The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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136 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2024 FOOTBALL PREVIEW TOP 3 GAMES 1. ROSE BOWL WIN VS. ALABAMA With a trip to the College Football Playoff cham- pionship game on the line, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe took a low snap on fourth down, trailing 27-20, and ran straight into a wall of Wolverines. The moment was an exorcism of so many postseason demons and put Michigan on the doorstep of achiev- ing immortality. A litany of miscues on special teams and untimely errors allowed Alabama to jump out to an early 7-0 lead after a 34-yard touchdown run by Jase McClel- lan before Blake Corum answered — this time on an 8-yard pass from J.J. McCarthy — to even the score at 7-7 by the end of the first quarter. Michigan took the lead on a 38-yard touchdown pass from McCarthy to sophomore wide receiver Tyler Morris, taking a 13-7 lead with 3:49 to go in the half after a missed extra point. Alabama kicker Will Reichard kicked a 50-yard field goal just before time expired in the second quarter, narrowing the lead to 13-10. The teams traded punts throughout the third quar- ter before Alabama took control, scoring the next 10 points to go up 20-13. That stretch included a forced fumble by the Michigan defense and a missed field goal from James Turner. The clock read 4:41 remaining in the game when the magic kicked in for Michigan. The Wolverines put together an 8-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard TD pass from McCarthy to senior wideout Ro- man Wilson with 1:34 remaining. A muffed punt at the goal line nearly resulted in a safety for Alabama, but Jake Thaw kept enough forward momentum to send the game to overtime. Two plays into overtime, Corum scored a 22-yard touchdown to give U-M the 27-20 lead it would up- hold with its stop of Milroe on fourth-and-3. 2. CFP TITLE WIN OVER WASHINGTON Corum ran for 134 yards and 2 fourth-quarter touchdowns, capping off U-M's 34-13 win over Wash- ington on Jan. 8 to capture its first national title since the 1997 season and 12th in program history. Junior running back Donovan Edwards started the scoring with a 41-yard touchdown run on the game's first drive, capping off an 8-play, 84-yard drive with 10:14 remaining in the quarter. Washington answered with a 25-yard field goal at the 3:56 mark before Edwards struck again four plays later, this time from 46 yards out. U-M would eventually push its lead to 17-3 at the 13:28 mark of the second quarter on a 31-yard field goal from Turner. Despite the quick start, Michigan struggled to land the knockout blow in the middle two quarters of the game. Washington found the end zone on a 3-yard pass from Michael Penix Jr. to Jalen McMillan with 42 seconds to go in the half, narrowing the deficit to 17-10. On the first drive of the second half, cornerback Will Johnson intercepted Penix, and the U-M offense turned it into 3 points, taking a 20-10 lead with 11:55 to go in the third quarter. Washington answered 2:57 later with a 45-yard field goal, trimming Michigan's lead to 20-13. Corum found the end zone from 12 yards out with 7:09 to go before cornerback Mike Sainristil sealed the victory with an 81-yard interception return, which Corum turned into a 1-yard touch- down run two plays later to kick off the celebration in Houston. 3. THIRD STRAIGHT OVER OHIO STATE Rarely has an edition of The Game featured the stakes that 2023's edition had. Two undefeated Big Ten powers met in the final week of the regular season with a trip to the conference title game on the line, and U-M had to do it without its head coach and the stretch run without Zak Zinter, who broke his leg in the second half. Michigan took the lead in the first quarter on a 1-yard Corum run, answered by a 43-yard Ohio State field goal. The Wolverines built a two-score lead in the second quarter on a 22-yard pass from McCarthy to Wilson, going up 14-3 with 10:22 to go before halftime. Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka caught a 3-yard scoring pass from quarterback Kyle McCord at the 6:27 mark to trim U-M's advantage to 14-10 at the half. Turner hit a 50-yard field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter, extending the Michigan lead to 17-10. OSU answered with a 75-yard drive that was finished on a 3-yard TreVeyon Henderson run. The Zinter injury occurred on the following drive, and the Big House crowd fell silent. One play later, Corum found the end zone from 22 yards out to give the Wolverines a lead they would not relin- quish at 24-17 with 1:55 to go in the third. Turner hit a 38-yard field goal at 11:57 in the fourth quarter, answered by a 14-yard reception from Marvin Harrison Jr. for a touchdown. With 1:05 remaining, Turner hit a 37-yard field goal to push U-M's lead to 30-24. OSU had a chance to drive for a win, but Michigan safety and Ohio native Rod Moore intercepted McCord to seal the victory. TOP 3 PERFORMANCES 1. BLAKE CORUM VS. WASHINGTON — Saving the best for last, Corum posted a vintage performance in U-M's 34-13 national title win over Washington on Jan. 8. A little over two years after rushing for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns in a win over Washington in 2021, Corum finished the CFP championship win with 134 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21 carries. The scoring runs were his 26th and 27th of the year, extending his school record in the biggest game of his life. 2. MASON GRAHAM VS. ALABAMA — The Rose Bowl's Defensive Player of the Game was outstanding, recording 4 tackles and a tackle for loss in the victory. Michigan was going to need strong defensive line play to win and got it from its star interior lineman. Graham notched a tackle for loss on second-and-goal from the 9 to set up the game-winning stop on fourth-and-3. 3. J.J. MCCARTHY VS. MICHIGAN STATE — The U-M offense amassed gaudy numbers through the passing game, but McCarthy saved one of his best performances for a rivalry tilt against a hapless and outgunned Michigan State defense. The third-year signal-caller went 21-for-27 for 287 yards and 4 touch- downs — a career-high — in a 49-0 win in East Lansing on Oct. 21. His performance helped U-M convert on 7 of 8 third-down attempts. McCarthy went 5-for-5 for 95 yards on those plays, with four of the completions coming on third-and-8 or longer. Running back Blake Corum and his head coach Jim Harbaugh both ended their stellar Michigan careers with an exclamation point. Corum rushed 21 times for 134 yards and 2 TDs in the 34-13 win against Washington en route to CFP National Championship Offensive Player of the Game honors. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF