Michigan, Jim Harbaugh getting roasted for abandoning dominant run game

There is nothing more satisfying than watching your college football team run the ball down another team's throat.

And there is nothing more infuriating than watching your team stop running the ball when they've been running down another team's throat.

Balance is great and all, but sometimes you've got to throw out convention and just keep handing it off. Michigan seemed to understand that when they beat Penn State during the 2023 regular season. So what changed in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game?

The Wolverines were gashing Washington on the ground early on. Donovan Edwards had 93 yards on just three carries. Blake Corum added 84 yards on eight carries. Each went for a long jaunt.

Yet, with a 17-3 lead, Michigan went three-and-out on a drive with two incompletions, then turned the ball over on downs when they called a pass on fourth-and-two. Going scoreless on their final three drives, Washington somehow turned a budding blowout into a game with a touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-10 going into halftime.

The headscratching approach on offense from Michigan left CFB Twitter confused and frustrated.

Michigan truly could have run away with the title game if they had employed the same strategy as they leaned on for the second half of the Penn State game. Washington had no answers for the Wolverine rushing attack.

On the plus side, this was a positive development for the neutrals. No one but Michigan fans actually wanted to see a blowout develop the way it did last year between Georgia and TCU.

Michigan allowing UW to keep it close was the best possible development for the college football audience at large.

The question is whether Harbaugh and company will come out of halftime with their focus on the run game and whether Washington can grab hold of the lifeline they got in the first half and keep climbing.