Watching Jim Harbaugh hoist the metallic football that is the B1G Champions Trophy last season felt like the coronation of a long, arduous journey. I felt a certain elation watching Michigan's destruction of Iowa, the feeling that we hadn't been there before. This year? Michigan's three touchdown defeat of Purdue felt almost ordinary, since we have been here before. That doesn't make it any less enjoyable. For the second straight year, your Michigan Wolverines are B1G Football Champions. After 17 years without a B1G title and 18 years without an outright title, Michigan has gone back-to-back in outright fashion for the first time since 1991-92. They have won 13 games for the first time in program history and are headed to back-to-back College Football Playoffs for the first time in program history. 

Pretty damn neat.

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Michigan won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving Purdue the ball to start the game. It didn't go well for the Boilermakers. A screen pass to Charlie Jones was blown up by Will Johnson, foreshadowing a monster night for the true freshman corner. A screen for Devin Mockobee was stopped quickly and then Jaylen Harrell sacked Aidan O'Connell to cement a three-and-out. Michigan got the ball and asserted themselves quickly on offense. JJ McCarthy found Cornelius Johnson on a third down pass that went just enough for the first down and then connected with Ronnie Bell on an improvised 3rd & 6 completion that went for 16 yards. On the next play McCarthy jacked a ball up for Colston Loveland in the end zone. Loveland was double covered but the 6'5" tight end went up and got the ball. Touchdown Michigan, 7-0. 

Purdue's next drive was one to forget for the Michigan defense, a mix of zone coverage busts and blown tackles, with RJ Moten and Michael Barrett the worst offenders. Screen passes to Mockobee got Purdue going on the ground and then Charlie Jones started to settle in. Michigan's zone was the perfect recipe for Jones to get free, sitting down over the middle and QB Aidan O'Connell was laser-accurate in finding him. Jones had catches on three successive plays, going for 15, 14, and 17 yards and zooming Purdue deep into Michigan territory. A hand-off to Tyrone Tracy Jr. (with some trickery built in) got Purdue down to the 1 and Mockobee promptly punched it in to tie the score at 7. 

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan would go three-and-out on a drive set back by JJ McCarthy's attempt to throw the ball while past the line of scrimmage and Purdue embarked on another long drive. To be fair, it didn't look like it would be long at first. Michigan adjusted its coverage of Jones, bracketing him on a 3rd & 4 slant, producing an incompletion that made it seem as if the Wolverine defense was getting off the field. But Jeff Brohm dialed up a fake punt, one that juuuust got the first down, with Payne Durham barely getting the ball across the line to gain. Purdue's offense re-took the field, O'Connell hit Jones for 25, but once inside the red zone, Michigan clamped down. A botched hand-off at the mesh point got Purdue off their rhythm and a check-down pass on 3rd & long was bottled up by Johnson. The Boilermakers kicked a FG for their lone lead of the game, 10-7. 

The ensuing drive for the Maize & Blue would eat up 6.5 minutes of clock and see the Wolverines wrest control back. A balanced mix of rushing and passing got the Wolverines down into Purdue territory but the drive stalled out at the 30 as Purdue pressured McCarthy into a third down throwaway. Michigan sent out Jake Moody for a field goal, but Purdue would jump offsides and turn a 4th & 6 into a 4th & 1. This time it was the Michigan offense being given new life thanks to special teams and they re-took the field. With Kalel Mullings in as a mooseback, the Michigan OL gave him plenty of push for a first down. Donovan Edwards then got four straight carries, culminating in a 3rd & 4 from the Purdue 7 that saw McCarthy pressured, scramble, and completing a pass to Luke Schoonmaker for a TD. 14-10. 

Purdue would respond with their own clock-munching drive. They balanced the run and pass pretty well and converted a pair of 3rd & 1 plays with Dylan Downing rushes along the way. Faced with a 3rd & 12 a little bit later, O'Connell delivered a 20-yard strike to TJ Sheffield against Gemon Green. Michigan's defense slammed the door again after that and forced a long field goal for a shaky Boilermaker kicking game, but Mitchell Fineran drilled the 45 yarder to make the score 14-13. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]

[Bryan Fuller]

The Wolverines got the ball with 1:23 remaining in the half and had an opportunity to stretch the lead but came up unsuccessful, with their second three-and-out of the day making this drive a quick demise. Purdue was unable to stitch together their own one minute drill, with a hold on Purdue G Marcus Mbow against Mazi Smith setting them back. O'Connell got a shot at a Hail Mary from the Michigan 42 on the last play of the half, but pressure from Jesse Minter's defense never allowed the pass to get anywhere close to the end zone. Michigan led 14-13 at halftime. 

At halftime it felt to your author like Purdue had played close to as good of a half as they could, yet still were not leading. Something that was, of course, ominous against a Michigan team that has done better in the second half than the first this season. Not to mention the fact that the Wolverines would get the ball to start the half. That feeling would be borne out very quickly over the course of five minutes to start the third quarter, which ensured it would not be a terribly competitive second half. 

