Washington 'didn't execute' in CFP championship game loss - ESPN

HOUSTON — Even after No. 2 Washington fell short in Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship game, losing 34-13 to Michigan, Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer left convinced his team was good enough to win the title.

«I know what the score looks like, but I feel like that fine line was right there again tonight and we weren't that far off,» DeBoer said. «There's not a doubt in my mind that we have a good enough football team to go out there and win a national championship and just got to make a play here and there, get us over the hump and could have been a different outcome.»

After Washington fell behind 17-3 early in the second quarter, there was a sense inside NRG Stadium that Michigan was on its way to a rout. The Wolverines' running game appeared unstoppable, while their defense prevented quarterback Michael Penix Jr. from finding any sort of a rhythm.

But the Huskies stemmed the tide. They cut the deficit to a touchdown heading into halftime and were set to receive the kick to start the second half. For as one-sided as the game had been to that point — with Michigan averaging 12.3 yards per rush — Washington had reason to be optimistic.

It wasn't an unusual position for the Huskies to be in. They rarely trailed all season, but their final 10 wins of the season — from Oct. 1 on — were all close in the second half. It had instilled a belief they could come up with a big play when it mattered most.

This time, though, it didn't happen.

«They're a good team. We just didn't execute in the moments when we needed to,» Penix said. «It's just about executing. I don't feel like they did anything — I feel like we beat ourselves.

»And there were times we definitely had opportunities to make big-time plays, to make the