Three impressions from UW Huskies’ CFP title game loss to Michigan

HOUSTON – The Washington Huskies’ dream season fell agonizingly short of a perfect ending Monday night.

The No. 1 Michigan Wolverines held Michael Penix Jr. and Washington’s prolific passing offense in check, completing their undefeated season with a 34-13 victory over the No. 2 Huskies in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

Michigan became just the fifth team in college football history to finish a season 15-0, snapping UW’s 21-game winning streak.

The Huskies, denied their first national title since 1991, ended one of the best seasons in program history with a 14-1 record.

Here are three early impressions from the game:

Huskies get grounded

There was no secret coming in what Michigan’s offensive game plan would be.

The Wolverines were going to run the ball.

And run the ball they did.

Michigan rushed for more than 300 yards, 100 more than the Huskies had allowed in any game this season.

Two Michigan running backs, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, each gained more than 100 yards, the first time that’s happened in the 10-year history of the CFP title game.

The Huskies endured a disastrous first quarter, allowing one big run after another to quickly fall behind by 11 points.

Edwards bounced outside for a 41-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening drive. The Wolverines marched 86 yards on eight plays with little pushback from the Huskies’ defense.

It was the same story on Michigan’s next drive, with Edwards again breaking free, this time on a 46-yard touchdown run to stretch Michigan’s lead to 14-3.

Just 12 minutes into the game, the Huskies found themselves in danger of getting run out of the building.

It didn’t get much better on Michigan’s next drive, when Corum busted off a 59-yard run to set up a field goal, extending the Wolverines’ lead to 17-3 early into the second quarter.

By the end of the first quarter, the Wolverines had gained 174 yards rushing – 37 more than the Huskies’ defense allows in an average game.

UW’s defense did settle down in the second quarter, forcing Michigan to punt twice and getting a key fourth-down stop, allowing the Huskies’ offense a chance establish some much-needed rhythm.

The defense held strong through the third quarter, too, keeping the Huskies within striking distance.

But Michigan’s rushing attack broke through again in the fourth quarter, with Corum scoring on two touchdown runs in the final seven minutes to put the game away.

Out of sync

College football’s most prolific offense finally found its footing late in the first half.

Penix, sensational in the Huskies’ thrilling victory over Texas in the CFP semifinal in New Orleans, wasn’t nearly as sharp Monday against a Michigan defense ranked No. 1 in the nation this season.

But Penix did rebound from a slow start.

Late in the second quarter, on fourth down from the Michigan 3-yard line, Penix bided his time in the pocket and before firing a pass to senior wide receiver Jalen McMillan in the back of the end zone for the first of the game for UW.

Interestingly, before he fired the pass to McMillan, Penix had paused to point out that UW’s star receiver, Rome Odunze, was being held by a Michigan defender on the right side of the end zone. An official threw a flag, noting the penalty, but the Huskies obviously declined it, taking the touchdown.

Earlier, Penix had missed on two prime passing opportunities for Odunze.

At the end of the Huskies’ first drive, Penix threw high on a third-down pass intended for Odunze on a crossing route in the end zone. The Huskies had to settle for a field goal instead.

In the second quarter, trailing 17-3, the Huskies decided to go for it on a fourth-and-7 play near midfield, a gamble at that stage in the game.

The Huskies had the right play call, but Penix threw wide of a wide open Odunze inside the Michigan 20-yard line – a play that could have turned into a touchdown and could have turned momentum in the Huskies’ favor.

Having cut their deficit to 17-10 at halftime, the Huskies had possession to start the second half – only for Michigan cornerback Will Johnson to make a juggling interception of a Penix pass in front of UW’s sideline.

Credit after that UW’s defense, which, with their backs against the wall, forced Michigan to settle for a field goal. That extended the Wolverines’ lead to 20-10.

The Huskies answered with a second field goal from Grady Gross, this one from 45 yards, to get within 20-13 midway through the third quarter.

Ultimately, though, it was one missed opportunity after another for the UW offense.

When Penix finally did find Odunze, his favorite target, on a deep shot in the fourth quarter, that play was nullified by a controversial holding penalty on UW right tackle Roger Rosengarten.

The Huskies didn’t muster much of a fight after that.

Trailing 27-13, the Huskies had to go for it on fourth-and-13, but Penix’s pass for McMillan was high and intercepted by Michigan’s Mike Sainristil, who returned it 81 yards inside the UW 10-yard line.

End of an era

Penix and the Pac-12 had hoped to go out on top.

It wasn’t meant to be.

Penix will move on to the NFL, and the Huskies will move on to a new conference.

Penix, after transferring from Indiana, needed just two seasons to cement his place as one of the best players in UW history, setting passing records, finishing second in the Heisman Trophy voting and leading the Huskies into the championship game for the first time in the 10-year-old College Football Playoff.

Odunze, the Huskies’ stellar junior receiver, will surely move on, too. A top NFL prospect, he’s widely expected to declare for the draft in the coming days.

The Huskies, meanwhile, will leave the crumbling Pac-12 Conference and join Michigan in the Big Ten, a seismic shake-up of the college football landscape going into the 2024 season.

That means a rematch is already in the works: Michigan is coming to Seattle in October for a Big Ten regular-season showdown.