Michigan got the ball first and on the opening play from scrimmage of the third quarter, the Michigan OL caved in the Purdue edge off the left side of the line. This gave one free Purdue defender a chance to tackle Donovan Edwards, who quickly juked the defender out of his shoes and galloped down the sideline 60 yards to the Purdue 15. McCarthy found Bell for a four yard screen and then a Donovan Edwards run set up 3rd & 2. Mullings was re-inserted and picked up eight yards and then was given a chance to pay it off on 1st & G from the one, something he had no trouble doing. 21-13 Michigan. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Purdue started the second half on offense like they did in the first, with a quick three-and-out. Michigan blitzed on 3rd & 6 and O'Connell's pass was not close to an intended target. Though Michigan did run into the Purdue punter, the penalty yardage was not enough to change the outcome. Michigan got the ball back and they'd take two plays to score a TD. McCarthy found a wide open Luke Schoonmaker down the field for 40 yards and then Donovan Edwards broke somewhere between five and six tackles on a 27 yard rumble to the end zone. Just 4:28 into the second half and Michigan held a 28-13 advantage, having blown the game wide open. 

To Purdue's credit, they kept battling. O'Connell found Charlie Jones for a 32 yard fade against DJ Turner and Jeff Brohm then dialed up a fake flea flicker(!), which gained Mockobee 25 yards on the ground, their longest rushing play of the game. On just three plays, Purdue was already in the Michigan red zone, but a blitz forced O'Connell to throw from his back-foot, underthrowing a fade to Jones and Will Johnson snatched the ball for an interception. Michigan was backed up in the shadow of their own goal line as a result of where Johnson's knee was down and Purdue was able to stack the box and force a three-and-out. 

The Boilers got good field position and went on another drive, showing off the precision of O'Connell and the dazzling efforts of his receivers. They finally cracked Johnson for a DPI call and then O'Connell lofted a perfect ball for TE Paul Piferi, who caught it despite solid coverage from Rod Moore. Back inside the Michigan 10, the Purdue offense simply could not solve the Michigan red zone defense. Mike Sainristil stuffed a Mockobee run on first down, O'Connell got the yardage back on a throw to Sheffield, but on 3rd & Goal from the 8, a combination of Taylor Upshaw and Eyabi Okie got home to sack O'Connell. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Purdue was tacked on to make the Mitchell Fineran kick dicey. The kicker had no trouble, booting a 43 yard field goal through, and with 3:37 remaining, Purdue trailed 28-16. 

[Patrick Barron]

The next series for Michigan's offense contained one of JJ McCarthy's worst mistakes of the season. He had just completed a pass to Ronnie Bell on third down that got the Michigan offense out near midfield when disaster struck. McCarthy had time in the pocket, danced around, rolled to his right, and then made a horrible decision to heave it downfield into double coverage. On 4th down with the game on the line, maaaaybe you can make that throw. But on first down, up 12? No way. It was easily intercepted by Purdue's Jamari Brown and suddenly, Purdue had a window to make the game interesting. 

Their offense moved it yet again, with O'Connell locked into a rhythm and his receivers continuing to ball out. He hit Jones to pick up one third down and then dropped a dime in to Austin Sowinski over good coverage and break-up efforts from Mike Sainristil. A coverage bust between Gemon Green and Makari Paige left Mershawn Rice open on 3rd & 10 and Purdue was in the Michigan red zone again. Their fate was no different. Rushing plays got stuffed and pressure forced O'Connell to misfire on 3rd down. In a strange decision, Brohm opted to kick a largely useless field goal that did not alter the two-score game status of the contest. With 12:37 remaining, it was 28-19 Michigan. 

Matt Weiss and Sherrone Moore decided to start the next drive on the ground, and Donovan Edwards got them out near midfield again. On 3rd & 7, McCarthy tried to scramble for a first down. He was grabbed from behind by DT Branson Deen, who got a small piece of the facemask and then largely used the under-side of the helmet to violently yank McCarthy down by his head/neck. The referees threw a flag, yet opted to pick it up. I do not know the exact definition of the rule to know whether that was the right call or not, but if it is the correct call, then the rule needs to be changed. It was a dangerous play and the sort of thing that the facemask rule exists to eliminate. Nevertheless, Michigan was forced to punt. 

[Patrick Barron]

Purdue started their next drive from their own 12 yard line, down nine. There was just over 10 minutes remaining and a chance for the veteran QB O'Connell to keep his magnificent night going. Unfortunately, it was too much predictability that would prove to be his undoing. On the second play of the drive, O'Connell threw a slant intended for TJ Sheffield. Will Johnson jumped the route and intercepted the ball, his second pick of the game. Johnson was tackled at the Purdue 16, giving Michigan excellent field position. Purdue's defense stopped Michigan on the first two plays, but McCarthy delivered a dagger to Ronnie Bell in the back of the end zone for a TD. Jim Harbaugh took a timeout to draw up a play for the two-point conversion, scheming up a 'swinging gate' play that saw McCarthy roll to his right before hitting Schoonmaker in the end zone for a completion. Michigan banked eight points and made it a three score game, 36-19. 

