HOUSTON (AP) 鈥 Jim Harbaugh raised the championship trophy as gold and white confetti sprayed over his team and 鈥淲e Are the Champions鈥 blared.
Nine years after he took over at Michigan, Harbaugh delivered on the lofty expectations he brought with him to his beloved alma mater.
Blake Corum ran for 134 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Harbaugh and the top-ranked Wolverines 鈥 undeterred by that shadowed the program 鈥 completed a three-year surge to a national title by beating No. 2 Washington 34-13 Monday night in the College Football Playoff.
鈥淲e鈥檙e innocent and we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. And I鈥檇 like to point that out,鈥 Harbaugh said when asked about off-field issues, jumping in to answer a question posed to his players. 鈥淎nd these guys are innocent. And overcome that? It wasn鈥檛 that hard because we knew we were innocent.
鈥(The season) went exactly how we wanted it to go. It went exactly how we wanted it to go.鈥
The Wolverines (15-0) sealed their first national title since 1997 when Corum, who scored the winning touchdown in overtime against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, blasted in from the 1-yard line with 3:37 left to put Michigan up by 21 and set off another rousing rendition of 鈥淭he Victors鈥 from the band.
After a third consecutive playoff appearance, Harbaugh won the championship so many expected when he took over a struggling powerhouse in 2015 鈥 despite missing six regular-season games this season while serving
鈥淭hat man, he's the reason we're here today,鈥 Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said of his coach.
And Harbaugh did it with a team his old coach, Bo Schembechler, would have adored. The Wolverines ran for 303 yards against Washington (14-1), and their rugged defense held Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies鈥 prolific passing game to just one touchdown while intercepting the Heisman Trophy runner-up twice.
鈥淭here are more than 100 Michigan men who are on this team,鈥 Harbaugh said. 鈥淲hat they鈥檝e done is amazing. They will forever be known as national champions.鈥
Penix鈥檚 remarkable six-year college career ended with maybe his worst performance of the season. Usually unfazed by pressure, Penix was not nearly as precise against a Michigan defense that took away his signature deep throws.
鈥淭hat was a spectacular game by our defense,鈥 Harbaugh said.
The Indiana transfer who came back from two knee surgeries and two shoulder injuries was roughed up by the Wolverines, limping at times, stepped on another time.
Asked how he was feeling, Penix said, still undaunted: 鈥淏etter than I was three years ago."
as the Huskies had their 21-game winning streak snapped.
鈥淭hey've given me everything they possible can,鈥 coach Kalen DeBoer said of a group of players who went 4-8 just two seasons ago and 25-3 since he took over in 2022.
McCarthy had a modest game, throwing for 140 yards and running for 31. But it was enough for him to improve to 27-1 as a starter for the Wolverines.
Michigan gave Washington a taste of life in the Big Ten, where the Pac-12 champions are heading next season, and the Huskies were up for the grind for a while.
Two long touchdown runs by Donovan Edwards and 229 yards rushing in the first quarter put the Wolverines up 17-3 early in the second and conjured up memories of last year's historic Georgia blowout of TCU.
Washington stabilized and didn鈥檛 allow the Wolverines another point in the first half. After the Huskies stopped Michigan on a fourth-and-2 from the UW 38 with 4:46 left in the second quarter, Penix went to work.
He found Jalen McMillan on a fourth-and-goal with 42 seconds left for a 3-yard touchdown. After being on the verge of getting buried by the Wolverines, the Huskies fans sang along to 鈥淲ho Let the Dogs Out,鈥 happily down only 17-10 at half.
Will Johnson鈥檚 interception of Penix on the first play of the second half gave Michigan another opportunity to open up a two-touchdown lead, but the Huskies forced a field goal by James Turner to make it 20-10.
鈥淭oday was a complete, complete team effort,鈥 Corum said.
Michigan nursed a touchdown lead until halfway through the fourth quarter, when it put together a 71-yard drive, capped by Corum's that finally gave the Wolverines some room with a 27-13 lead and 7:09 left.
Corum, the engine of the ground-and-pound offense and heart and soul of a missed the CFP last year with a knee injury. He was named offensive player of the final national title game in before the College Football Playoff expands from four teams to 12 next season.
"Michigan, this is for you,鈥 Corum told the Wolverines fans.
Michigan seemed to be steaming toward a third consecutive Big Ten championship when in October it was revealed the NCAA was investigating the program for potentially breaking rules that prohibit in-person scouting of opponents and using video equipment to attempt to decode opponents鈥 play signals.
the low-level Michigan recruiting staffer accused of orchestrating the scheme, into a household name and threatened to derail the Wolverines鈥 season.
The NCAA process will linger well into 2024 and it is unknown what penalties Michigan could face. The Big Ten, though, decided to act quickly and punished Michigan by for the final three games of the regular season, including matchups with Penn State and rival Ohio State.
With offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore taking Harbaugh鈥檚 place, it became Michigan vs. Everybody and .
Harbaugh returned for the postseason, completed the mission and got to celebrate with his 84-year-old father, Jack 鈥 himself a former college football coach 鈥 as he accepted the trophy.
Michigan became the first college football program to record 1,000 victories when it beat Maryland in November and won its third national title in January.
鈥淲ho has it better than us?鈥 Jack Harbaugh asked the fans during the trophy ceremony. They replied with a boisterous: 鈥淣obody!鈥
Now the question is with the
Harbaugh said it felt good to no longer be the only coach in the family without a national championship. His father won a Division I-AA title with Western Kentucky and brother John won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens by beating Jim's San Francisco 49ers 11 years ago.
"I can now sit at the big person鈥檚 table in the family,鈥 Harbaugh said.
As for what's next?
"I just want to enjoy this,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 hope you give me that. Can I have that? Does it always have to be what鈥檚 next, what鈥檚 the future?鈥
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