That's officially it for Michigan football's (far-fetched) College Football Playoff dream

That’s officially it for Michigan football’s (far-fetched) College Football Playoff dream

Posted by Admin November 3, 2024 Football

In case you hadn’t noticed, folks, the beautiful dream is over. Michigan football fans who since September have been keeping their heads buried in the pillow, clinging to the sweet scent of a national championship, can no longer avoid the smell coming from the Big House kitchen.

And it isn’t coffee.

It’s mediocrity.

That trait was on squirming display in U-M’s fourth loss of the season Saturday, when Oregon, the No. 1 team in the nation, left the Wolverines jammed into their own turf, 38-17. The Michigan offense couldn’t keep up, and the Ducks swallowed the U-M defense the way real ducks swallow bread crumbs, pecking and jabbing four touchdowns before halftime.

The last of those was by Oregon’s Heisman Trophy-hopeful quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who took a snap and ran a beeline, untouched, 23 yards into the end zone. You rarely see a quarterback run that straight, that alone, for that distance. A monk has more company.

It was one of numerous embarrassments Saturday for a Michigan program that last year at this time was two thirds of the way to an undefeated season and seeing stunning excellence from its quarterback, running back, defensive line and secondary. Not anymore. We all know U-M lost 18 starters. We all know Jim Harbaugh bolted for the NFL and left the cupboards bare, particularly under center. We all know Sherrone Moore, the new coach, has his hands full. We all know U-M’s top defensive back, Will Johnson, was out Saturday.

We all know that just last week, the Wolverines saw one of their quarterbacks retire from football and a top QB recruit decommit.

We know all that. We knew it going in.

Didn’t make this any easier to watch.

“The No. 1 thing … is to win the football game,” said Davis Warren, who, in his second go-round as a starting quarterback, finished Saturday with 165 yards passing and two touchdowns. “As an offense we need to start faster … to be better on third down … keep our defense off the field. … But our No. 1 job is to win the football game.”

And that didn’t happen.

Again.

A painful trick play

Saturday was a chance to get a major carve on U-M’s 2024 legacy. Oregon is a bit like last year’s Michigan team, on the rise, believing in the program, riding a hot quarterback and undefeated as the nation’s No. 1 team. An upset could have changed everything in Ann Arbor.

Unfortunately, the Ducks matched their, uh, billing (sorry, too easy) and the Wolverines matched theirs. U-M’s woeful passing game couldn’t keep them on the field early, especially on third downs, and the defense had no answer for Gabriel and his on-the-run accuracy.

“They executed well,” Moore said. “We gotta continue to focus on little details.”

Yeah. And big ones.

Give U-M credit for not giving up. That hardly sounds like much. But the way the Wolverines played the first half, they might have been excused for dragging their feet coming out for the second. They surrendered touchdown drives of 63, 75, 80 and 94 yards. And their offense had numerous three-and-outs.

“We had a real heart to heart at halftime,” Warren recalled, “and said, ‘We gotta go now.’ ”

And indeed, they improved. Warren made some nice throws, Colston Loveland (seven catches, 112 yards) had some terrific catch-and-runs, and the Wolverines kept it interesting, even coming close to making it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter.

But a 70-yard drive ended with a foolish trick play call on fourth down, a reverse to Semaj Morgan that saw him throw the ball out of the end zone while his intended receiver, quarterback Alex Orji, ran smack into a TV camera.

It was painful to watch.

On several levels.

A few moments later, Gabriel again scrambled away from the Michigan defense (he threw for nearly 300 yards and they didn’t sack him all game) and fired a 47-yard strike to Traeshon Holden. From there, it was merely a countdown until Oregon went home undefeated and Michigan just went home.

“What do you play for now?” Moore was asked after his team fell to 5-4 for the season. “What’s the motivation?”

“The motivation is that you are at Michigan,” Moore said. “That you wear a winged helmet, that you have a block ‘M’ on your chest.”

It’s a good, defiant, college-coach response.

The problem isn’t the answer.

The problem is that he’s getting asked the question.

That’s it for a CFP miracle

Saturday’s defeat officially closes the door on any miracle playoff dreams. Sure, if the Wolverines had somehow stunned No. 1 Oregon, then come back next week and shut down No. 13 Indiana, and two weeks later upset No. 4 Ohio State in Columbus, you could make a case that, even with three losses, they deserved a spot in the final 12.

And if Kamala Harris wins 49 states on Tuesday. …

The point is, it didn’t happen. And most probably, Michigan will finish with five or six losses and get a minor bowl game. But there’s a chance even that doesn’t come to pass. Either way, it’s quite a comedown from the high of last season. And you wonder how the players who remember last year’s sunshine are dealing with this year’s mud.

“Our goal at the start of the year is to beat Michigan State, beat Ohio State, win a Big Ten title and win a national title,” Warren said. “Obviously (this) is disappointing, but it’s not our job right now to have that perspective to feel bad for ourselves. …

“If you take that wide-lens view all the time, you’re gonna get stuck.”

Which is why players don’t take it. But fans do. And I have to differ a bit with Warren’s “wide-lens” assessment. Michigan can’t just set sights on MSU and Ohio State anymore. Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington will now regularly stand in the way of all its dreams, Big Ten and national, and U-M coaches would do well to instill the same rivalry feeling for Ducks, Huskies and Trojans as they do for Spartans and Buckeyes.

“Is there a specific goal that you can rally your team around now?’ Moore was asked.

“Win,” he snapped. “How do we win the next game and the next one and the next one?”

Even if they should do that (and it doesn’t seem likely if you’ve been watching Ohio State), nothing significant will change. All titles are gone. The best trophy they can hope for will have a bowl name on it.

And Wolverines Nation is not generally a patient bunch.

Yet there’s been relatively little outcry over the slow sink of the 2024 season. Do you find that strange? Perhaps the exultation of last year is shading rose on this year’s glasses. Or perhaps fans want to give Moore a longer runway. I have a friend who is a giant Michigan fan who says he’s watching last year’s games one week at a time this year and reliving the joy.

Whatever floats your boat. A national title buys you grace (although programs like Alabama do expect them every year). But when you see how Oregon went from Heisman finalist Bo Nix last year to snagging Heisman candidate Gabriel this year, it seems criminal that the Wolverines, at the most important position, went from JJ McCarthy to a three-headed committee.

What a difference a year makes. The dream is over. Wake up and smell the record. Four losses against five wins, then seeing Oregon dance off the field Saturday, chuff with an undefeated record and fantasies of what’s to come, must leave Michigan fans nostalgic. Or at least wishing they could go back to sleep.

Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him @mitchalbom.