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The column was written by Paul Kasabian on December 5, 2021.
AP Photo/AJ Mast
The Michigan football team will play in the College Football Playoff.
The Big Ten Championship Game was played on Saturday in Indianapolis. With the win, the Wolverines were assured of a spot in the CFP.
The Michigan running game and defense led to the victory.
The Wolverines rushed for over 200 yards and four scores, with a 67-yard scamper by Corum giving them an early lead.
College Football on Fox.
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J.J. McCarthy is the lead blocker, but how about the speed of Blake Corum?
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The third and fourth quarter saw a pair of touchdown by Hassan Haskins that gave Michigan a 27-3 lead.
It gave him the all-time school single-season rushing touchdown record.
The play of the game was a running back's pass to Roman Wilson, who caught a 75-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Iowa couldn't get much going on the ground or through the air, and Michigan was able to get more than half of the victory. The change of quarterback midgame by the Hawkeyes was irrelevant because the defense was so good.
All added a five-yard catch for Michigan's final touchdown.
The one-yard score was the final one for the Wolverine.
Michigan won the Big Ten title for the first time since 2003 with a 12-1 record. The state fell to 10-3.
Notable performances.
The Michigan running back had 17 carries, 56 rushing yards and a 2 touchdown performance.
The Michigan running back had 5 carries, 74 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Michigan running back was 1-of-1, 75 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 1 rushing touchdown.
Spencer Petras was 9-of-22 and had 137 passing yards.
Goodson had 18 carries and 50 rushing yards.
Sam LaPorta had 6 catches and 62 receiving yards.
Michigan will be a part of the CFP.
The play that didn't end up in the box score is the epitome of the game.
The record shows that Corum ran for a 67-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
College Football on Fox.
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J.J. McCarthy is the lead blocker, but how about the speed of Blake Corum?
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It was an incredible effort for a running back to play through a high ankle injury and limited his snaps because of it.
The best moment of the play was the run. J.J. McCarthy flew down the sideline to help his teammate get through the line of scrimmage.
His effort did not go unrecognized.
The person is Aaron McMann.
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J.J. McCarthy was very close to beating Corum at the end zone.
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Chris Balas is the author of "Balas_Wolverine".
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J.J. McCarthy had wheels. Wow.
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Stephenjnesbitt wrote to Stephen J. Nesbitt.
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J.J. McCarthy ran past his running back to block the field on the 67-yard touchdown run.
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The ethos of this team is summed up by that. They fight hard for each other. They are fast. They are tough. They are kind. The team is going to be a problem for the opponent.
Michigan is a team with many individual talents. David Ojabo could be the first edge-rusher taken in the first round of the draft.
John Madden reached out to Jim Harbaugh after the win over Ohio State to tell him that the offensive line is a force to be reckoned with.
CSayf23 wrote "Clayton Sayfie."
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Harbaugh said he got a text from Madden after the Ohio State game, which he said was as good of an offensive line performance as he's seen.
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I told Sherrone to keep that on his phone.
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They have a formidable one-two punch in the running game with Haskins and Corum, and everything works in sync to form one hell of a team.
Alabama is the clear favorite to win the title after dismantling Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, but Michigan is a special team that won't go away easily.
The season ends with Thursday, but the Hawkeyes should keep their chins up.
The season ended with a 39-point defeat, capping a collapse that saw the College Football Playoff hopes disappear after a 6-0 start.
One can look at the season from two different points of view.
The Hawkeyes went 4-3 in their last seven games. Their three losses were by a combined score of 76 points. Iowa scored 17 points.
Iowa's offense wasn't up to par. The Hawkeyes have a stout running game led by Tyler Goodson, but they didn't have the big-play threats needed to win games.
The defense was particularly bad at times. Iowa allowed two 67 and 75 yard plays in the first quarter and gave up over 500 yards in the game.
Iowa made the conference championship game with a 10 win season. The Big Ten West was a weak division this year, so much so that Iowa almost won its group. The Hawkeyes made the conference title game by having 10-plus wins, which is a lot for a Big Ten team.
The Hawkeyes were out of theCFP picture entirely after a two-game losing skid. Iowa won four straight after the Wisconsin and Purdue losses. Three of them came by one-possession scores.
The Hawkeyes can hold their heads high knowing that they gave it their all when other teams could have fallen apart in that spot.
That doesn't make Saturday's result any easier, and it's clear that Iowa is a clear cut below the Big Ten elite of Michigan and Ohio State. The difference was the talent on both sides of the ball, as the Wolverines were too talented on both sides.
The bigger picture shows a better picture for Iowa. The other teams struggle to win a lot of games. Iowa has a reputation of being a giant killer and has the luxury of being in the mix.
Even if the losses to Michigan cloud the truth about the program, Iowa can always hang its hat on that.
What's next?
The College Football Playoff field will be announced on Sunday, but Michigan will be in it. The seeding is the only thing left to be determined.
Ohio State will play Utah in the Rose Bowl, as a result of the UM's win.
The Hawkeyes will head to another bowl after the loss, even though they were headed to the Rose Bowl.
