On Monday January 8th, the Michigan Wolverines and the Washington Huskies will face off in the national championship. Michigan got into this game by winning a thriller against Alabama in the semifinal game. Washington got in by winning another good game against Texas which they hung on to win. The Huskies are led by Michael Penix Jr. who had a great game against Texas and they have other great offensive talents like Rome Odunze and a good defense. Michigan has a great running game led by Blake Corrum and they have a great quarterback in J.J. McCarthy. Washington will be going up against the best defense they have played in Michigan. Both of these teams are 14-0 and have won the conference titles. There are some great storylines in this game because both of these teams will be in the Big Ten next year with Washington moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. The other big storyline is the Michigan sign stealing scandal.
Michigan comes into this game being led by J.J. McCarthy is the quarterback of the Michigan Wolverines. He has 2,851 passing yards and was one of the best quarterbacks in the country and Big Ten. One of the other great players for Michigan is running back Blake Corum who has 1,111 yards from the backfield. Michigan's best receiver is Roman Wilson with 735 yards and he was excellent in the semifinal game. Michigan’s defense is also elite and has only allowed 9.5 points per game which is the fewest in the nation. They are also only allowing 239.7 yards a game which is second fewest in the nation (first is Penn State). Michigan comes into this game as favorites and should be able to come out with the win if that defense can hold up against the explosive Washington offense.
Washington has a great offense with weapons like Rome Odunze who has 1,553 receiving yards and has been great in the biggest games. The running back Dillion Johnson has also been excellent with 1,553 rushing yards. Michael Penix Jr. made his case about why he should have won the Heisman in the semifinal. Penix has 4,648 passing yards and has also been mightily present in the biggest games. The Washington offense has the most yards per game with 350 yards. They will need big games from the stars and one more good game out of the sometimes shaky defense.
My name is Andrew Zajac and I will give you my complete, biased prediction about the college football championship game. Michael Penix Jr. and that high flying Washington Huskies offense will shock the Wolverines secondary. I'm calling it. They only have one good cornerback and no good safeties. End of Discussion. The defensive line of Washington is going to have a field day. With Zak Zinter still out with a season ending injury, Blake Corum is running straight into that beefy Huskies line. Washington is going to win 35-17, that is biased. I don't care.
We will surely be in for a treat in the title game with the number one offense going up against the number one defense. Washington’s defense will need to stop the Michigan run game which has run all over teams this year. As for Michigan’s defense they will need to try and stop the almost impossible to contain Michael Penix Jr.
Sources:https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/stats/_/id/130/michigan-wolverines