{"id":2139039,"date":"2024-01-02T21:20:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T02:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-and-washington-set-the-stage-for-an-epic-cfp-national-championship-showdown\/"},"modified":"2024-01-02T21:21:49","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T02:21:49","slug":"michigan-and-washington-set-the-stage-for-an-epic-cfp-national-championship-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-and-washington-set-the-stage-for-an-epic-cfp-national-championship-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan and Washington prepare for an epic CFP National Championship clash"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmichigan-and-washington-set-the-stage-for-an-epic-cfp-national-championship-showdown%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2139039&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Michigan Wolverines&#8217; Quest for a National Championship<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p><i>The following is \u200cadapted from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/episode\/michigan-vs-washington-championship-preview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cCrain &#038; Co.,\u201d<\/a> January 2, 2024.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Jake Crain:<\/h3>\n<p><b>As the final play ended in the Alabama\/Michigan game last night \u2064in overtime, Wolverine\u200d fans rejoiced at finally \u2064winning a playoff game,\u200c albeit in a fashion that definitely took some years off their lives. But make no mistake, this\u2063 core in-group\u200c did not come back \u200cjust\u200c to beat Ohio State again \u200band win the Big Ten. They did not come back\u2064 just to make the College Football Playoff or win \u2064a game in the College Football\u200d Playoff. They came \u200cback \u200dto win a national championship and put Michigan\u2019s name once again at the top of the college football mountain.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But that goal is still four quarters away. \u200bSo don\u2019t celebrate yet because\u2064 they are going to\u200c face a Washington \u2064team \u2063that doesn\u2019t have the letters \u200b\u201cSEC\u201d on their chest, but they do have \u200ba few guys with just an \u201cS\u201d and Michael Penix, who \u200ddoes more frozen ropes in subzero, is \u200cthe main one of the bunch.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_674985\" style=\"width: 874px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-674985\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean\u2064 Gardner\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, this matchup stylistically is about as far away on the spectrum as it gets from one another. One team is a smash-mouth, downhill, run-game team that lives off play-action and defense. The other is a team that typically passes to run, and even\u200d though that\u2019s the case, don\u2019t confuse air superiority\u2062 with softness. The Huskies\u2063 can run \u200cit when they have to\u2063 and\u2062 defensively, they hit with\u200d a vengeance. We\u2019ve seen \u200bthat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now which side will flinch? \u2064Well,\u200d let\u2019s\u200b break it down \u2014 because either way, it\u2019s going to be a doozy. I\u2019m going to bring\u2063 in my former Michigan quarterback \u2014 now getting ready to finally see his team play for a \u2064national championship \u2014 David Cone.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/episode\/michigan-vs-washington-championship-preview-member-exclusive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WATCH: \u201cCrain &#038; Company\u201d\u200b on DailyWire+<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">David, I want to break down both of these games from\u200d last night. But just\u2062 from\u2063 a 30,000-foot view, how rewarding was\u2063 last night being a Michigan fan, with the\u2063 last\u2064 two years having \u200cwatched the team get there, lose a game that they were really \u200csupposed to lose against a juggernaut Georgia team, and then lose a game against a TCU team, that \u2063kind of snuck up a little bit? But you\u200d got over the\u200d hump, and you did\u2062 it \u2063coming back \u2063in the last four minutes of overtime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>David Cone:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes,\u2064 it was really incredible. I know we\u2019re going to recap \u2064both of those semifinal \u2064games last \u2062night, \u200dbut \u200cjust from\u200b a personal perspective, that program\u2064 believed in me coming out of high school when all I wanted to do was play college football; they gave me a shot. So to see them \u200din this position to play for a\u2064 national championship for the first\u2062 time since before I was ever even affiliated\u200c with this \u2064university\u200d is incredible.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_674989\" style=\"width: 874px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-674989\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aaron J. Thornton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yesterday was \u200csome \u200bof the most fun I\u2019ve had watching football in \u200ba long time, and \u2062it wasn\u2019t just about Michigan \u200dwinning. We had an awesome playoff and we said for an \u200dentire month, Florida State, without\u200b a doubt, deserved an opportunity\u200d to be in that \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/opinion-college-footballs-playoff-expansion-is-all-about-greed\/\" title=\"OPINION: College Football\u2019s Playoff Expansion Is All About Greed\">college football playoff<\/a>, but \u200cwhen they \u2063put Alabama in there instead, we all knew it \u200dwas going to create very compelling matchups, no matter how they ordered it. Well, that\u2019s\u200d what\u2064 we got in that Michigan\/Alabama game going to overtime, then we had Washington\/Texas coming down to a wire. It was awesome football \u2064to watch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The best team of the bunch to me was Washington with the best player on the field, Michael Penix\u200c Jr. Whatever he wants to do with the \u200bfootball he does. I think he\u2019s the \u200cbest pure passer \u2063of \u200bthe\u2064 ball that I can remember in the last half-decade. I\u2019d put Joe Burrow up \u200dthere \u2062as well. But whatever he wants \u2062to do with the football, \u200che \u200bdoes. I noticed this \u200bat Indiana. \u200bHe had some injuries \u200bhe was\u200d dealing with, he transferred to Washington, and to see the type of year they\u2019ve had \u2064has been incredible. I had \u2063them in my college \u2062football playoff, and\u2063 yet\u2062 they\u2019ve still exceeded all the expectations \u2063I had.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think the matchup is going to be fascinating. \u2062They had a \u200c65% drop-back percentage through the\u200d first half of the season, like you said, throwing to run the football. But then on the back half, Dillon Johnson averaged 135 yards on \u2064the ground.