In the famous words of Rece Davis, who was reading a slogan “created” by Jalen Milroe, “Let a Naysayer Know”. I’m sure that’s exactly what Jalen Milroe’s slogan is….regardless Michigan is going to let the Naysayers know who the best team in the country is tonight. Don’t hop on the Washington bandwagon.
Washington’s Opponents were Frauds
Take a look at the Washington’s opponents and you’ll see a bunch of fraudulent defenses. Texas’ front 4 was menacing, but their secondary was swiss cheese and ranked 113 in the nation in passing yards allowed. This isn’t a knock on Penix and Co. on offense. Their wide receivers are legit and they’ll be just fine after Rome Odunze leaves for the NFL with Ja’lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan, but they haven’t seen a defense like Michigan’s. They’re highest ranked opponent against the pass was Oregon at 54; Michigan is ranked 2nd. They have a lockdown corner in Will Johnson that allows them to play unique split field coverages and provide help on guys like Rome Odunze. I’m not saying Penix won’t find success against Michigan’s defense, but there’s a solid chance he throws for 350+, 3 TDs and still loses this game.
Michigan’s Defensive Scheme is a Nightmare
Flashback to 2021 when Jim Harbaugh was on the hot seat and facing the insurmountable test of beating Ohio State. He knew he needed to make a change defensively, so he brought in Mike Macdonald from his brother’s Ravens to shut down the Ohio State offense. After Macdonald left, they hired Jesse Minter, another Ravens assistant, from Vanderbilt to take over the defense. Both DCs have similar approaches, they will use a variety of pressures: whether it’s a fire zone, simulated pressure, or adjusting the front to create mismatches. He will find a weakness in your offensive line and exploit it. Michigan will roll into a lot of single high safety looks when running their fire zones, but with Rod Moore and Makari Paige at safety, they’re able to run a lot of C7/match quarters out of two high safety looks as well to prevent the deep ball. They have a swiss army knife in Mike Sainristil who can line up anywhere and can create a mismatch in the blocking scheme or shut down your slot receiver. He might be the difference that allows Michigan to bracket Odunze in gotta-have-it situations.
Michigan’s Ball Control Offense is Suffocating
This is the reason why Penix might have a huge game and Big Blue can still pull off a dub. Michigan is going to average over 4 yards per carry on the ground regardless of their opponent and they’ll be perfectly fine taking that every play. J.J. McCarthy might make a boneheaded play, but his defense will bail him out, he’ll have 3 highlight plays to make up for it, and the Wolverines will chew clock the second half to make every drive feel like it is a must score when your offense has the ball. Washington’s run defense, ranked 41 in the country, isn’t anything to scoff at, but Michigan’s stubbornness to run the football will break even the best defenses. Look for Blake Corum to end his career in the Maize and Blue with a big night.
Love him or hate him, Jim Harbaugh deserves a championship. He resurrected Stanford, made Colin Kaepernick look like a franchise quarterback, and brought a Michigan program back from the dead. Lay the number -5, sprinkle the under, have a day. Hail to the Victors.
The Morning Flush 