It Feels Good to be a Michigan Football Fan Today

Michigan won the Big Ten title for the first time in seventeen years Saturday night.

Writing that sentence has me in disbelief and joy. I did not think they were going to get back to where they got this year. I have had them pegged as a middle of the road Big 10 team. They would get my hopes up year in and year out and then they'd get their butts whipped by the university of Ohio State. Or they would lose a mid season game to a team like Iowa. They would have complete meltdowns on the road playing Penn State. They would blow an early season game to Notre Dame. Hell, even this year they got beat by Michigan State after holding a 16 point third quarter lead. I had gotten accustomed to this team letting me down. And before this season started I had them pegged as a middle tier team. I picked them to finish 7-5, with the ceiling being 9 wins and the floor being 5 wins. I thought the schedule was going to be really tough, they had some inexperience, they had some guys returning from serious injuries and they lost a good amount of players to the transfer portal. And Jim Harbaugh totally restructured his contract and he hired an almost entirely new staff, all of which were 45 or younger. I was very low on this team.

Then the season started, and they looked okay. They beat up on a solid Western Michigan team. They destroyed Washington in a night game in Ann Arbor. They beat the snot out of Northern Illinois. But I still wasn't buying in. Western Michigan and Northern Illinois are MAC teams, no disrespect, and Washington was not as good as some preseason pollsters predicted. But the first Big 10 game was going to be my barometer, I told myself. They had Rutgers at home. Rutgers is not good yet, but they are getting better. Michigan should have wiped the floor with them, but they only won by seven, scoring only three points in the second half. My nerves were shocked again. Then they went to Camp Randall, where they hadn't won in forever, and beat up on the Badgers pretty easily. They won by 21. Wisconsin was reeling, but Michigan had won a game they usually found a way to lose in recent seasons. They were 5-0 at this point, but I was still a little leery. The schedule wasn't looking as tough as I previously thought. Then they barely got by Nebraska in Lincoln. They needed an Adrian Martinez fumble to get them in field goal range late to win that game. And there is no world where I accept Nebraska as the "best 3-9 team ever" like some pundits tried to push. They then crushed a very bad Northwestern team. They were now 7-0 and facing MSU. We all know what happened, and any faith I had kind of disappeared. I figured this was the same old Michigan I have been watching for the past ten seasons. But they bounced back. They crushed an injury depleted Indiana team. Penn State made it tough, but Erick All had a beautiful run and catch for a TD to secure that win. And they went to Maryland and trounced them by 41.

By this time I was kind of back, but the all important university of Ohio State game was next, and they were coming off a bludgeoning of MSU. I had no hopes. Then the game happened and I was fully in. Michigan won that game pretty soundly. They out toughed them, controlled the line of scrimmage, Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo spent the whole game in the backfield and Hasan Haskins ran for 160 plus yards and five touchdowns. I was euphoric. I kid you not. I walked around my house exclaiming, "FINALLY!!!!!!!" over and over and over again. I was bought in. This team rebounded from a loss that could have ruined their year and won every game since, including finally beating the university of Ohio State. I was nervous for the Big Ten title game, but any fears during that game were easily put away in the second half when Michigan went to a different level and couldn't be stopped. They won the Big Ten title game 42-3. They crushed Iowa. They pummeled them into submission. They ran trick plays and played freshman and did whatever they wanted. I was sitting with my dad watching that game and saying, "I can't believe it", "what a season", "there is no way I expected them to win twelve games", and, "I am so pumped they are in the playoff". These are things I thought were never going to happen again. Like I said earlier, I assumed their best days were in the past. But they did it. They won the Big Ten title. Jim Harbaugh did all the right things this offseason, and it paid off. Aidan Hutchinson is the best defensive player in the country and could be the number one overall pick in the 22 NFL draft. David Ojabo went from unknown to potential first round pick. Josh Ross came back and has played like a leader all year. Cade McNamara has been a sufficient, if at times inconsistent, game manager. Blake Corum has all the speed and moves in the world. Donovan Edwards has an extremely bright future. And Hasan Haskins is the heart and soul of the team. Oh, and both the D and O lines are really, really good.

This team has surprised me in all the right ways this season. I have not had this much fun as a Michigan fan in a very long time. I am proud to walk around in all my Michigan gear. I don't have to preface or make excuses for anything. They proved it on the field. I am very excited for the matchup against Georgia. I still believe Georgia is the best team in the country, but maybe, just maybe Michigan can hang with them. I do not ever pick the Wolverines to win anything because I just do not want that pain of being wrong. But this team could be different. I want them to win the title, which I do every year. But the fact that they made it, the fact that all the pundits that usually mock them are saying nice things about them, the fact that they are the number two team in the country, the fact that they have a shot at a national title again, I am very proud to say I am a devout Michigan fan and I love this team. I'm extremely pleased with this season, this team, this staff, I have nothing but nice things to say about them. I will be rooting extra hard for them on New Years Eve because I do not want this magical season to end. But whatever happens, Michigan football had a great year, a great season and I will remember this year for the rest of my life. Go Blue.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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