Michigan football responds to ‘pressure moments’ in earning spot…..

Michigan football responds to ‘pressure moments’ in earning spot in national title game

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh rattled off his team’s miscues in the Rose Bowl to make a point. The Wolverines were challenged by Alabama in the national semifinal, but they also were in pressure situations of their own making, mistakes that could have been costly.

But in the end, it was all about how they responded that helped lead No. 1 Michigan to a 27-20 overtime victory Monday to advance to the national championship against No. 2 Washington at NRG Stadium in Houston on Jan. 8. Both teams are 14-0.

“The things that jump out are just how we responded in the pressure moments, in the pressure times, offense, defense, special teams, and rose to the occasion,” Harbaugh said Wednesday during a College Football Playoff conference call. “Tremendous play during the pressure moments of the game.”

On the first play of the game, quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw an interception that was reversed. There was a bad snap by William Wagner on a missed extra point, a missed field goal by James Turner, a block-in-the-back penalty against Roman Wilson on a 35-yard play from Blake Corum and there were two muffed punts, the first by Semaj Morgan and the second by Jake Thaw in the final seconds of regulation after Michigan had tied the game.

Alabama’s James Burnip punted 51 yards to the Michigan 6-yard line and Thaw mishandled the catch before recovering it at the 1-yard line as three Alabama players converged on him with 44 seconds left, avoiding the safety that would have been a disastrous finish for the Wolverines.

“I think it was tremendous the way (Thaw) handled the situation,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the Rose Bowl offensive player of the game said Wednesday on the conference call. “He didn’t freak out. Their punter was outstanding. Some of the kicks he had were just like something I haven’t seen before.

“The way he handled it and not freaking out once the ball was going towards the end zone and accidentally kicking it or muffing it again and making sure he didn’t fumble it when he got hit by those three guys. There’s a lot of good that he did in that scary situation that I feel like needs to be appreciated, and that’s just a testament to our training and the mindset that we’ve forged over the last year.”

That situation encapsulated how Michigan was able to get out of its own way the entire game.

“I just kind of feel like those pressure situations are what make teams great,” defensive tackle Mason Graham, named the defensive player of the Rose Bowl, said on the call. “I feel like we slipped up in that moment, but we were able to regain it. Obviously, he got down at the 1, so we were able to have a chance to keep on playing. Just letting us line up again. He did his job, and he got us back.”

After the game, left guard Trevor Keegan spoke of the mistakes that hurt Michigan. The players, in the week leading up to the game, spoke about the importance of taking care of the small details, but that was clearly lacking as errors were made.

“I have no idea how we won that game,” Keegan said. “We left four points on the board. But we have guys who rally around each other. We’ve been through so much and we’re kinda just used to this moment.”

After McCarthy’s overturned interception on the first play, Michigan went three-and-out that drive. He reached the sideline and walked shoulder to shoulder with Harbaugh and they discussed what had just happened.

“I was expecting to get chewed out, but with Coach Harbaugh, it was just, ‘Hey, man, it’s good you got that out of your system. Let’s roll out,’ ” McCarthy said.

From Harbaugh’s perspective, it was another example of how this group of players handles pressure.

“There was a few guys that had a bad play in the game,” Harbaugh said. “J.J., first play of the game, he’s clearly throwing the ball away, and I can tell you having made a bad play in a football game, it’s like a train going through your head. I mean, you see red. It’s like a deafening siren. There’s a lot of guys that will hang their head and go in the tank or get that deer-in-the-headlights look, but every guy that had that happen to them in our game came back and made a phenomenal play.

“(Defensive tackle) Kris Jenkins had a bad play early in the game, came back, dominated in his block destruction. Dropped punt, comes back and makes catches. We had a bad snap, and then that snap and hold has to be perfect and kick made or else we don’t go into overtime. So many plays that could point to. I’m just really proud of those guys. Roman Wilson had a block in the back that could have cost us that big drive at the end. He comes back and makes a phenomenal catch and scores a touchdown. Just the mental toughness that takes for an individual to be able to do that.”

Harbaugh mentioned the “U’s” — uncontrollables, like officiating, and unfortunates, like mistakes — as another way the players have overcome this season and maintained composure.

“When you know that each player, each coach has your back and is going to be doing their job, doing it to the best of their God-given ability, that’s a great way to control some of the uncontrollables, which is pressure, which is some of those unforeseeable moments,” Harbaugh said. “There’s ways to do it, and our team is built for them.”

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