The next drive was all score effects. With 9.5 minutes left, Michigan was solely focused on letting Purdue eat up the clock. They played off coverage on the receivers and played with lighter boxes, daring Purdue to check into runs and for the first time all day, Mockobee had consistent running room. The issue? The time was draining. Purdue marched down the field but at the cost of ~44% of the remaining clock in the game, a problem when you trail three by scores. They got inside the Michigan red zone  and came up empty yet again. After an O'Connell fade fell incomplete against good coverage from Will Johnson, Brohm kicked another field goal. This one had more meaning (making it a two score game), but Purdue was in trouble. They had traded 4 minutes of clock for 3 points on the scoreboard, a clear game theory win for Minter and Harbaugh. 

With just over five minutes remaining and trailing 36-22, Purdue was forced to onside kick it. The onside attempt was unsuccessful, giving Michigan great field position, and the Wolverines stuck to their bread-and-butter, running the football, to put the nail in the coffin. Mullings picked up a 4th & 2 at the Purdue 36 and then Edwards got to get Michigan down inside the ten. Mullings came back in, ran it twice, and the second carry ended in the end zone. With 1:22 left in the contest, it was 43-22 Michigan. 

[Patrick Barron]

Purdue of course got the ball for a ceremonial final drive as the clock ticked away. Once Dylan Downing was tackled by Joey Velazquez and TJ Guy, the final seconds rolled off the clock and Michigan had done it. They were B1G Football Champions for the second straight season, and by a comfortable 21 point margin covering the spread. 13-0 and a ticket punched for Glendale, Arizona. 

Looking over the box score of the game, this was the rare game where Michigan lost the time of possession battle pretty decisively. Some of that was score effects, but Purdue managed to run 29 more plays than Michigan. The result was Purdue outgaining Michigan by 70 yards, yet Michigan achieving much better per-play efficiency, 7.0 to 5.6 (and again, score effects are included in that). Michigan dominated in the rushing department, gaining 225 yards to Purdue's 90, though the Boilermakers owned the pass in reverse, 366 to 161. 

On an individual basis, Michigan's JJ McCarthy was 11/17 for 161 yards (9.5 Y/A), 3 TD to 1 INT. He played a strong game, despite the ugly interception (his first since the flukey PSU INT). Edwards rushed 25 times for 185 yards (7.4 YPC) and 1 TD, winning B1G Championship Game MVP in the process. Mullings only got eight carries but scored 2 TDs on those 8 carries. Bell led the way with five catches for 67 yards and a TD, while Schoonmaker had a TD and a two-point conversion catch. On defense, Jaylen Harrell led the team with two sacks, while Michael Barrett had one and Okie and Upshaw each got a half-sack. Junior Colson was first with 15 tackles and Will Johnson was the star of the show with two interceptions. A budding superstar, Will Johnson is. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Before I wrap this up, I do want to give a shoutout to the Purdue Boilermakers. As the FFFF guy, I have watched quite a bit Purdue this season. I maintain this is one of the best games they've played. They came well prepared and kept their tackling issues to really just the one Edwards TD run. Purdue competed hard, played disciplined, and were well-coached. Aidan O'Connell, dealing with the tragic loss of his brother recently, played a hell of a game: 32/47 for 366 yards (7.8 Y/A)... the two INTs sting, but what more can you ask for from a former walk-on QB? A tremendous career in a Purdue uniform. And Charlie Jones? Phenomenal. He ruthlessly exploited when Michigan went zone and sometimes beat them in man for the hell of it. 162 yards on 13 catches, making his case as a better WR than Marvin Harrison Jr. this week. Purdue played about as well as they could have hoped but a massive gap in talent was the difference. 

Michigan now gets a four week layoff before their second straight trip to the College Football Playoff, the details of which will be unveiled in ~10 hours. The smart money suggests that Michigan will be the #2 seed and play TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Georgia was #1 this past week and after beating a ranked LSU team by 20, have likely put the #1 seed and the ability to stay in-state on ice. Dawgs will play in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Michigan's win and TCU's loss means Michigan has the #2 seed and a trip to Arizona and the Fiesta Bowl.

The only real question is matchups. USC's loss on Friday means that Ohio State is likely jumping into the picture, so it comes down to OSU vs. TCU. Though some have speculated about the possibility of a re-match of The Game in the semifinals, the CFP has historically declined the ability to draw-up semifinal re-matches (in 2020 and 2021), as well as same-conference semifinals (in 2017 and 2021). Not that they couldn't break tendency, but it would be going against tendency. Furthermore, TCU has one extra win on Ohio State (12-1 vs. 11-1) and their loss was on a neutral field to a top ten team in OT, compared to OSU's loss coming at home to a top ten team... by 22 points. The Big 12 is also a deeper conference than the B1G, per the advanced metrics. This is a long way of saying that TCU has, to the statistically-inclined observer, a stronger resume than Ohio State, even before we get into the committee's historical pattern of opting against semifinal rematch/intra-conference matchups. In other words, expect Michigan/TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.... but acknowledge there is a small chance of Football Armageddon 3 on New Year's Eve.