3 reasons Michigan beat Washington in the CFP National Championship Game

The Michigan Wolverines won their first national championship this century by beating the Washington Huskies, 34-13.

The Wolverines were able to win this game behind a dominant rushing attack and a defense that played extremely well in the second half.

Before taking a look at next season, let's look at three reasons why Michigan prevailed.

3. J.J. McCarthy

J.J. McCarthy didn't have the most impactful game on the stat sheet. Still, the QB was able to guide the Wolverines to the national championship with his solid play. His most impactful play came in when he was able to throw a complete dot to Colston Loveland over the middle. This allowed the Wolverines to get down the field quickly.

McCarthy didn't throw for 300 yards in this game or even have 20 passing attempts. Still he was a major reason why the Wolverines were able to keep moving down the field.

2. Michigan's defense

First of all, holding the Washington Huskies to only thirteen points for the entire game is pretty impressive considering how impressive this offense was going into this game.

Michael Penix didn't have the best game of his career but the secondary for Wolverines was locked in for the entire game. This was an explosive passing offense that went nowhere. There were some bad drops by the Huskies, but the Wolverines had a great passing defense in this game.

The more impressive effort came for the Wolverines rushing defense which prevented the Huskies to only 46 rushing yards for the entire game. While star Huskies running back Dillon Johnson was playing through an injury, this is still a pretty impressive accomplishment.

1. The Michigan rushing attack and offensive line

The offensive line for the Wolverines was able to straight-up dominate the Huskies defensive line. While most of their best work came in the early part of the first half, Michigan was able to control the line of scrimmage. This was the main reason why the Wolverines were able to win this game.

Even though the offensive line provided the lanes for the rushing attack, Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards had a great game themselves. Corum ended up with 134 yards on 21 carries. Edwards had 104 yards on six carries. Both players finished off the game with two rushing touchdowns each.

While the defense and J.J. McCarthy were two major reasons why the Wolverines won this game, the rushing attack was the biggest reason why Michigan won the national title.