Michigan and Washington Advance to College Football Playoff Championship

After all the controversy surrounding the selection of the four teams to compete in the College Football Playoff, the two semifinal games were highly entertaining close affairs.

In the Rose Bowl, #1 Michigan faced #4 Alabama in one semifinal. The Crimson Tide trailed 13-7 in the second quarter but closed to 13-10 on a 50 yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half. After a scoreless third quarter, Alabama took a 20-13 lead with 10 unanswered points. It looked like Lou Saban’s Tide would once again advance to the National Championship game and the Wolverines would lose in the semifinals, just as they did two years ago (losing to eventual champion Georgia) and last year (losing to runner up TCU).

This time, the third time was a charm. Michigan scored on a four yard touchdown pass to Roman Wilson from J.J. McCarthy with 1:34 left, the extra point was good, and the game was tied at 20-20 at the end of regulation. On the second play of overtime, Michigan’s Blake Corum ran 17 yards for a touchdown. On its possession, after six plays Alabama faced a fourth down and goal at the three yard line. QB Jalen Milroe rushed up the middle and was stopped at the two, and Michigan advanced to the championship game.

The other semifinal was between #2 Washington and #3 Texas. The Huskies and Longhorns alternated touchdowns in the first half, going into the locker room at halftime tied 21-21. Washington scored 13 unanswered points and had a 34-21 lead with 14:51 left in the fourth quarter. But Texas wasn’t done; the Longhorns put a touchdown on the board with 7:23 left to make it a one score game at 34-28. Washington countered with a 27 yard field goal with 2:40 to play, and it was 37-28. The Longhorns responded with a 68 yard drive ending in a 25 yard field goal to once again make it a one score game at 37-31 with 1:09 remaining.

Washington recovered the subsequent onside kick, but went on a three and out in just 19 seconds and had to punt. The short punt and a 15 yard Washington penalty put Texas on its own 31. QB Quinn Ewers then began a last ditch drive with no timeouts left and just 41 seconds on the clock. Ewers brought the Longhorns down to the Huskies’ 12 yard line with 15 seconds left. But Washington’s defense said “no more”. Ewers completed a pass that lost a yard; that was followed by three straight incompletions, the last one as time ran out and Washington advanced to the championship with a 37-31 victory.

The National Championship game is Monday January 8th in Houston. Washington is one of four schools leaving the Pac-12 conference to join the Big 10, so in a way this is a battle of Big 10 schools. Michigan and Washington are scheduled to meet in a Big 10 regular season conference game in Seattle on October 5th.