Michigan football: 24-hour rule thoughts from CFP loss to TCU

Michigan football fell in the College Football Playoff Semifinal last night to TCU. It was a loss that has hurt fans right in the heart.

The Wolverines dreamed of a national title, and fans dreamed of the opportunity to watch their team play in that game. Both sides had their dream end in misery last night as Michigan made too many mistakes that cost them.

The Maize and Blue got “punched in the mouth” early on against the Horned Frogs as TCU came out ready to play. Other than the first play of the game, a long run from running back Donovan Edwards, TCU outplayed and outcoached Michigan early on in the game.

Michigan fans can look to blame the officials, yes, they were bad, but the Wolverines were still good enough to win the football game even with those egregious errors.

Michigan football 24-hour rule thoughts from CFP loss to TCU

This season was a success, Michigan football won the Big Ten Championship for the second season in a row and went 13-1. The Wolverines had a remarkable year and might have had one of the best teams the school has had in recent history, but it will be overshadowed by another season ending in the College Football Playoff Semifinal.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff did one of two things that led to the loss to TCU. They either overcoached during the last month or they were underprepared for the game. Michigan got too “cute” multiple times on offense, doing things they hadn’t done all season and using players in situations they weren’t comfortable in.

The play-calling near the goal line was atrocious and head-scratching. All season long, Michigan would run the ball in those situations, and on the first couple of trips against TCU, they did the complete opposite. Of course, when they did try to run the ball, they fumbled it.

On that fumble play, where was Donovan Edwards? Michigan chose to hand the ball off to a player who started the season on defense but was forced to play running back since Blake Corum got injured. Again, something that makes zero sense. Why not hand it off to your no. 1 running back near the goal line?

Quarterback J.J McCarthy, despite having a pretty good stat line and keeping Michigan in the game, made two costly throws, one of which was a killer as the Wolverines had to ball trailing by five points, but turned into them trailing by 18 points. But without McCarthy, Michigan’s offense wouldn’t have been able to keep up with TCU.

The Michigan defense couldn’t get stops when they needed to. When they did, the offense found a way to spoil it. The defense that was known for their second-half adjustments had no answer for the elite play from Max Duggan.

All in all, Michigan football played their worst brand of football in the worst game possible to do so. TCU controlled the trenches which had been Michigan’s point of domination in every single game this season.

This is a very disappointing loss as Michigan was arguably a better team than TCU. The Wolverines had the best chance to go to the national championship than any other playoff team before them and they blew it.

Expectations for next season should be high with the players that will be returning combined with the young players on the current roster and incoming freshmen. We will see who decides to return to Ann Arbor for next season and who decides to go to the NFL.

Michigan football is in the best spot they have been under Jim Harbaugh, but need to find a way to take the next step, getting to the national championship game.