Michigan Football: Postseason Outlook

Michigan Football is 12-0 and has tons of potential for a postseason run

Wolverine fans, enjoy these upcoming weeks. Saturday’s game in Columbus was the best game I’ve ever watched, and if you’re under 22 like myself it was the first time you’ve ever witnessed a Michigan football win in Columbus.

If the Wolverines can avoid offseason drama, it’s very possible that the win over the Buckeyes could propel this program to a whole different level of success.

The domination that took place in Columbus shocked the entire nation, Michigan football fans included. JJ McCarthy showed us that he has what it takes.

Donovan Edwards showed that he could lead the backfield. The wide receivers (for the most part) showed that they could get separation and make plays. The defense- wow. That was possibly the best defensive performance I’ve seen out of a Michigan football team.

Sure the Wolverines have shut out opponents in the past, but holding the best offense in the nation to 23 points, with only 3 in the second half?! That’s ridiculous!

There are no excuses this year either- last year Ohio State could’ve been hampered by the weather, but it was a beautiful day in Columbus! This defense looks for real. It’s got a game plan that works to its strengths, and a defensive coordinator in Jesse Minter who is an absolute genius. Pay Minter whatever he wants so that he stays.

Everything seemed to click for the Wolverines, particularly in the second half. Without their best player, the Wolverines were able to dominate the Buckeyes, who were 8-point favorites. This performance has fans around the nation wondering “how far can they go?”

Michigan faces Purdue in the Big Ten Championship

Before talking about playoff spots and opponents, we cannot overlook the Purdue Boilermakers, who will look to play the role of Spoilermaker, as they have so often in the past.

The Michigan Wolverines likely have a playoff spot secured regardless of the outcome on Saturday, barring Purdue blowing the Wolverines out, but the game is important for seeding purposes.

Purdue is not a team to sleep on. They return quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who is very experienced and has played in massive upsets before, such as when Purdue defeated then #3 Michigan State last year to end the Spartan’s playoff hopes.

Purdue is a pass-heavy offense. They want to throw the ball and beat you in the air. Michigan has excellent pass coverage, but must be at the top of their game and avoid allowing any big plays through the air.

As we saw against the Buckeyes, allowing a few big plays through the air can keep them alive when they should be down.

Big plays through the air allowed Michigan football to stay in the game against Ohio State when they had no business being in the game. Despite being dominated in every statistical category, the Wolverines trailed by only 3 at halftime. Michigan cannot let Purdue have the same success.

Michigan will go into this game as a heavy favorite but must remember that Purdue is a very good team. If the Wolverines win, they’ll be a top-two team in the playoff rankings.

Michigan’s playoff outlook

The most important aspect of Michigan’s dominant win over Ohio State, in my opinion, is that we learned that the Wolverine offense can be dynamic and explosive. I don’t know if the coaching staff had just been calling extremely vanilla games on purpose through the first 11 weeks, but they surely showed against Ohio State that the offense is not just composed of runs up the middle.

We all knew that with JJ McCarthy, a potent passing offense could propel the Wolverines to title contention. Up until last week, there had been many valid concerns about McCarthy.

It’s safe to say he silenced most of those. While he still definitely has lots of things to improve on, such as consistent accuracy and patience in the pocket, he showed that when the ball is in his hands, he can win a big football game.

McCarthy accounted for the first four touchdowns for the Wolverines — three in the air and one on the ground. Every other playoff contender is terrified of the Wolverines. Jim Harbaugh finally has an X-factor quarterback who can take matters into his own hands.

That, along with a dominant defense, offensive line, and the run game is a recipe for a championship.

Now that we’ve talked about how important this win was for Michigan football, let’s dive into their likely playoff scenarios.

The playoff committee is likely to follow the AP Poll and put Michigan at #2, right behind Georgia. Assuming that Michigan and Georgia both win their championships (which they definitely should), Michigan would be the #2 seed and would likely play TCU or USC, with TCU being the more likely opponent.

The whole nation found out on Saturday that Michigan is a force to be reckoned with. The most impressive thing? The Wolverines dominated without their best offensive player and defensive player. Blake Corum played 5 snaps, while Mike Morris only played 11.

Those two are obviously huge contributors. I don’t expect Blake Corum to play in the Big Ten Championship and am unsure about Mike Morris, but both should have plenty of time to get back to 100% by playoff time. That’s scary.

I previously said that the winner of The Game had a clear path to the national championship. Well, the Wolverines do. If they defeat Purdue, they’ll most likely see TCU. While nothing is final until Sunday’s official playoff rankings come out, Michigan playing TCU is the most widely predicted matchup for the Wolverines.

Whether it’s TCU, USC, or even Ohio State, the Wolverines will have a great chance of defeating their opponent. This year’s playoff has the potential to be the best in the history of the four-team playoff. I could legitimately see 4-5 different teams winning it this year.

Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines are receiving tons of praise right now. Colin Cowherd was discussing whether or not Harbaugh is the best coach in the country. He’s not there yet, but he’ll have a great chance to enter himself into that conversation.

If Harbaugh can win the Big 10 again and win a semifinal playoff game, he’ll likely be head-to-head with Kirby Smart again. If he works some magic, he’ll have a great case for being the best coach in America.

The Wolverines are having a phenomenal year and have a real shot of winning a championship. Treasure every moment with this team.