The Michigan Wolverines won the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, January 8, beating the No. 2 ranked Washington Huskies 34-13 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Wolverines claimed their first national championship since 1997 and capped the first 15-0 season in Michigan football history.
“There are more than 100 Michigan men who are on this team,” Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters after the game. “What they’ve done is amazing. They will forever be known as national champions.”
Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, who scored the first two touchdowns on his first two carries, put the Wolverines ahead 14-3 in the first quarter. His two touchdowns were the second- and third-longest touchdown runs in CFP championship game history, trailing only Alabama’s Derrick Henry’s 50-yard score in 2016, according to KGO-TV.
Edwards gave thanks to God after the game, telling Detroit station WXYZ-TV: “I’m blessed. I’m able to do that because I can revert back to the situation that I did today and not worry myself and just let everything flow. But God played through me and that’s what I did today, you know, for the success that I had, it was nothing but God, you know. Trust in the process, the process with Him.”
He finished the game with six carries for a total of 104 yards.
Edwards, a devout Christian who’s known for publicly expressing his faith, later told a press conference, “I just thank God that he’s allowed me to {play football}… He showed me the ups, the downs, and it’s about what I do with it. It’s about if I’m going to fall from it or continue to rise from adversity and trials and tribulation,” the Michigan junior said.
When recently asked about his faith in Jesus, the running back said when he was younger, he was a bit of a rebel in church. He didn’t want to be there, but he credits his grandmother for helping him find his faith.
“I was living with my grandma when I was like 17 or 18 years old, and just me and her were talking about the Bible, and would read the Bible together all the time,” he told WolverinesWire. “That kind of kicked off everything for me. And before I committed to Michigan, I heard a voice saying, ‘Do not worry, everything will be all right.’ And I figured out it was God talking to me.”
“After I heard that voice, I’ve always believed,” Edwards explained. “I had a spiritual vision, just God giving me the ability to see what he has planned has always allowed me to stay grounded.”
When asked how difficult it was to praise God after experiencing tough times during the season, he replied, “It’s not difficult for me to praise God and to give Him glory,” he said, “because He’s always been there for me when everything was high, so I’d be doing a disgrace to God if I wasn’t praising Him when everything was low.”
The Michigan running back also shared that every day he wakes up, he “gives God the glory.”
“I get on my knees on the bed and I pray and I say, ‘Thank you for allowing me to breathe, allowing me to do what is right in the sight of you, and just allowing me to praise your name.'”
Edwards also revealed to WolverinesWire his ultimate goal in life.
“My ultimate goal in life is not about the riches or the possessions,” he noted. “My ultimate goal in life is to get the ‘Well done, my loyal servant’ from the Most High.”
During an interview at the start of Michigan’s season, Edwards was asked by WolverinesWire if he hoped his faith could help non-religious people to find their own faith.
“I hope it could impact people that aren’t religious, because the only way is Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew,” he said as he turned to the camera and extended his hand. “Me, personally, I want to be an example of that. I want to be an example of keeping faith in God.”
“There’s not too many people in college football that’s talking about how good God is, you know? Or talking about how Jesus is the Way. I’m on that platform,” Edwards continued.
“Some people might not understand it or recognize it, but I feel like I’m here for a bigger reason than just being an athlete on the football field at Michigan and in the NFL,” he explained.
“I want to be a more positive outlet for people to get more in touch with God. I believe everybody knows what’s right and what’s wrong. And God is right and the devil is wrong,” Edwards said.
“And that’s what I’m all about. I’m always going to give glory to God,” he concluded.