JJ McCarthy credits Michigan's defense amid second half offensive struggles

Defense wins championships. Evidently, it wins semifinals too. Despite a sluggish second half on offense, Michigan pulled out a 27-20 win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Monday to advance to the national championship. After the game, Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy discussed the team’s offensive struggles.

“I would just say credit to a great defense. They played tremendous,” McCarthy said. “It’s just all about focusing on the next play, one play at a time, and just staying in the present moment and worrying about the assignment that you have to go out and execute.

“We weren’t really getting things going, but that never bothered us because it is all in the past and we are focusing on staying in the present and controlling the future.”

Despite rattling off 197 yards of offense in the first half, Michigan looked drowsy in the third quarter. The Wolverines only collected 23 total yards in the period. Alabama more than tripled that mark.

While Michigan’s offense production ramped up in the fourth quarter, it still wasn’t firing on cylinders. The Wolverines only converted 1-of-its-6 third-down conversions. One of the team’s few saving graces on offense was running back Blake Corum.

“Everything that I see out of Blake on a day-to-day basis and everything that Blake is, when everyone is tired, when it’s overtime, he’s going to be the guy that shows out just like he does in sprints when we run them in the off-season. It was nothing new for me. It was just amazing the world got to see it,” McCarthy said.

Corum finished the game with 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He also added 35 receiving yards and a score. Corum’s touchdown in overtime was the the 56th of his career, which moved him past Anthony Thomas on Michigan’s all-time career rushing touchdowns list.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh knew his team had the mental fortitude to push through their offensive sputters.

“Adversity, that’s the adversity,” Harbaugh said after the win. “They train so hard, they practice so hard, they play so hard. It’s their individual mental toughness that gets them through, but it’s also someone. It’s also someone else, someone on the team, someone in their family, their teammate or teammates that’s just right there by their side, right there that has their back.”

Michigan can’t afford to suffer the same offensive issues on Monday against Washington. The two will square off on at 7:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 8 with a national title on the line. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.