\u2064 They had over 100 yards rushing when they played Oregon and in \u200bthe conference championship again when \u200cthey \u2064played Oregon. Yesterday, they beat a Texas team that really, down the stretch of the season, looked almost unbeatable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think two things here: one, that benefits Washington, one that benefits Michigan. For the last couple of years, what\u2019s the hump that Michigan has had to get over? It was beating Ohio because\u200b you can\u2019t even beat your rival. So when they finally\u200b did that two seasons ago,\u200b they exhaled \u2014 and\u200d you get drummed\u2064 by Georgia. Well, last year, \u2062what was the hump\u200c you couldn\u2019t get over? Beating Ohio on the \u2063road. You did that, you exhaled, you \u2064overlook TCU, and you got beat. That created a new hump to get over for Michigan: winning a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/put-up-or-shut-up-shaq-to-eat-horned-frog-after-losing-tcu-bet\/\" title=\"Put Up or Shut Up: Shaq To Eat Horned Frog After Losing TCU Bet\">college football playoff game<\/a>. You did that yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019m \u200dwondering,\u2064 does this team exhale now\u2063 and\u200d say, \u201dOh, Washington, we got the easiest possible draw in the championship? We\u2019ve already accomplished\u2063 what we set\u2062 out to do, which was win a college football playoff game.\u201d Do they \u200bexhale before they finish and win a national championship?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But then, on the flip side of that,\u2064 I think they already played their tight \u2063game. They played as tight as they could yesterday, which I know we\u2019re going\u200c to break down. I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll see some of the same mistakes again, and if they\u2019re able to do\u2063 what their strength and their identity is, which is run the football, they\u2019ll keep that really great quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., on \u2064the \u200bsideline \u2014 \u200dmore so than Texas was able to \u200cdo yesterday, who ran five plays in the third quarter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jake Crain:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without a \u2063doubt. And we\u2019re going to dive\u200c deep into what \u2064happened in those games yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To hear the rest of \u2063the conversation, listen or watch Crain &#038; Co. on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/show\/crain-and-company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">DailyWire+<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Jake\u2063 Crain is co-host of <a href=\"\/\/www.dailywire.com\/show\/crain-and-company%5C\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cCrain &#038; Company\u201d<\/a> the Daily Wire\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-another-college-football-groundhog-day\/\" title=\"It\u2019s Another College Football Groundhog Day\">sports show hosted<\/a> by former athletes and\u200d coaches Jake Crain,\u200c Blain\u200c Crain,\u2062 and David\u2064 Cone. You can follow him on X <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JakeCrain_?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@JakeCrain_<\/a><\/p>\n<p>David Cone is \u2064a co-host and producer of the Daily \u200dWire\u2019s sports \u200bshow Crain &#038; Company, as well as a contributor to Morning Wire. David is also a former quarterback for the University of Michigan. \u200dYou can follow him on X\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidadamcone?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@davidadamcone<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How important is \u2064it for Michigan to establish their running game early on in the championship game<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200d D so much, why not just coast through this game?&#8221; \u200dOr does this team look at it as\u200c a new challenge, a new\u2063 hump \u2063to get over, and say, &#8220;We&#8217;ve come this far, let&#8217;s finish what we\u2064 started and win the\u2062 national championship.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I think the mindset of the \u2063Michigan team will \u200ddetermine the outcome of \u200dthe game. If they\u200b come into the game with a complacent attitude, thinking they&#8217;ve already achieved enough, Washington could easily sneak up on them and pull off the upset. But if they approach it as a \u200cnew challenge, a chance to prove themselves and solidify their place \u2062at the top of \u2064college \u200bfootball, I believe they have what it takes to come out on top.<\/p>\n<p>One key factor will be\u2064 the performance of Michigan&#8217;s defense. They have been dominant all season, and they \u200cwill need to continue that dominance against a talented Washington offense led by Michael Penix Jr. If the Michigan \u2062defense can shut\u200b down Penix and limit the Huskies&#8217; scoring opportunities, they \u200dwill put themselves in a good position to win the game.<\/p>\n<p>Offensively, Michigan needs\u2064 to establish their running game early on. They \u2062have a strong \u2063rushing attack with Dillon Johnson \u200cleading the way, and if they can control the \u2064line of scrimmage and establish\u2064 a solid ground game, it \u200bwill open up opportunities for their \u2064passing\u200d game as well.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, it will\u200b come down \u200dto\u200b execution and mental fortitude for \u200bthe Wolverines. They \u2064have \u200bproven \u2063themselves throughout the\u200c season, and now they need to bring that same level\u2063 of focus and determination\u200d to the championship game. \u200cThey have the talent and the coaching to win it all, but \u200bthey will need to stay disciplined and play to\u200c their full potential.<\/p>\n<p>As a \u200bMichigan fan, it has been a wild ride watching this team overcome obstacles and make it to \u200dthis point. The emotions of last night&#8217;s victory\u2064 over Alabama were indescribable, and now we\u200b have one final game standing between\u2062 us and a national championship. It&#8217;s a momentous\u2064 occasion for\u200d the entire Michigan community, and we are all rallying behind our team as they prepare \u2062for this moment.<\/p>\n<p>So let&#8217;s\u2062 not celebrate just yet. There is still work to be done, and the Michigan Wolverines are focused and determined to bring home the national championship. It has been a long journey, but the goal is within reach. Let&#8217;s cheer\u2063 on \u200cour team and believe in their\u2063 ability\u200b to rise to the challenge. Go Blue!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jake Crain, on January 2, 2024, mentioned that Wolverine fans celebrated their playoff victory against Alabama in a thrilling overtime game. Although it was a stressful experience, it undoubtedly brought them immense joy. This close-knit group of fans has proven their dedication and loyalty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2627,"featured_media":2139040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2139039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2139040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}