The assessment proved prophetic as the Wolverines beat Penn State on the road and Ohio State at home to finish the season undefeated, then shut out Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, athletic director Warde Manuel, and defensive lineman Mason Graham celebrate Michigan’s hard-fought Rose Bowl victory. | Photo: Bryan Fuller
Against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, they came from behind in a nail-biter to win 27–20 in overtime with plays that will live on in Wolverine lore: Quarterback J.J. McCarthy catching Donovan Edwards’s throwback pass one handed, then making an impossible throw under pressure to Roman Wilson. Wilson’s leaping reception near the end of regulation. Blake Corum’s patient runs in overtime, the last whirling through defenders. But the most indelible moment belonged to edge Josaiah Stewart. Outweighed by well over 100 pounds, he pushed a 360-pound All-American tackle back into Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, ending the game at last and starting the celebration in the chilly Pasadena New Year. It was the most watched non-NFL football game in five years.
That sent Michigan to Houston for the national championship game against Washington. The Huskies were the best offensive team Michigan had faced all year, boasting future NFL quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and three NFL-quality receivers. But Michigan was the best defensive team Washington had played all season; something had to give.
The Michigan fans who made the trek to Texas came breathing fire stoked by investigations by the Big Ten and NCAA. Harbaugh was suspended for three games by the league and three more preemptively by the university, for offenses many thought trivial (buying a burger for a recruit) or meaningless (analyst Connor Stalions’s live scouting forays). They filled most of the seats at NRG Stadium, creating a wall of sound that made it difficult for Penix to change plays at the line of scrimmage.
Corum and Edwards quickly pounded out nearly 200 yards on the ground, pulling U-M ahead 17–3, but Washington stabilized and Penix’s remarkable throws pulled his team within seven at half time. In a second half dominated by the defenses, he shrank U-M’s lead to 20–13. But then the Wolverine offense woke up and Mike Sainristil—a wide receiver turned defensive back—intercepted a Penix pass and took it for a near TD. Michigan won the national championship, 34–13, and the fans celebrated until they were pushed out of the stadium.
It can be argued this was the last game of its sort. Next year, the playoffs will expand to twelve teams, and with the Big Ten and other leagues expanding across the country, the post-season will no longer consist of showdowns between regional titans. And the entire college game is rapidly being professionalized.
In October, Sports Illustrated put Corum on its cover as the face of “Generation NIL”—college players who were getting rich by licensing their “name, image, and likeness.” The money, Corum said, gave players “the freedom to make the choice you want to make” about turning pro. He chose to return for another run at the national championship—and his management group organized a “One More Year” fund to share that freedom with less-visible players.
NIL provided limited competitive gain for Michigan in 2023, because other teams also benefited. It got a bigger edge from the NCAA’s transfer portal, which lets players easily jump from school to school. Harbaugh and his coaches brought in nine transfers last season, and all played key roles.
By next season, all pretense of amateurism is likely to be gone: NCAA president Charlie Baker has proposed that all schools be allowed, and some even required, to pay players directly. Persistent rumors have it that some schools are doing that already by promising money to players just coming out of high school—a practice some blame for Michigan consistently losing out on five-star recruits. While legalizing it might seem to level the playing field, Michigan’s NIL program trails other schools that pursued it sooner and more aggressively.
Harbaugh has proved that it’s possible to win anyway by spotting and developing underrated talent. But the head coach may not be back next year. He still wants to win a Super Bowl, and at sixty, his opportunity to do that is fleeting. In mid-January, he was talking to NFL teams while also negotiating a possible contract extension at Michigan. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, too, is a hot property.
Key players are already gone. Corum declared his mission accomplished and announced he was entering the NFL draft. McCarthy and several others did as well, and six Michigan players with potential eligibility signed up for an All-Star game, historically considered a disqualifying event.
Most Michigan fans celebrating in Houston understood the changing football landscape and knew that what they witnessed may not come again soon. They also know that this year, no one had it better.
