter, the Wolverines got the ball back with 9:15 left in the game.

That’s when J.J. McCarthy went from hitting the snooze button to jump-starting Michigan with a massive, quick-strike drive that essentially ended the game.

The junior quarterback had struggled all night as Michigan limped to 1-for-9 on third-down conversions to that point, but he found tight end Colston Loveland on a crossing pattern across the middle to start the drive. Loveland went up to get the ball, shed a tackler and raced 41 yards to the Huskies’ 30 on the first play.

Another McCarthy pass to Roman Wilson for 12 yards set up two Blake Corum rushes for 15 yards. The scoring gallop covered the final 12 to put the Wolverines up by a pair of touchdowns.

A Mike Sainristil interception and subsequent 81-yard return to set up another touchdown that cemented the win. But the Wolverines ultimately won the game with that big-play offensive drive, ending any Huskies hopes.

A week ago facing a deficit late in the game against Alabama, McCarthy authored an eight-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game and force overtime where Corum’s touchdown won the game.

They never trailed Monday night, but they were sweating. Yet another fourth-quarter, game-on-the-line drive proved the Wolverines are the nation’s best.

Loser: Washington’s Sputtering Offense2 of 6

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For much of the year, Washington’s offense with Michael Penix Jr. under center was like one of those sleek, new yachts that purr right up to Husky Stadium on Lake Washington and go “sail-gating.”

Unfortunately for the Huskies, in the national championship game, that offense looked more like a johnboat with a sputtering engine that has a faulty fuel injector.

While the Wolverines defense had something to do with it, a lot of it was self-inflicted.

Throughout the year, Penix had been so dead-eye accurate, deep passes felt like extended handoffs. His knowledge of Kalen DeBoer’s timing-based offense was impeccable, and with all the weapons surrounding him, the Huskies were too much for opponents. That pressure led to win after win.

But on the biggest stage of the season, all of that fell apart. Penix was off, throwing two interceptions. But there were other issues, too, like overthrow after overthrow on pivotal plays, and big-time penalties at crucial moments.

On Washington’s first drive, receiver Rome Odunze flashed open at the last minute for what could have been a game-tying touchdown. Penix overthrew him, and the Huskies settled for a field goal.

Facing fourth down trailing 17-3 midway through the second quarter, Odunze somehow found his way behind Michigan’s zone defense and broke free for what would have been an easy, long touchdown. Penix overthrew him. Two pre-snap penalties had backed them up to a difficult down-and-distance.

When Washington finally converted a 32-yard pass to Odunze with 12 minutes left in the game, it was negated by a questionable holding call. The few times the Huskies seemed on the cusp of something big, they squandered the chance with a “what was that?” play.

Squandered opportunities kept the Huskies at arm’s length.

Winner: That ‘Other’ Michigan Running Back Starting the Onslaught3 of 6

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Welcome back to the spotlight, Donovan Edwards!

When the lights shined the brightest, the backup junior running back played the role of the supporting actor who stole the show and got things moving for Michigan.

Heading into the national championship tilt against Washington, Edwards was an afterthought. He was the third Wolverines running back to get a carry in the game.

When he finally got his hands on the ball, though, he made an impact. Then, he made an impact again. Suddenly, the once highly touted recruit who had shrunk from the fine print grabbed the headline.

On Run No. 1, he ran into the back of his offensive lineman, bounced outside to the left and then sprinted untouched 41 yards for the game’s first score. The next time, he grabbed the handoff, assessed the glut in the middle of the line, bounced outside to the right and went 46 yards for another score.

Two touches. Eighty-seven yards. Two touchdowns. A 14-3 lead by the Wolverines. That explosiveness set the tone and was contagious; the next time Michigan got the ball, star starter Blake Corum sprinted 59 yards of his own to set up a field goal.

Heather Dinich @CFBHeatherPer @ESPNStatsInfo Donovan Edwards: 87 rush yards, most by any player in a 1st quarter of a CFP championship game

Edwards’ start brought back memories from last year’s 45-23 win over Ohio State, when he ran for 75- and 85-yard scores on his way to 216 yards and a pair of touchdowns. This year, though, as the Wolverines made their run, he was largely a spectator with just 393 rushing yards entering the game.

