On Monday, Jan. 8, the Michigan Wolverines faced the Washington Huskies in the College Football Playoff (CFP) championship game. The big story in the leadup to this game was the cheating allegations against Michigan. They were accused of illegally stealing opposing teams signals, and as a result their head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for three games. Despite this, Michigan still made it to the championship as the one seed with an undefeated record. They had already beat Alabama, the fourth-ranked team in the nation, in overtime to win the Rose Bowl. Due to this, they were the favorites going into the championship. 

Washington also came into the game with an undefeated record, led by sixth year senior starting quarterback Micheal Penix Jr. Penix finished as the runner up for the Heisman trophy award, which is given every year to the best college football athlete. He was phenomenal in the semifinal game against Texas, where he threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns. 

It was clear from the beginning that Washington was outmatched. Michigan scored two long rushing touchdowns early and never looked back. While the Washington defense was able to improve as the game moved along, they were still playing down a huge deficit and were unable to come back. Michigan’s defense kept harassing Penix, and even though they only recorded one sack, they never allowed him to get into a rhythm. Washington, which is known for its explosive plays, was only able to score one touchdown, and the final score of the game was 34-13.