5 things we learned from Michigan Football’s Big Ten championship win
Michigan football knocked off Purdue to win the Big Ten championship for the second straight year and here are five things we learned.
For the first time in Michigan football history, the Wolverines have won 13 games. They did it by knocking off Purdue Saturday to win a second consecutive Big Ten championship.
How sweet it is!
Not many expected Michigan football to make it back to Indy. Most thought Ohio State would get its revenge and that the Wolverines would settle for a Rose Bowl berth.
Not so fast my friend.
Michigan football rolled through its regular-season schedule and had just two games decided by 10 points or less (Illinois and Maryland). Illinois remains the only team to lead Michigan in the fourth quarter of a game.
Saturday night was like so many other games this season. Michigan football grabbed an early lead but led by just one point at halftime. Then, the running game, which struggled to get going early, took off. Donovan Edwards’ 60-yard run to open the second half was a sign of things to come.
His 28-yard touchdown run that put Michigan football up 28-13 was a thing of beauty too. Purdue didn’t make it easy but no one should have expected them to. Aidan O’Connell is as good as it gets in the Big Ten at quarterback and Jeff Brohm sure can coach.
Yet, Michigan football is a different kind of animal. It’s solid in all three phases, has a rising star at quarterback, and five-star talent that always seems to show up in key moments.
The 43-22 victory clinched a second straight outright Big Ten championship for the first time since 1991-1992 and the Wolverines became the first program outside of Ohio State to win repeat titles since Wisconsin in 2011-2012.
It was a special run but as J.J. McCarthy said again, “We aren’t done.”
With that in mind, here are five things we learned as Michigan football won its second straight Big Ten championship game.
Michigan football is officially among CFB elite
There are a lot of other key takeaways but first, let’s give Jim Harbaugh some credit. Michigan football fans were ready to run him off after the 2020 season and now, less than two years later, he has won back-to-back Big Ten championships.
I’ll say this: I’ll never doubt the man again. I think we all got sucked into the idea that he couldn’t do this. But a flip switched after that 2020 season. He got back to the grind and this program has reached an unbelievable level of success.
When Harbaugh was hired back in 2015, Michigan football fans believed their program was going to get to elite levels and with consecutive conference titles, consecutive wins over Ohio State and now consecutive CFB Playoff appearances — elite has arrived.
We’ll see if Michigan can win a national championship. It seems the Wolverines are capable, but regardless of that, they are among college football’s elite again and they aren’t going anywhere.
And it’s all thanks to Jim Harbaugh.