He hadn’t scored since November 11 against Penn State. But he set the tone.

Loser: Michigan’s Off-the-Field Distractions4 of 6

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Monday night should have been the culmination of Michigan reversing its fortunes of making it to the College Football Playoff only to lose in the semifinals, breaking through and winning it all with the Big Blue blueprint of defense and rugged running.

But it wasn’t.

There’s that asterisk that is always going to be next to this national championship for the Wolverines, and unfortunately, that’s what happens when you’re mired in as much controversy as they were this year.

It’s unavoidable when Jim Harbaugh begins the season serving a self-imposed three-game suspension for alleged recruiting violations and then gets suspended by the Big Ten for the final three regular-season games for the school’s alleged sign-stealing scheme.

There’s also the buzz surrounding Harbaugh about this being his final game coaching his alma mater. Obviously, there’s been a toll taken by the NCAA stuff that has surrounded the program the past couple of seasons.

Now, it’s wholly possible that Harbaugh could return to the NFL, where he coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to ’14. Several teams are reportedly trying to lure Harbaugh back to the pros.

So, on a night when Blake Corum starred following his return to Ann Arbor for his final season, J.J. McCarthy added another feather in his big-game ball cap and an opportunistic defense led by a sturdy secondary dominated, the players had to answer questions about distractions.

The Wolverines persevered in the face of adversity all season, but how will it be remembered? With investigations up in the air, that history has yet to be written.

Winner: Wolverines With the Momentum-Stealer5 of 6

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The entire halftime narrative was just how Washington’s last-minute first-half touchdown and getting the ball first in the second half was pivotal to turning the fortunes of the national championship game.

Even Jim Harbaugh lamented to ESPN’s Holly Rowe going into the break by saying, “We’ve got to get the momentum back.”

After all, Harbaugh’s failed 4th-and-2 call gave the Huskies the ball at the Washington 39-yard line and led to their lone touchdown to shave the lead to seven points.

It didn’t take long for the Wolverines defense to answer their coach’s call.

On the first play of the second half, Penix was pressured from the center of the line as Mason Graham pushed the interior of the offensive line back into the quarterback. As his lineman collapsed on his foot, Penix let the ball fly toward his receiver.

Michigan star cornerback Will Johnson stepped in front of the ball, bobbled it and intercepted at the 32-yard line, giving the Wolverines pristine field position that they converted into a field goal to take a 20-10 lead.

Penix hobbled off the field with an apparent right ankle injury, and not only did Washington lose its mojo, its field general took a live round. He came back onto the field but never really got going in the second half as Michigan limited the Huskies’ elite passing game.

Loser: Washington’s Title Hopes6 of 6

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It has been a meteoric rise for coach Kalen DeBoer and his upstart Washington Huskies.

Following the failed Jimmy Lake tenure, the Huskies identified the work DeBoer had done at Fresno State before last season, and he immediately added Michael Penix Jr. from the transfer portal before the ’22 season. Penix had starred for him when DeBoer was the offensive coordinator at Indiana.

The addition of Penix brought to life the weapons around him, and the Huskies won 11 games last year. They sprinted to a 14-0 record this season, running away from teams with a high-octane offense early in the year and showing the propensity to win the close ones late.

But it all came to a screeching halt against Michigan. Not all storybooks have happy endings.

Penix struggled throughout, completing just 27 of 51 passes for 255 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. An offense predicated on his precision passing couldn’t find a rhythm.

Star running back Dillon Johnson had to be helped off the field on the Huskies’ final offensive play of their semifinal win over Texas, and though he gutted through an obviously painful injury Monday, he never got going. The Huskies’ rushing attack mustered just 46 yards on a 2.3 average, making them one-dimensional.

And a defense that had won games with momentum-changing plays all year was popped in the jugular in the first half by Michigan’s big-play running. Then after settling in, it gave up a 71-yard fourth-quarter drive, and all the wind was knocked out.

It wasn’t the ending the Huskies expected as they tried to send the “old” Pac-12 out with a bang and usher their own journey to the Big Ten with a national title. Instead, that will have to wait.