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Wolverine TV: How Michigan football's national narratives have changed

Anthony Broomeby: Anthony Broome07/12/23anthonytbroome
J.J. McCarthy
Under head coach Jim Harbaugh, Michigan has won back-to-back Big Ten titles and has the ingredients to three-peat in 2023. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Michigan football is considered one of the favorites to win the national title this year, but still has some work to do in changing the national narratives. The Wolverines have come up empty in two-straight trips to the College Football Playoff. It has designs of making a third-straight and generating a little bit more noise this time around.

The national narrative around the program has changed, but Michigan still has some work to do to earn the benefit of the doubt from the pundits and scribes across the country. John Borton and Tom Crawford broke it down during the latest edition of their Tuesday night live show.

“Phil Steele and just about everybody else are giving kudos to Michigan’s defense and that sits at the core with me,” Crawford said during the show. “That’s where this team’s gonna win a national championship, in my opinion, where that defense is not gonna let down Michigan in those big games when all of a sudden speed might be another level that they might not be used to earlier in the season or even throughout the Big Ten sans Ohio State.

“This defense is gonna be ready speed-wise, I think, and on the edge. On the interior, with Kris Jenkins, I started looking at all the moving parts on that defense. That’s when I get excited like I did in 1976 with that defense, it was just the defense is gonna keep ’em in the game.

“This defense is going to do that and not have to be bailed out like in the TCU game. JJ made some mistakes to put them in that situation. We know that we’ve broken down that probably broken that game down way too much than I should but it’s a thorn.”

Watch or listen to the full show below and tune in every Tuesday night at 5:30 on The Wolverine’s YouTube channel for more from Borton and Crawford.

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