Michigan NEEDED this win! – Rece Davis reacts to the CFP National Championship | SC with SVP

Rece Davis joins SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt to share his initial reaction to the Michigan Wolverines’ win over the Washington Huskies to be crowned as the CFP National Champions.

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Ree Davis the host of college game day joins us now from Houston Fresh Off handing that trophy to Michigan and Jim Harbaugh and REE I want to start with with a man we just heard from uh pennx was brilliant this year nobody threw a better deep ball and those 20 plus yard

Completions were kind of the calling card of that Washington offense they did not happen tonight what what largely prevented that in your estimation I thought it was pressure from Michigan’s defense now they didn’t sack him a lot but they disrupted him and I thought they got him going a

Little fast and I think there was also a little bit of frustration Scott because uh Mike missed some balls early that he typically does not miss there was one in the end zone just to my right here that Odun had a chance to make the touchdown

Grab and and he didn’t throw the the best ball he had another one wide open on a busted coverage from Michigan and he he just missed him and you know there were a few of those they also had some drops and I think he started pressing a

Little bit uh even even when they got back in the game he never really seemed to find a great Rhythm I think that was mostly due to the pressure that Michigan was able to get on him really mostly without blitzing too it was choppy at at times what you understand given the

Stakes and the stage and also the fact that both these teams are really good and those defenses are fighting for their for their Championship lives if you will I just I wonder did you ever get the sense that when Washington had the ball down seven I kept waiting for

That big play especially with the dunesday I kept thinking it was going to come Michigan’s defense just wouldn’t happen I’m just curious you’re in the building if you sensed it was coming or or did not feel that for for a long time I didn’t think

It was going to and then in the fourth quarter what they made the play and then it got called back for a holding penalty that you know might have been a little Ticky Tac um that was that was the time you thought okay here it is we’re going

To have a finish here prior to that it felt not as dominant really as the Alabama game even though Alabama had the lead in the fourth quarter but it felt like Michigan was in control of the game but the lead wasn’t as big as it should

Have been and so I I really felt like that Michigan never really lost control of the game the only little glimmer was when that one ball was hit down the right sideline that got called back and it really proved to be a pivotal point in the fourth quarter without question

And as I mentioned when we did the Highlight earlier particularly given that there were I mean you can always grab those still shots on Twitter that aren’t always the best most but there a lot of people talking about the holds on Michigan’s o line that weren’t called but Michigan’s o line

Deserves a hell of a lot of credit and and something you and I talked about in advance of this game Washington had won the award as the best o line what kind of statement does Michigan make about what they had up front when they run for 300

Plus well they do they dominated the line of scrimmage on that side Scott they had two running backs go over a 100 first time in a championship game since the 2010 for the 09 season U Washington has had trouble in that regard over the course of the Season Washington uh

Ranked pretty low in the country in missed tackles they gave up a lot of yards over the course of the season on first down you know this was not an elite run defense and Michigan knew that was a strength and they played to it he said but when that happened and Zach

Went down and they scored on the next play against Ohio State it was if the offensive line really took that to heart and knew that he’d been what he’ been telling them was going to come true and they drew a lot of confidence from that we’re just crossing over midnight East

Coast time we will be with you for another hour Michigan has knocked off Washington the margin in the end a little larger than most of the game was played they win by 21 you and I were talking off air Reese about if you can tackle and block and run at an elite

Level you can win still as was talking to Herby and Fowler about this the game changes but if you’re great at that you can still win but it’s interesting not every team that’s great at that always stays true to that identity I I I’m impressed at Michigan’s ability to say

You know what we’re not going to try to play the way you play we’re going to play the way we play that doesn’t always happen does it it it doesn’t and that’s a great Point by you because a lot of teams try to do it when they can out muscle or

Outman or their their opponent is overmatched but when they meet a peer or a team that’s their equal the biggest games within their conference or in the postseason sometimes it’s as if they get a little skittish about it and they start trying to play the way the other

Team does uh Harbaugh did a little bit of that early in his career in in terms of trying to open up the offense and instead went back made the changes on his coaching staff went to the you know to Chiron Moore uh as the offensive coordinator including the offensive line

Coach he’s done a brilliant job they won the Joe Moore award the two years prior to this and they stayed true to their identity the only time I even thought they wavered from that Scott was late in the first half they had the big lead and

I was like I think I would go with the Penn State game plan where they ran the ball 32 times a row or whatever it was and uh you know because they were really running the ball effectively but I agree with you Michigan has done an exemplary

Job in saying okay this is how we’re going to play we could get veteran offensive linemen uh supplement it through the transfer portal this is our identity this is how we’re going to play and it it turned them into Champions indeed I was shocked they threw it on

Fourth and three I figured when it was fourth and eight and they ran it to get to Fourth and three I figured another run was coming and it it didn’t work out in the end it doesn’t make any difference um I’ll close with this ree Michigan accepts the trophy and the

Praise that they have earned they are champions team 144 Hail to the victors no doubt they’re Champions but how do we when the dust settles appropriately look at the season in its totality and all that’s baked into it and kind of frame the way Michigan should be regarded for

All of what this year was I don’t think there’s an asterisk or anything of that nature next to this season I do think that there will always be a a subtitle if you will that you know Harbaugh missed six games over the course of the Year there were a couple

Things going on there’s still an ongoing NCAA investigation that doesn’t have anything to do with you know whether players were eligible to play in this game so I think ultimately as time goes on they’ll just be regarded as an undefeated Champion but there in some quarters there will always be a little

Bit of a a subtitle and one other thing I think about that it’s really important Scott is that I think Michigan needed this win uh not that they not that Washington didn’t they certainly did but for a program that has more wins than any in the history of college football

They really didn’t have a lot of national championships in the modern era to sort of plant a flag that they were that that they were not just a a team that has compiled wins for well over a century they are a championship caliber program they Prov that tonight by

Winning winning their first Undisputed National Championship since 1948 agreed well said as as it often is Ree almost always is I would say I I I always get to the end and I I want to make this clear I have such immense respect for your work but even larger

Appreciation for your friendship uh I’ll talk to you soon somewhere I hope and uh stay well until then reys Something so I can breathe so