Wolverines-Huskies battle will cap final 4-team playoff
HOUSTON — Michigan vs. Washington is just about the perfect way to end the 2023 college football season, a matchup of unbeatens that hits all the major themes and storylines of the last five months from conference realignment to the transfer portal — with Jim Harbaugh as the main character.
Harbaugh’s top-ranked Wolverines (14-0) face Michael Penix Jr. and the second-ranked Huskies (14-0) on Monday night at NRG Stadium in the last national title game before the College Football Playoff expands from four teams to 12.
“We’re going to have to play really good. And I think our team is ready,” Harbaugh said Sunday during a news conference with Washington coach Kalen DeBoer in which he compared his team to a pack of wolves and — yet again — ducked questions about his future. “Still the hay is not in the barn. It never is for us. Still polishing. Still working. But super excited to watch our players go out there and compete tomorrow night.”
Michigan’s regular season started and ended with Harbaugh serving three-game bans related to NCAA infractions cases. The latter was handed down by the Big Ten in November as punishment for a scouting and sign-stealing scheme the conference determined broke its sportsmanship policy.
The scandal dominated headlines just as Michigan was entering the meat of its Big Ten schedule. The accusations against Harbaugh’s program led many to question the legitimacy of the Wolverines’ renaissance over the last three seasons. This is
Michigan’s third straight playoff appearance, but first time advancing after beating Alabama in overtime in the Rose Bowl.
Being doubted only galvanized a team loaded with experience that came into the season unafraid to point to winning Michigan’s first national championship since 1997 as the goal.
He previously coached the San Francisco 49ers, leading them to a Super Bowl appearance against the Ravens after the 2012 season, before taking over at Michigan in 2015.
Aside from the Harbaugh brothers, Michigan has had several recent ties to Baltimore.
Longtime Gilman and St. Frances Academy coach Biff Poggi worked on Jim Harbaugh’s staff in recent years, the Wolverines’ star running back, Blake Corum, attended St. Frances, and Macdonald coached at Michigan for a year as its defensive coordinator before returning to the Ravens. The Wolverines’ current defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, also spent four seasons with the Ravens, rising to defensive backs coach in 2020.
This season has been especially enjoyable for fans who have the rare distinction of being both Ravens and Michigan fans. Jeff Morawski, a Dearborn, Michigan, native and Michigan graduate who is a travel nurse based in Baltimore County, attended Saturday’s rainy game donning a Ravens jersey and a Michigan beanie. By the third quarter, at least 30 passersby had said Michigan’s rallying cry — “Go Blue” — to him, he said.
“Awesome. Can’t be any better,” he said of this season. “I mean, except for the weather today, it’s awesome.”
A Detroit Lions fan at heart, Morawski has adopted the Ravens as another favorite of his.
“Both teams are really exciting to watch,” he said of Michigan and the Ravens. “Both have great defenses. I love how this city is so excited about the team, and it’s just like how it is in the state of Michigan about the Wolverines.”