PASADENA, Calif. — Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy ended last year's press conference at the Fiesta Bowl by saying "We'll be back and I promise that" after the Wolverines fell 51-45 to Texas Christian.
Not only was a year-old promise fulfilled as Michigan held off Alabama to secure a 27-20 overtime victory in the 110 Rose Bowl, but McCarthy led the team to change the narrative and attributes most of the success to the team's brotherhood.
"We can't do it without the unity that we have," he said. "Everything that we went through this entire year, it made us unbreakable. And in the biggest moments, we're going to show up."
The magnitude of it all, from the status of this particular bowl, head coach Jim Harbaugh's suspension and Michigan falling in this same spot the last two years in a row, the team stayed poised and seemingly unfazed.
That focus punched the Maize and Blue a ticket to the National Championship for the first time since 1997.
"It's almost been an unfair advantage, everything the team has gone through. We don't care anymore," Harbaugh said. "We don't care about what people say, we don't care about anything that comes up, we just know we're going to overcome it because it's unanimous support from every guy on the team."
Despite the high Michigan will be on for the next couple of hours, conversation about Harbaugh's next move after this has piqued interest. But he plans to savor the semi-final win and remain in the present moment.
"My future consists of a happy flight back to Ann Arbor, Michigan," he said. "Can't wait."
Michigan will face Washington in the National Championship in Houston, Texas on Jan. 8.