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Jan. 5—No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Washington will write the closing chapter on the four-team College Football Playoff Monday in Houston as they compete for a national championship.
Its a game that features the last two undefeated teams in FBS, but which one will finish the season unblemished?
News Press sports reporters Marcus Trevino and Ryan Breeden make their picks below:
Breeden: Michigan
Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same.
Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines have faced scrutiny amidst the uncovered cheating scandal led by Connor Stallions. You could even say they are this season’s “villain.” Sometimes the bad guy wins in the end, and on Monday night that will be true.
You know a team is legit when they step onto a field with Alabama and are clearly better. That’s happened maybe a handful of times in the Nick Saban era. Stronger. Smarter. More dominant. Michigan just did that.
The defense swarmed Jalen Milroe and sacked him a CFP record five times in the first half. Then on the final play of the game they stuffed a desperation sprint up the middle to end it. The biggest threat offensively for Washington is Michael Penix, and, while he is incredible, he’s going to be running for his life all game against the Michigan front seven.
From an offensive standpoint, experience and consistency is the theme, and in a high pressure situation that’s exactly what you want. J.J. McCarthy has lost one game as a starter at Michigan, and he has the best win percentage of any quarterback of the last 10 years. Is he the most talented quarterback? Definitely not. But the dude is a winner.
The top two offensive weapons are seniors. Running back Blake Corum and receiver Roman Wilson have played a combined 89 games and it’s been valuable. Three CFP games, three Big Ten Championships and 41 wins.
Michigan is dominant at the line…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/news-press-staff-makes-cfp-045900470.html
Author : Stillwater NewsPress, Okla.
Publish date : 2024-01-06 04:59:00
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