The 5 plays that powered No. 1 Michigan's national title win over No. 2 Washington

Michigan jumped ahead of Washington early and then put the national championship game away late on Monday night in a 34-13 win.

The victory secured Michigan’s first national title since 1997 in the 10th and last four-team College Football Playoff. Here are the five plays that powered Michigan’s win in what could be the final game for Jim Harbaugh as the Wolverines’ head coach.

Donovan Edwards’ 41-yard TD run (10:14, first quarter)

Washington won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. That gave the ball to Michigan to start the game and the Wolverines methodically worked their way past midfield without encountering a third down on the way.

Donovan Edwards then made sure that Michigan wasn’t going to have a third down on its first drive when he bounced a run up the middle to the left for a 41-yard TD run.

To say the score was unexpected is no exaggeration. Edwards hadn’t found the end zone since he scored against Penn State on Nov. 11 and the run was longer than his total yardage in each of the past four games since he had 52 yards on 10 carries against the Nittany Lions.

Donovan Edwards’ 46-yard TD run (2:23, first quarter)

Edwards exploded at the end of the 2022 season after Blake Corum suffered a season-ending knee injury. Edwards rushed for 216 yards against Ohio State before he had 185 yards in the Big Ten title game against Purdue and 119 yards in Michigan’s playoff loss to TCU.

Entering Monday night, Edwards could only dream of performances like that in 2023. Edwards entered the game averaging just 3.5 yards per carry and had fewer than 400 rushing yards through Michigan’s 14 games.

But Edwards ended up breaking the 100-yard mark for the first time all season against the Huskies. And he almost made the century mark on Michigan’s second drive of the game when he broke a 46-yard TD run that looked a lot like his first.

Edwards, who finished the game with six carries for 104 yards, gave Michigan a 14-3 lead late in the first quarter with his second TD run. The Wolverines rushed for 174 yards in the first 15 minutes against Washington as the Huskies found themselves reeling not long after the game began.

Michael Penix Jr.’s incomplete pass to Rome Odunze (10:27, second quarter)

Michigan took a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter as Washington faced an early drive that would go a long way toward defining the title game.

The Huskies got to midfield in two plays but stalled out thanks to two penalties. After a 12-yard pass on third down set up a fourth-and-7 at the Michigan 47-yard-line, Washington and head coach Kalen DeBoer made the decision to go for it, knowing that a punt was a terrible option.

And man, Washington came oh-so-close to cutting Michigan’s lead to seven on that fourth-down play. Star wide receiver Rome Odunze got wide open in the Michigan secondary but cut slightly toward the hash marks. Heisman runner-up Michael Penix Jr. threw toward the boundary and not the middle of the field when he saw Odunze wide open and the pass fell incomplete as Odunze stretched out for the ball.

It was a rare missed connection for one of the best QB-WR combinations in college football. And it set up just how frustrating the title game was going to continue to be for Washington.

Will Johnson intercepts Michael Penix Jr. (14:55, third quarter)

Washington gave itself a chance at the end of the first half when Penix hit Jalen McMillan for a fourth-down touchdown with less than a minute to go. After stopping Michigan from getting a field goal before halftime, Washington entered the break down just 17-10.

The Huskies got the ball to start the second half and had the chance to get the game tied with a touchdown on their opening drive. But the dreams of a tie game despite Michigan’s first-half domination lasted all of five seconds.

As Penix was pressured and looked to the left sideline, his right ankle got twisted awkwardly as he stepped to throw the ball. The pass was tipped and flew high into the air before hit was intercepted by Michigan defensive back Will Johnson.

Penix limped off the field after the play and was not at 100% for the rest of the game. Michigan got a field goal after the interception to stretch its lead back to double digits and keep Washington at an arm’s length the rest of the way.

Blake Corum’s 12-yard TD run (7:09, fourth quarter)

Washington responded to Michigan’s field goal with a field goal of its own to cut the Wolverines’ lead to 20-13 in the third quarter. After that, the teams traded punts over and over and over again as six consecutive possessions ended with a kick back to the other team.

Michigan broke the streak midway through the fourth quarter. J.J. McCarthy hit Colston Loveland over the middle for a 41-yard gain that got the Wolverines into Washington territory. Three plays later, Blake Corum scored his 26th TD of the season to extend the lead back to two possessions and put any hope of a Washington comeback to rest.

Corum scored his 27th TD of the season with less than four minutes to go after a Mike Sainristil interception and capped an incredible 2023 season on Monday night. Corum scored a TD in all 15 of Michigan’s games this season and scored in 11 of the 12 games he played in during the 2022 season. If it wasn’t for a two-carry effort against Ohio State when Corum tried to play with a serious knee injury he suffered the week before, you’d have to go all the way back to the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31, 2021 to find a game that Corum played in and didn’t score.