In the last 20 years, college football has undergone two changes: first, it has become more and more dominated by corporate interests, with national championships and bowl games held in gleaming, sterile NFL stadiums designed to maximize revenue from hospitality suites and VIP experiences; and second, the University of Michigan has fallen in the rankings of the nation’s top programs.
After a few hours, the game entered a time capsule. Michigan was at the Rose Bowl, a 95,000-seat doughnut that opened for business in 1922. The Rose Bowl is the only venue in the College Football Playoff rotation whose primary function is to host college football games rather than professional ones. The degree to which football fans care about the Rose Bowl as an institution varies by region, with many Southerners having little interest in a game or stadium with a history entwined with the Big Ten and Pac-12. However, Michigan has as much of that history as anyone.
The Rose Bowl is Michigan-core. Jim Harbaugh once said, “Glorious. It was right where we wanted to be.” The Wolverines won the first Rose Bowl in 1902, which took place before the current stadium even stood. The Wolverines had flamed out in this event after winning Big Ten championships the previous two years. It was an opportunity for the school to finally win a playoff semifinal on New Year’s Day.
The Wolverines are a throwback in an era of spread offenses, aiming not to throw the ball around but to ram it down your throat (granted, they often do that out of the shotgun). That was the story of the 2021 victory over Ohio State that announced Michigan’s return to national contention, and it has been the story of most of what has followed. Michigan has broken through barriers these past few seasons, and they have done so by playing the brand of football that Harbaugh prefers.
However, the Wolverines faltered in their other two postseason in 2022, when a smaller TCU team outplayed a larger and more formidable Georgia team, blowing Michigan off the line of scrimmage. In 2021, Georgia proved to be faster and more skillful, and the Wolverines did not record a pass attempt in the second half of a victory over Penn State.
This most recent attempt appeared similar for a considerable amount of the game. Michigan showed some thump throughout the game, primarily in sacking Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe six times and applying constant pressure. However, as the defense gave way to some spectacular runs by Milroe and tailback Jase McClellan, the offense began to lose its physical edge. The Wolverines ran the ball five times for a total of 4 yards in the third quarter. After leading 13–10 at the half, their first four drives of the second half resulted in a punt, a punt, a punt, and a missed field goal from 49 yards. Harbaugh did not have enough faith in his offense to forgo the lengthy attempt.
The Wolverines trailed 20–13 when they took the ball with less than five minutes remaining at their 25-yard line. The drive began with two Blake Corum runs as Michigan attempted to put its fate in the hands of an All-American tailback. Michigan also inflicted misery after misery upon itself: a botched punt that led directly to an Alabama touchdown; a botched snap on an extra point; a handful of misfires and missed catches between McCarthy and his wideouts; a handful of mediocre punts, which, when contrasted with the excellence of Alabama’s punter, resulted in a difficult field position war for most of the night. And then Michigan got back in touch with itself just in time.
A botched pass resulted in a fourth-and-six, which Corum again gained possession of via a 35-yard pass to the flat (many of those yards were erased by a block in the back, but the drive went on). McCarthy ran 16 yards on the following play, then connected on a big completion to wideout Roman Wilson off a ricochet, and a short one to Wilson for the game-winning touchdown.
The Wolverines were at their best in overtime, as Corum covered the 25 yards required for the game-winning touchdown on just two carries on two plays. Alabama’s attempt to tie the score was more plodding, but the Tide believed it could bulldoze its way through Michigan’s defensive front on fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line. However, Milroe took a low snap, which had been an issue for Alabama’s center the entire game, and barreled forward, failing to get close as a huddle of Michigan defenders buried him at the line of scrimmage.
The Wolverines had lost the coin toss at the beginning of overtime, and after Alabama decided to play defense, Michigan got to choose that the game’s pivotal plays would take place at the end of the field, where their boisterous supporters had nearly completely encircled the end zone. The noise produced by their defense when they stuffed Milroe was the loudest I had ever heard from a crowd.
This was more than just cheering; there was a carnal roar, as Michigan fans had been anticipating this moment for decades. But there was more to it than that; in the second half of the season, the Wolverines and their supporters brilliantly constructed a narrative in which they rallied around Harbaugh because the Big Ten had suspended him due to an underling’s sign-stealing scheme. It had been a while, and Michigan had been resentful, and those threads culminated on the biggest possible stage. Maybe Milroe never had a chance to gain the three yards he needed.
The Wolverines’ game against Sugar Bowl champion Washington on Monday night in Houston will determine a lot of how this team is remembered, but what Michigan did on New Year’s Day was special in its own right, both because of the futility with which it ended and the location in which it did so. The day began with McCarthy’s toes in the Rose Bowl grass and ended with a flower in his teeth when the quarterback ran over to a Michigan staff member moments after his defense sealed the victory.
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