DawgmanRadio: A Hard Way to Finish an Incredible Season

The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds from Houston and Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund in Seattle - break down the key moments behind Michigan's 34-13 win over Washington in the College Football National Championship Game Monday night in Houston.

Kim starts the podcast out by setting the scene, detailing the famous Husky alumni he saw in attendance, starting with 91, Steve Emtman, who was an honorary captain on the day. From all accounts, it looked like it was about 65 percent Michigan fans and 35 percent UW fans, which is remarkable in itself given the issues Washington fans would have had trying to get to Houston from Seattle.

Then the guys dig right into the game. The Wolverines got the ball first and drew first blood with two quick touchdowns that really sent the Huskies reeling. Couple that with Michigan's ability to muddy up the works when the Huskies had the ball and the first quarter couldn't have gone much worse for the team in white.

But the Huskies found some momentum near the end of the second quarter and the momentum was shifting in UW's favor as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime. Getting the ball to start the third quarter, Washington had a chance to go down and set a marker early by tying the game, but instead a bit of a fluke-ish play happened where Michael Penix Jr. got stepped on as he was trying to throw a pass to the sideline. It also looked like it was tipped a bit, but Michigan's Will Johnson made a valiant play to pick the ball off even when UW RB Tybo Rogers looked to knock the ball out of his hands.

Washington's defense stood tall, but the Wolverines cashed in with three points and once again UW was down two scores. It never got any better for the Huskies, especially with self-inflicted wounds that kept them from pushing the ball down the field and ultimately led to another UM defensive back - Mike Sainristil - picking off Penix and almost going the length of the field if it weren't for the heroics of Jack Westover to deny them a pick-six.

But Michigan scored a couple plays later and that was that.

After breaking down the key moments in the game that swung momentum in Michigan's direction and away from UW, the guys then talked about the number of walking wounded on the UW side of the field. Starting with Penix and moving to Westover, Dillon Johnson, Germie Bernard, and others - it was clear by the end of the season the team's gas tank was on empty and Michigan was able to use its strength in numbers to overpower UW on both sides of the ball.

Post-game, Kim and intern Josh Wodka were able to talk to a number of players in the UW locker room, and the mood was obviously one of frustration and heavy emotion. So much blood, sweat, and tears were poured into the season, and as Kalen DeBoer rightly said, they didn't come this far just to get this far.

Before offering their final thoughts on the game and the season, Scott gave a quick update and scouting report on Washington's latest commitment, 2025 LB Zaydrius Rainey-Sale from Bethel, the top in-state prospect for the next recruiting cycle. Scott also talked about the 2024 mid-year signees that were at the game, both high school and portal players.

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