Michigan football a year wiser with College Football Playoff experience: 'More as a business trip'

Michigan football will play on the final day of the calendar year with a shot at a berth in the national championship game.

Its offensive line won the Joe Moore Award for the second straight season as the top unit in the nation. The Wolverines have a first-year starting quarterback, a bruising running game that sets the tone and a defense that suffocates opponents and has a habit for timely plays.

It might be hard to tell if it that describes the 2021 group or 2022 group, because, it describes both.

But according to players and coaches alike, that's about where the similarities end, especially when it comes to handling the stage they're currently at — the No. 2 Wolverines (13-0, 9-0 Big Ten) will take on No. 3 TCU (12-1, 9-0 Big 12) in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, at 4 p.m. Saturday.

"This is the standard and this is the goal," wide receiver Ronnie Bell said Tuesday morning. "Being here and trying to win a national championship."

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It was all new for the Wolverines last time around. The first win against Ohio State in a decade. The first Big Ten title in 17 years. The program's first 12-win season since its national championship in 1997.

And it all came on the heels of a 2-4 season in 2020 that had many questioning if coach Jim Harbaugh's tenure had run its course in Ann Arbor. It was shiny, it was exciting and perhaps too overwhelming.

"We've been here before, so we know there's a lot of things that could distract us from the task at hand," said quarterback J.J. McCarthy on what he's learned in his second CFP experience. "This kind of week to prepare, we're taking it much more as a business trip than a vacation feel how it was in Miami last year."

It was those darned Miami beaches, McCarthy quipped, that partially distracted U-M from its main objective. This time, Harbaugh has the travel guys focused on "ball" while the non-travel guys moved around more to participate in some of the team activities.

But the plan for how to approach this week didn't begin after the Big Ten championship victory over Purdue. Or the Big Ten East clinching win against Ohio State.

It was born approximately 350 days ago, in early January, not long after McCarthy and others stayed on the field at the Orange Bowl following Michigan's 34-11 loss and watched Georgia players do "confetti angels" on their way to a national championship.

That's when the team got back in the gym and focused on getting back to where they were Tuesday morning, fielding questions from reporters as they prepared for the biggest game of the year — so far.

"This is what’s been on our minds really all season," Bell said. "Yeah, Ohio State was a huge part of that I guess, because last year it was the high of the highs but this year when we won nobody was really head over heels freaking out like last year.

"That’s how different this team is than last year — where our head's at, what the mentality is and what the goals really are. Last year (beating OSU) was the high of the high, this year it was part of still climbing the ladder."

Bell now gets to be a part of that climb, after missing out in 2021 with a torn ACL. He said he was nearly moved to tears thinking bout it on the sideline at Lucas Oil Stadium in the league championship game against Purdue and he's far from the only key Wolverine in an elevated role compared to last season.

McCarthy took over at quarterback for Cade McNamara, though he did get his feet wet in this spot a season ago. He played the majority of the second half against Georgia after McNamara threw two early interceptions; McCarthy finished 7-for-17 for 131 yards and a touchdown pass.

Donovan Edwards, who rushed for 401 yards and three touchdowns across the last two games, is now the lead running back after Blake Corum suffered a torn meniscus against Illinois. Last year, Hassan Haskins was the focal point, but was bottled up for 39 yards on nine carries against the Bulldogs.

Edwards actually led all Wolverines in scrimmage yards (65) against Georgia, running four times for 16 yards and catching three passes for 49 yards.

Luke Schoonmaker, quiet in recent weeks as he's battled through injury, has stepped in for former captain Erick All as a key cog in the passing game. Olusegun Oluwatimi, the Rimington and Outland Trophy winner as the best center and interior lineman in the country, wasn't even on the team.

The list goes on.

But left tackle Ryan Hayes felt like his offensive line let the team down against Georgia.

He still remembers the offense's goal as the final minutes ticked off the clock.

"We just wanted to score a touchdown, we didn't want to get shut out," he said. "That game the clock hit zero and we were like, what just happened? We got beat every which way we could get beat.

"I think the lights might have been a little too bright that game for us. We didn't really know what to expect and I think having that experience this year is invaluable for us."

That's reflected in the expectations for the game as well. Against Georgia, U-M was a touchdown underdog. Now, it is favored by just more than a touchdown against TCU.

But for McCarthy, none of that matters. It hasn't all season, when Michigan's goal of going 1-0 each week has worked all 13 times. Even on the biggest of stages, the Wolverines are taking the same approach.

Only this time they know they have the goods to get it done.

"I don't think the mentality changes as favorite, non-favorite, it's just how are we going to perform in those 60 minutes," McCarthy said. "Nameless, faceless opponent. It doesn't matter who lines up across from us, it's just going to be what we've done all year which is smashing people and executing at a high level."

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football College Football Playoff prep goes back a year