The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 29 2023-24 YEAR IN REVIEW BREAKOUT PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR MALE SPORT BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR DONOVAN EDWARDS VS. WASHINGTON, FOOTBALL Entering the national champi- onship game against Washington Jan. 8, the junior running back's longest rush of the season was a 22- yard touchdown at Penn State. But on his first carry against the Huskies, he bounced it out left and ripped off a 41-yard touchdown to give U-M an early 7-0 edge after its first possession. Later that quarter, on his next rushing attempt, he put the Wolverines up 14-3 by dashing 46 yards to pay dirt. It's not often that a player who sees just 10 offen- sive snaps and touches the ball 6 times has that great of an impact, but Edwards did, in the biggest game of the season to help the Wolverines win the national title, 34-13, over Washington. Edwards' touchdown runs were the second- and third-longest in CFP title game history, behind Al- abama running back Derrick Henry's 50-yard rush against Clemson Jan. 11, 2016. He became the first player in CFP national championship game his- tory to rush for 2 touchdowns of 40-plus yards. Edwards shows up in big games, almost with- out fail. In eight games against ranked opponents from 2022-23, he averaged 8.1 yards per carry with 7 touchdowns, including 5 scores on runs of 40 or more yards. FEMALE SPORT BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR ERIN O'GRADY VS. NOTRE DAME, LACROSSE The junior goalie recorded 10 saves — hitting the double-digit mark for the sixth time on the season — in a do-or-die situation. The Wolverines knocked off No. 4 Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a last-second goal by junior Jill Smith, but it was O'Grady who was in the cage and held the Fighting Irish to just 14 goals, nearly 3 fewer than their average on the season (16.85; third-best mark in the country). She notched 3 consecutive saves with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Due to those heroics, the Wolverines trailed by just one goal (11-10) at the end of the third frame and were able to close out the victory by outscoring the Irish 5-3 in the fourth stanza. The victory punched Michigan's ticket into the NCAA quar- terfinals for the first time in program history. O'Grady was named a first-team All-American by the IWLCA, Inside La- crosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine, as well as the National Goalie of the Year (IWLCA) and Big Ten Goalie of the Year. FEMALE SPORT COACH OF THE YEAR RONNI BERNSTEIN, TENNIS In her 17th season on the job, Bernstein collected her third straight and ninth overall Big Ten Coach of the Year honor, guiding the Wolverines to their 11th regular-season conference championship and sixth Big Ten Tournament title since 2010. The Wolverines fell to Pep- perdine (4-1) in the NCAA quarterfinals, after getting past Chicago State (4-0), Notre Dame (4-2) and Miami (4-0) in the national tournament. The Wolverines met high expecta- tions by reaching the quarterfi- nals for the second straight sea- son. However, from a historical standpoint, it was extremely significant, with the program having only made one other quarterfinal before the two-year run (2015-16). U-M finished as the runner-up at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship and earned a program-best ranking of No. 2 during the year. Bernstein's club concluded the cam- paign ranked No. 5, behind only Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Georgia and Stanford. The team won a program-record 29 matches during the 2024 season and posted an unblemished Big Ten record (11-0) for the eighth time in Bernstein's career. Bernstein is the program's winningest coach with 359 vic- tories to 99 losses (.780 winning percentage). Ronni Bernstein guided the women's tennis team to not one but two Big Ten champion- ships in 2023-24. Her squad won both the regular-season and tournament crowns. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Running back Donovan Edwards became the first player in CFP national championship game history to rush for 2 touchdowns of 40-plus yards. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF Erin O'Grady made 10 saves to secure the win against Notre Dame and enable Michigan to advance to the NCAA women's lacrosse quarterfinals for the first time in school history. She went on to be named IWLCA National Goaltender of the Year. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS