Well, Michigan's first ever trip to the College Football Playoff could've gone better. In what many hoped would be a coronation on the Wolverines' dream season from heaven, it instead turned out to be a frying pan to the face called reality. Michigan should be immensely proud of how far they've come to get to this point, but also now are on high alert about how far the program still has to go in order to compete with a team of Georgia's caliber.

Only two teams in the country have more than 1,000 talent points on 24/7's team talent composite. Those two teams are slated to play in the national championship game, after soundly coasting over previously very good teams today. Michigan is down at 15th on that metric, and the gap between the elite and the very good in college football has never looked larger for millions of fans in Maize & Blue worldwide. The need to keep climbing continues. 

Michigan won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, needing a good defensive series to set the tone. That didn't happen. Georgia appeared to self-scout very well and knew Michigan would expect the run, responding by testing the boundary with screen after screen. Star TE Brock Bowers burned Jaylen Harrell deep for the big play of the drive and then the big man was able to walk in for a TD on a screen. 

The Michigan scripted drive went alright, driving into Bulldog territory thanks in part to a Cade McNamara 18-yard scramble. On 3rd & 4, the Wolverines had Luke Schoonmaker open but a Cade McNamara throw was deflected at the line just so slightly and it fell incomplete. Going for it on 4th down from the UGA 41, Cade just missed a semi-open Erick All and turned it over on downs. 

It didn't take long for the Dawgs to respond. Screens, screens, and more screens attacked the Wolverine defense. James Cook ripped off a long run in between after Junior Colson couldn't locate the hole and then Todd Monken dialed up the cherry on top playcall, a trick play that saw RB Kenny McIntosh throw a TD pass to a wide open Adonai Mitchell, who Vincent Gray had lost track of in the end zone. 14-0 Georgia. 

Stetson Bennett IV was good [Bryan Fuller]

The Wolverines now were in trouble and couldn't get the necessary offensive answer. They picked up a big 3rd & short under pressure, but McNamara took a bad sack on the next play. Michigan had Hassan Haskins open on 2nd down but McNamara's pass again got deflected at the line. After Nakobe Dean tracked down Blake Corum on 3rd down, Michigan punted. 

The first stop came on the next series but it didn't come until well into Michigan territory. A pair of 3rd down conversions and a 20-yard Stetson Bennett IV scramble drove Georgia deep, but finally the Michigan defense got off the field. Nevertheless, it was 17-0 Georgia. Michigan got points on the next drive, snapping the shutout. A beautiful 42-yard ball from McNamara to Roman Wilson got Michigan deep into Georgia territory, but another sack forced Michigan to play for the field goal, which Jake Moody nailed from 36 yards away. 17-3. 

At this moment in time, it seemed that there could be a narrow path for the Wolverines to claw back into the game, if they could procure a stop and a TD before halftime. That didn't happen. A 50-yard bomb to James Cook against Junior Colson got Georgia right back into Michigan territory and set up a field goal to push the margin back to three scores, 20-3.

James Cook had himself a game [Fuller]

The final sequence of the second quarter is when the dam broke- Michigan went three and out gaining two yards, and then Georgia scored a TD in just three plays. For the second time on the night, Vincent Gray inexplicably stopped running mid-play and let Jermaine Burton toast him for 57 yards and a TD. Cade McNamara threw an odd INT on what appeared to be a flagrant defensive pass interference on the next Michigan play and the rout was on. Michigan went into halftime down 27-3. 

The second half saw the Wolverines fight valiantly on defense, holding UGA scoreless in the third quarter and the offense gained some yards, but they just kept making mistakes. Their opening possession of the second half took them into the Georgia redzone, but a miscommunication between McNamara and Daylen Baldwin ended in an interception in the end zone. A good AJ Henning punt return started a Michigan drive close to midfield, but Blake Corum fumbled at the 50, and the Dawgs recovered, making it three straight Michigan possessions to end in a turnover at one juncture. 

Michigan didn't lay down in the fourth quarter, twice reaching the Georgia ten with JJ McCarthy at QB and Donovan Edwards shining as a receiver. The first trip ended in a turnover on downs, while the second netted Michigan a TD on a 35-yard bomb to Andrel Anthony (AJ Henning added a two-point conversion). Georgia got another TD from Bennett to James Cook matched up on a LB, and time ran out with the Bulldogs holding the ball deep in Michigan territory. Final score: Georgia 34, Michigan 11. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Click for a few takes]

Too much of this tonight [Fuller]

A lot of things went very wrong for Michigan tonight. The offensive game plan from Josh Gattis did not appear poor, but a few notable areas malfunctioned. First off, this was a bad matchup. A lot of Michigan's speed in space stuff was ineffective against a defense as freakishly fast as Georgia's. When LB Nakobe Dean tracked Blake Freaking Corum down in space, that seemed pretty clear. Secondly, Cade McNamara's combination of arm angle and short stature led to deflected balls in big moments when receivers were indeed open.

And thirdly, but most importantly, Michigan's vaunted OL got crushed into a pulp. Faced with a defensive line better than any other in the country, fast, strong, and physical, Michigan wilted. Every piece of the DL feasted against Michigan, generating pressure with consistency. Michigan had allowed just ten sacks in thirteen games up to this point. Tonight they allowed four. The OL couldn't open holes consistently either, with Michigan's RBs managing just 4.1 yards per carry. Of course, it's worth pointing out that the three turnovers didn't help (also uncharacteristic), but the game was already over by that point because of the three aforementioned reasons. 

On defense, it was also a debacle. Georgia schemed around the pass rush through its screen game and then took advantage of uncharacteristic mental mistakes from Vincent Gray in man coverage. They also correctly identified their greatest area of mismatch in pairing James Cook as a receiving back against Michigan's still young and very inexperienced LBs. Stetson Bennett IV was very sharp, Georgia didn't turn it over, and their rushing game gained a solid 4.7 YPC. Michigan's personnel limitations on defense (lack of athleticism at corner, inexperience at LB) reared their head in this game in ugly fashion. 

A team of 3.5* guys can only take you so far up against Georgia [Fuller]

If nothing else, this game should demonstrate to the college football world the value of recruiting. It was a common refrain after the OSU game that "stars aren't everything" and while that's true, stars do matter a lot. Michigan is a talented football team, but they are not in Georgia's universe. The Dawgs have spent years funneling booster money to accumulate an outrageous amount of talent that only Alabama and Ohio State can match. Michigan doesn't have that. The three classes that make up this Georgia team's sophomores, juniors, and seniors were ranked 1st, 2nd, and 1st in the 24/7 composite, respectively. Michigan's were ranked 10th, 8th, and 22nd. When a team with Georgia's talent shows up well-coached and prepared, and then executes its game plan (Ohio State did not do those things), it's damn near impossible for a team of Michigan's talent to match that. And on New Year's Eve in Miami, Michigan couldn't match it. 

The hope must be that this miracle season lays the groundwork for Michigan to begin clawing up that mountain and landing the kind of talent needed to really win a national title. Reeling in a couple top five classes in a row would begin getting Michigan there. Beating OSU and winning the B1G next season would help that along as well. Georgia's defense was too fast and its athletes too strong. Michigan needs to work to close that recruiting gap and also develop the sort of superstar at QB that past programs have used to cover up talent gaps to win big (*cough* Clemson *cough*). 

Hats off to Aidan Hutchinson one last time [Fuller]

A few last thoughts on 2021

In the end, this was a disappointing conclusion, but it cannot defame the magic of this team or all they accomplished. Your author predicted 7-5 before the season in Hail to the Victors, and this team won 12 games. Few gave the Wolverines a shot entering the season to win the conference or to defeat Ohio State, which Michigan accomplished. That alone is a flying success beyond our wildest expectations. The names Aidan Hutchinson, Josh Ross, Brad Hawkins, David Ojabo, Andrew Vastardis, Andrew Stueber, Jake Moody, and Hassan Haskins, all of whom likely played their final game in a winged helmet tonight, will always be Michigan legends, and nothing tonight can change that. 

Speaking personally, the feeling entering this fall was something of foreboding doom. I was excited to cover the team for the first time professionally but there was absolutely nothing to make me believe this program was headed in a direction that would make me really care on a fan level. The memory of 2016, or even 2018, when Michigan's path to college football's elite seemed inevitable, felt like, to borrow a line from Pink Floyd, a distant ship's smoke on the horizon. It felt like Harbaugh was half out the door and the experiment seemed to have failed. I stopped believing in this team.

I was even more pessimistic about the set up of college football broadly. I walked around talking about 2007 as "the days when college football was great". It felt like the sport was uncompetitive, that there was a tier of elite and there was little reason to care if you weren't in that tier. This season showed that that tier is still alive (although OSU and Clemson appeared to fall below that tier for once), but I was totally wrong. There is a reason to care even if you aren't (this year) Alabama and Georgia. This Michigan football team made me fall in love with college football again. 

See you soon, Blake Corum [Patrick Barron]

The experience of waking up every Saturday watching either a win or a highly competitive game was delightful. In an era of attrition and transfers, this Michigan team had strong senior leadership and guys that really cared. The sweet taste of finally winning in Madison, the thrill of eking out a win in Lincoln, the pain of falling in East Lansing, and the euphoria of Erick All galloping down the sideline in State College were just the starter course for the sweet ecstasy of November 27 and December 4. It feels crazy to say considering where I was in late August that the only thing I can think about as the clock hits midnight is how many days we have to go until week one of the 2022 season. 

This team showed that the era of legal money going to college football players doesn't mean The Greed of the Youths by donating NIL cash to charity. They had fun, played with confidence and honor, and gave it their all every weekend. They took a shot to the jaw in late October but didn't let it stop them from winning the Big Ten. They finally got that sweet celebration in Indianapolis, and we all got to see one of the great defensive single-seasons ever from Aidan Hutchinson. Even with a game hopelessly lost in the second half tonight, they played solid defense and didn't quit, never letting the margin get outrageous. They represented all of the best that this university and football program is supposed to be. I'm going to miss them a lot. 

Finally, this game has brought to a close my first season covering Michigan Football at this site. I can only say that it was an absolute blast. Watching the tape during the week, writing up FFFF, doing MGoRadio on Friday, waking up on Saturday, and then writing the recap was a sort of happy rhythm I enjoyed, and I can't wait to get back to it. All of you, the readers, were immensely kind in the comments and gave me all the validation I needed to commit to continue doing this beyond this fall. Let's do it again in 2022. Happy New Year, and we'll see you again soon.