National championship: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 Washington
Location: Houston
Date: 7:30 p.m. ET, Jan. 8
TV: ESPN
Line: Michigan -4.5
Total: 56.5
How these teams got here
Michigan (14-0): Blake Corum and Roman Wilson made massive plays down the stretch as the Wolverines took down Alabama in an overtime Rose Bowl victory. Corum rushed 17 yards for the game-winning score, while Wilson scored the touchdown that set up overtime.
The win was Michigan’s third win by a TD in its last four games. After a 24-15 win over Penn State that didn’t include a pass in the second half, Michigan won 31-24 at Maryland and then beat Ohio State 30-24 for its third consecutive win over the Buckeyes.
After beating Ohio State, Michigan easily won the Big Ten title game 26-0 over an Iowa team that was also shut out in its bowl game.
Overall, Michigan has outscored its opponents by 26 points per game and leads the country in scoring defense. Penn State — a team that never looked like it had a chance of beating the Wolverines — was the first team to score more than 13 against the Wolverines all year and Michigan has held its opponents to fewer than 10 points in eight of its 14 contests.
Michigan won its first playoff game in three appearances with its 27-20 OT victory against Alabama. (Photo by Ryan Kang/Getty Images) (Ryan Kang via Getty Images)
Washington (14-0): The Huskies looked like they had the Sugar Bowl wrapped up leading by nine with 2:44 to go. But college football’s clock rules didn’t play in their favor after RB Dillon Johnson went down following a third-down run. The clock stopping for Johnson’s injury meant Texas got about 30 more seconds than it otherwise would have for its last-ditch drive.
Texas made the most of that time and got within striking distance of the end zone. But Quinn Ewers’ pass to AD Mitchell was batted away…
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Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-01-08 18:10:09
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