2013 Week 17

#2 Michigan beat #1 Nebraska 37-21 to win the BCS National Championship trophy on a rainy night in Pasadena. Michigan said that they felt slighted when the voters moved Nebraska ahead of them in the polls, but coach Jello stated that there's only 1 time when the #1 ranking matters, and that's at the end of the season. Still, Michigan's players played as though they all had chips on their shoulders.

This game was a contrast between 2 very different offensive philosophies. Michigan, who ran the ball very well, only attempted 11 passes compared to 43 rushes. Nebraska, outside of a few sacks and coverage scrambles, only ran the ball a shocking two times during the entire game compared to 34 passes. It also pitted 2 young sophomore QBs against each other in Mark Charles from Michigan and Heisman winner Alford of Nebraska. Charles played well while Alford may have been suffering a bit from the Heisman Hangover.

Michigan dominated the 1st half. Their 1st 2 drives stalled in Nebraska territory, but they still managed to get 2 FGs out of them. When Mark Charles scored on a QB sneak with 5s remaining in the half, Michigan took a 13-0 lead into halftime. After Michigan added a 0 yard TD run by SR HB Fitz Toussaint halfway through the 3rd quarter Michigan had their largest lead of the game, 20-0. After this, Nebraska went into 5 WR, throw every down mode and Michigan countered with a quarters defensive package. For the most part Michigan didn't have much of an answer for the Nebraska 5 WR attack. Coach Jello decided to play it safe and try to bend, but not break and it worked pretty well. While they did end up giving up almost 300 yards passing, they also picked off the Heisman winner 3 times in the game. This would be the difference in the game.

While the Huskers were throwing all over the field, Michigan was running all over it. Nebraska didn't have an answer for the Michigan ground game, particularly in the middle of their 3-4 defense. Michigan would churn out 170 yards and 3 TDs on the ground, led my SR HB Vincent Smith (who clearly didn't want to go out a loser) with 112 yards and a TD on 19 carries. Michigan's O-line really deserves most of the credit, however, as they were blowing open holes in the soft Nebraska front 7 to the tune of 16 pancakes on the day.

Michigan had some stars on defense too. Superstar DT A.J. Keller, who had a pretty disappointing season, came though when he was needed most with 3 sacks. FR CB Thomas Henderson, who only saw playing time after SR CB Austin Hill was knocked out for the game with an injury, came up huge with 2 INTs. Speaking of injuries, SO QB Mark Charles was injured twice in the game, including a injury that forced him to miss almost the entire 4th quarter. SR backup Ian Heffner relieved him, and while he didn't have to throw often, he made some huge runs that kept the ball in Michigan's hands. Michigan dominated the TOP with 18.5 minutes to Nebraska's 9.5.

Coach Jello will enjoy this championship for now as he waits to see if this will lead to a mass exodus of star players from his team like he fears it will