Washington vs. Michigan Same Game Parlay: Will J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum Continue to Shine in Championship?
Washington vs. Michigan Same Game Parlay: Will J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum Continue to Shine in Championship?
The 14-0 Washington Huskies and 14-0 Michigan Wolverines meet in the 2024 CFP Championship. Michael Penix Jr. threw for 430 passing yards against Texas to beat them 37-31 in the semifinal and get to Houston. Michigan skated by Alabama in overtime, with Blake Corum running it in for the game-winning touchdown in overtime to win 27-20. Both these undefeated teams will meet in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. I have a three-leg, same-game parlay for the championship.
Washington vs. Michigan Date, Start Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: January 8, 2024
- Game Time:Â 7:30 pm ET
- Where to Watch:Â ESPN
Washington vs. Michigan Same Game Parlay
Leg One: Michigan -4.5 (-120)
Once again, the Huskies are dogs. The Huskies were 9.5-point dogs in the Pac-12 Championship against Oregon and won outright. They were 3.5-point dogs against Texas last week in the semifinal. Now, they are 4.5-point dogs against Michigan. While Washington has been recently counted out by the books, I believe this is the game they are actually correct. The Michigan defense is no joke, and while Michael Penix Jr. has been performing better than any other quarterback in college football this year, the Michigan defense is ready for him. The Michigan secondary ranks second in opponent passing yards allowed per game with 150. They also get sacks at the sixth-highest rate in the nation. The Washington offensive line is good at blocking for Penix, but Michigan will be bringing pressure all night and will make him uncomfortable in the pocket. At the end of the day, this game will be won by Blake Corum and the Michigan offense by controlling the clock and using the ground game to keep the ball out of Michael Penix Jr.'s hands. If Michigan can control the clock and use their run game through Blake Corum, they should be able to win this game with their stellar defense.
Leg Two: Blake Corum Anytime Touchdown (-400)
This play is nearly automatic, as the odds suggest. Blake Corum is the most heavily favored player to score tonight, and for good reason. The Michigan Wolverines running back has amassed 1,111 rushing yards this season and has 25 touchdowns in his 14 games. He has scored a touchdown in literally every single game this season. It’s no wonder why the odds are this high on him to score, and I’m not surprised by them, but it does give a nice little boost to our parlay. No further explanation is needed. He has a 100% hit rate in 2023 on his anytime touchdown prop and he scored in 11 of 12 games last season.
Leg Three: J.J. McCarthy Over 24.5 Rushing Yards (-114)
J.J. McCarthy had a rough start to the game in the semifinals. He nearly threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage, but was bailed out by the fact that the defender had stepped out of bounds. From there, he finished with a decent stat line, going 17–27 with 221 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. While McCarthy has had an up-and-down season, the Michigan players around him, including the defense, have done enough to bring Michigan into the championship with a perfect record. In this game, I don’t think they will rely on McCarthy‘s arm as much, as they want to try and sustain long drives to keep Michael Penix Jr. off the field, as previously mentioned. The Washington defense has a suspect secondary, but they also are not very good up front, allowing 4.4 yards per rush to opponents, ranking 80 second in the nation. They also gave up 137 rush yards on the ground per game, which is only 41st in the nation. This doesn’t appear that bad at first, but when you consider teams ran the ball at the 13th-lowest rate against Washington this year, it looks much worse that they still had 137 rush yards per game against them. So while I think Blake Corum will have a big game tonight, there are only so many times you can hand the ball off to him and run him up the middle or even on the edge. I think if Michigan wants to keep the game clock running as much as possible, they will have to rely on McCarthy running a little bit, as he is an athletic runner, and he can scramble out of the pocket and even run designed run plays when needed. McCarthy had 25 rushing yards on just three carries against Alabama, but Alabama's defensive line is much more imposing than Washington’s. While sacks can count against the quarterbacks' rushing yards in college, I’m not too worried about Washington’s defensive line getting to McCarthy for negative yards in this game, as Washington is bottom five in the nation in sack rate. Therefore, I think McCarthy hitting 25 rushing yards should not be that hard.
Washington Huskies vs. Michigan Wolverines Same Game Parlay (+250) (Bet $100 to Collect $350)
- Leg One: Michigan -4.5 @ -120
- Leg Two: Blake Corum Anytime Touchdown @ -400
- Leg Three: J.J. McCarthy Over 24.5 Rushing Yards @ -114
Win a $50 Gift Card on the College Football National Championship
Think you know what's going to happen in the College Football National Championship? Answer the pick questions below for your chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!
College Football Odds
Article Author
Ben Rajavuori is a handicapper out of Minneapolis, MN. He has been creating sports content for almost four years now and is an expert in all things NFL, MLB, NBA, UFC, and NCAAB. Ben thrives on diving deep into statistics to find the best angle on every bet. You can follow him on Twitter @WeBeatTheSpread.