Houston, the Huskies Had a Problem — Michigan Was Too Tough

Covering 84 yards in eight plays, the Wolverines reached the end zone fairly quickly when the speedy 6-foot-1, 210-pound Edwards bounced off the middle of the line, veered left and sprinted in untouched on a 41-yard touchdown run.

With just over four minutes whittled off the clock, the Huskies found themselves staring at a deficit. It mattered little that the UW's Ulumoo Ale dropped quarterback J.J. McCarthy for a sack and 4-yard loss — the first of the season by a Husky defensive tackle. Michigan just shrugged it off and scored on the next play.

The Huskies responded with an opening drive that went 14 plays and covered 67 yards, but resulted only in a field goal for Grady Gross converted from 25 yards out.

In a game like this one, for all of the CFP marbles, the UW had to match touchdown for touchdown or stand no chance. Things turned more difficult with each early series.

On Michigan's second drive, Edwards ran away from the Huskies from a slightly longer distance that was no less confining. He went up the middle again, broke to the right this time and scored untouched from 46 yards out. With 2:23 left in the opening quarter, the Wolverines had made it look way too easy in building a 14-3 lead.

On its third possession, Michigan turned to someone else to get them down the road. Corum took a handoff and zipped 59 yards before getting tackled at the UW 20 by cornerback Thaddeus Dixon. This time, the Huskies stiffened, with corner Jabbar Muhammad knocking away a third-and-4 pass. 

The Wolverines settled for James Turner's 31-yard field goal and they led 17-3 at the 13:28 mark of the second quarter. This marked the UW's biggest deficit in 21 games and two seasons, since it trailed Arizona State 38-24 in Tempe. 

After each team stalled on a pair of possessions, the Huskies held on a fourth-and-8 situation on their 38 and turned the stop into points.

With 4:43 left in the half, the UW patiently moved 62 yards in 11 plays to score on fourth-and-goal from the Michigan 3.

Penix backpedaled after taking the snap, pointed out a holding call to the officials and rifled one to Jalen McMillan alone in the back of the end zone and the CFP had a competitive game again. Michigan's Will Johnson drew the flag, but the UW turned it down. With 42 seconds to go before intermission, the Huskies were back within 17-10. 

The break did nothing to enhance the UW's chances at winning this game. On the first play of the second half, Penix threw an interception to Michigan defensive back Will Johnson, setting up the Wolverines at the Husky 32. Just five seconds came off the clock.

These Big Ten opportunists settled for Turner's 38-yard field goal, good for a two-score lead at 20-10. The half was just over three minutes old. 

To their credit, the Huskies wouldn't go away. They matched the Michigan field goal with one of their own, with Gross connecting on a 45-yarder. With 8:58 left in the half, the UW trailed 20-13.

The game turned into a defensive battle until the Wolverines sent Corum up the middle, where he broke an Alphonzo Tuputala tackle and scored up right from 12 yards out with 7:09 left. That made it 27-13 and reality sank in for the Huskies that it wasn't going to happen for them in Houston.

Penix next threw a fourth-down interception that cornerback Mike Sainristil grabbed at the UW 11 and returned 81 yards before Husky tight end Jack Westover ran him down. 

Michigan scored in two plays, with Corum going over from the 1 for a 34-13 lead with 3:37 left.

The teams now wait 10 months before they meet again on Oct. 5 at Husky Stadium as Big Ten brothers. Penix, however, will be in the NFL, but so should Michigan's Corum.