The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1523593
134 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY ANTHONY BROOME I n many ways, the 2023 season felt like the third part of a trilogy, and the comparisons to the "Last Dance" Chi- cago Bulls in 1998 were apt. Against the backdrop of a few empty College Football Playoff appearances, players turning up for one final run in Ann Ar- bor, dueling NCAA investigations and more, Team 144 slayed all its demons on the way to a season for the ages. U-M re-emerged as a title contender and national power in 2021, but a loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl offered a sobering reminder as to how much work there was to do. The 2022 season ended in heartbreaking fashion in a loss to under- dog TCU in the CFP. Being that close and coming up empty twice helped set a tone for everyone to run it back in pursuit of the sport's biggest prize. Players like running back Blake Corum, offensive linemen Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan, defensive back Mike Sainristil and others came back to play another season. The group was unflappable with a singular focus on conquering each task ahead of them. The year began with head coach Jim Harbaugh serving a Michigan-imposed three-game suspension for alleged re- cruiting violations. With different in- terim head coaches the first few weeks, the team breezed through nonconfer- ence play with wins over East Carolina (30-3), UNLV (35-7) and Bowling Green (31-6), helmed by defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh/running backs coach Mike Hart and offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Sherrone Moore, respectively. Harbaugh returned to the sideline for the next six games with wins over Rutgers (31-7), Nebraska (45-7), Minnesota (52- 10), Indiana (52-7), Michigan State (49- 0) and Purdue (41-13), where it seemed like the team was finding its stride and unlocking the next gear ahead of the stretch run. Prior to the MSU game, news emerged of an NCAA investigation into an alleged illegal scouting operation in Ann Arbor, which spurred narratives about U-M's legitimacy as a program. After a few weeks of developments and discussions, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti made the unconventional decision to suspend Harbaugh for the f i n a l t h re e ga m e s o f t h e regular season despite no evidence linking the alleged actions to the head coach. This put Moore into the head seat on game day for the final three games of the regular season, which in- cluded wins at No. 10 Penn State (24-15) and Maryland (31-24), the latter of which was the team's 1,000th victory in pro- gram history. Moore and the Wolverines would ex- tend their win streak over rival Ohio State to three in a row with a 30-24 victory in the regular-season finale, setting up Harbaugh's return for the Big Ten cham- pionship game. Michigan captured its third straight conference title with a 26-0 shutout of Iowa in Indianapolis, setting the 13-0 squad up for another trip to the College Football Playoff. Earning the No. 1 seed, Michigan took on Alabama in the Rose Bowl and won an all-time classic, 27-20 in overtime, with a defensive stand near the goal line to clinch the win. The Wolverines finished off their per- fect season with a 34-13 dismantling of Washington in the CFP championship game in Houston, capping off the year at 15-0 and earning the program's first national title since the 1997 season and its 12th in program history. TOP STORYLINES 1. ONE MORE YEAR Michigan had a number of players who could have been in NFL training camps last summer but decided to return to make a push for a national champion- ship. Among them were running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Cornelius Johnson and offensive line- men Zak Zinter and Trevor Keegan. Corum's return was the most consequential. After 2023 2023 THE YEAR IN REVIEW Ending An Era In Championship Style Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was the perfect unselfish leader for the Wolverines, going 27-1 as a starter and capping off his collegiate career with a Big Ten title (third straight) and the national championship. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER