Deal: Michigan Announce the signing of an exceptional QB shortly after...

INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan running back Donovan Edwards teases linebacker Junior Colson for making confetti angels on the artificial turf of Lucas Oil Stadium. “What a loser!” Edwards says, before deciding to join him.

With “Mr. Brightside” playing over the speakers, the Michigan Wolverines celebrated their third straight Big Ten football championship, a 26-0 shutout over Iowa, late Saturday night.

Players swarm the poor staffer carrying a crate of championship shirts and hats. “Let me get one!” a few shout.

Breeon Ishmail, a freshman defensive end, asks this writer for help tugging his shirt over his shoulder pads. A cheerleader yells towards the stage being constructed for the trophy ceremony: “Where’s Tony? I want to see Tony!” a reference to the Big Ten commissioner who’s become Michigan’s public enemy No. 1 in his first football season on the job.

So many Wolverines have their phones in hand, scrolling through texts or social media, snapping selfies or quick videos. They keep them in their lockers during games, tight end A.J. Barner says, but somehow had time to retrieve them and return to the field.

“Where’s Zak Zinter?” Jim Harbaugh asks, setting off a chain of staff members asking the same question until, less than a minute later, Zinter — the star offensive lineman who broke his leg against Ohio State the week before — crutches towards his head coach.

It is Zinter, not Harbaugh, who accepts the championship trophy from commissioner Tony Petitti, the man responsible for Harbaugh’s three-game suspension to close the regular season. Michigan fans unleash a chorus of boos on Petitti normally reserved for the Buckeyes. (Former Buckeye Archie Griffin, who presented Mike Sainristil with the game’s MVP trophy, was also heartily booed.) Those boos turn to cheers as soon as Zinter raises the trophy above his head.

Off the stage, J.J. McCarthy spots Santa Ono, and two of the most popular figures on campus — the quarterback and the president — embrace. “My guy!” McCarthy says. Ono offers congratulations; McCarthy thanks him.

I’m incredibly proud of the coaches, the head coach, all the players, the entire Wolverine family,” Ono tells MLive. “They come together as esprit de corps here that’s extremely special. They’ve been through tough times this year — injuries and everything, and adversity. I’m proud to be a Michigan Wolverine.”

Running back Kalel Mullings spots wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, who caught a career-high nine passes. “Hey, 6!” Mullings says. “Hell of a game, bro.”

Jim Plocki, the first person players see when they enter Schembechler Hall and a man who’s had his own health problems, pushes Zinter in a wheelchair to join a team photo. Several players hold up a mock USA Today front page with “A-MAIZE-ING” as the headline.

Offensive lineman Trente Jones is still missing some championship apparel. “Can you try to get me a hat?” he asks a student manager. “I didn’t get one.”

Players exiting the field sign autographs for the fans hanging over the rails above, toss them small pieces of gear, and soak in the euphoria of a 13-0 season that will continue in the four-team playoff.

“Go win a natty!” a fan yells to running back Blake Corum.

“I think they can,” says Gus Johnson, FOX’s play-by-play voice who called Saturday’s contest and several Michigan games during this three-year run. “Will they? That’s the question.” He cites Zinter’s injury as a blow. “But I think they have all the potential in the world to do it if they focus.”

Players continue to stream off the field. As reserve quarterback Alex Orji passes, the fans chant (obviously): “Or-ji! Or-ji!”

Harbaugh exits the field eight minutes after midnight, doffing his block ‘M’ cap as he moves through the tunnel.

Even those with the loosest affiliations to Michigan football draw cheers. Heck, a few ushers get called out, with one fan reading the employee numbers off their polos: “Event staff 1037, great job!”

Five minutes after Harbaugh, Corum, who scored two rushing touchdowns to tie Michigan’s career record, is the last player to leave the field.

Last season, Michigan used the Indianapolis Colts’ locker room as the designated home team. The Big Ten alternates between its two divisions each year, so the Wolverines are in the visitors’ space this time, like in 2021.

Just outside their locker room, a staffer repeats, “Food to your right; families to your left.” Most players go right first, grabbing a cheeseburger — the food item that became synonymous with the NCAA investigation that got Harbaugh suspended for the first three games of the season.

Before they board buses, there are some important parting words.

Offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson says, “Who’s got it better than us?” and, when met with silence from reporters used to asking the questions, answers it himself: “Noooobody.”

Johnson, the wideout, asks a different, age-old question: “How do you make the hiccups go away?” One reporter suggests holding his breath; another offers to scare him. He opts for a swig of orange Gatorade before proclaiming that Michigan’s upcoming playoff appearance — whether in the Rose Bowl or the Sugar Bowl, against Alabama or Florida State or Texas (we’ll know on Sunday at noon ET) — will not be a regular bowl week or any sort of vacation. “We’re coming there with intentions to handle business.”

As Jaylen Harrell, the defensive end who added to his team lead in sacks with another one on Saturday, said, “The job’s not finished.

“We’ve been here three years in a row. It’s cool we won the Big Ten ‘ship. OK, cool, it’s time to win the whole thing.”