Keys To The Game: Michigan Wolverines Vs. Washington

By Chris Balas

Michigan will face Washington with everything on the line Monday night, playing for its first national title since 1997. The Wolverines are favored, but the Huskies have a potent offense and a passing game the likes of which they haven’t seen all year. 

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In short — the job’s not finished, and head coach Jim Harbaugh and his team know it. They celebrated like they won it all Monday night, but now they have to turn around and win one more 7 days after their first semifinal victory. Huskies quarterback Michael Penix is the best passer Michigan will have faced all year. 

“He’s a super great player,” Harbaugh praised. “Big-time arm talent, tremendous presence in the pocket, sees the field really well. He is so polished. Watching him and his accuracy, his decision-making, timing, he has really just continued to have this tremendous presence of going through progression, feels pressure, will drop it off to a check-down. Yeah — it’s at an elite level.”

Here are three keys to a Michigan victory Monday night: 

Michigan key No. 1: Pressure Michael Penix, but do it responsibly

Perhaps no quarterback in the country is better than Penix at making the play after the initial play breaks down. He’s got an innate sense of where the pressure is coming from and when, and an ability to keep his eyes downfield when it’s closing on him. He’s also been sacked only 11 times this year on 522 drop-backs — his line has been outstanding in giving him time to throw to his elite receivers. 

“He’s got a skill set that I think makes him the best player in the country,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said. “The ability to throw the ball with accuracy … he can get rid of it super quick. There were some throws in the game this last week where he had to slide in the pocket, reset his feet and quick release it, did it from the left side to the right side, did it sliding one way and throwing right down the middle of the field. He’s got a quick release.”

So, the Wolverines need to collapse the pocket from the inside out and get him on the ground when they do get to him, keep their hands up and not allow him to reset. Other teams have done that with success this year — Arizona State hounded him, Washington State held the Huskies to 306 yards. Michigan D.C. Jesse Minter will probably approach this one like Ohio State games with their great receivers and pick his spots with pressure, try to confuse Penix on the back end with different looks. 

Michigan key No. 2: Control the ball on offense

There’s still a segment of the Michigan fan base that believes the Wolverines “don’t win right” because they aren’t explosive enough on offense. Clearly, “man ball” (as they like to use as a pejorative) does work, evidenced by the last three years. The Wolverines have lost only 3 games playing the way Harbaugh knows best — strong running game, controlling the clock, great defense and complementary football — and it’s a great way to keep the potent Washington offense off the field. 

Michigan running back Blake Corum seems to have gotten his extra gear back after a month’s rest, and he could play a huge factor in this one. The U-M offensive line played its best game of the year against Alabama — the month’s rest was good for them, too — and this is a game in which they can assert themselves. Do that and it opens all kinds of doors in the play-action and passing games, keeping Penix and Co. off the field. 

Michigan key No. 3: Shore up special teams

Jay Harbaugh’s crew has been very good most of the year — the Michigan special teams played a huge role in the win over Ohio State, for example — but they nearly cost the Wolverines the game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Junior Tommy Doman’s punts were short, snaps were off, kicker James Turner missed a field goal, and the punt returners put two balls on the ground. 

That can’t happen against the Huskies. This is an opportunistic team with a quick-strike offense, even if their No. 1 back, Dillon Johnson, is gimpy. They’re saying he’ll play, but it seems clear he won’t be close to 100 percent. It seems a win is there for the taking as long as Michigan doesn’t give the ball away or do anything uncharacteristic like it did against the Crimson Tide. They got away with a lot more than we thought they could to still win the Rose Bowl. 

This one feels somewhat like the Michigan basketball run in 1989 — significant adversity, slaying a dragon in the semifinals with a hugely emotional win (Illinois, a great team that beat the Wolverines twice during the regular season), and relief after the second-to-last game. Many just assumed the Wolverines would win the final against Seton Hall since the Pirates weren’t quite as good as the Illini and the Wolverines finally got over the hump. 

But there is unfinished business here, and the Michigan players understand that. This is a veteran team that has proven it can beat anyone in the country — there’s a reason they’re No. 1 — and it just feels like a team of destiny. If they play their game and eliminate the mistakes they made in the Rose Bowl, Michigan should have a great chance to return home with the National Championship Game trophy in hand.