Pete Fiutak on X | CFN on XCollege Football News on FacebookPete Fiutak on Threads | CFN on ThreadsMichigan vs Alabama Game Updates, Thoughts, Reactions1st Quarter | 2nd Quarter3rd Quarter | 4th Quarter – Michigan vs Washington CFN National Title First Thoughts, Prediction 5. That just felt like a really, really, REALLY big deal.
I’ve seen a few things in this college football racket and done even more. This is one of those times when it hurt hard that I wasn’t there for a THING.It doesn’t get more blueblood than these two.It was MICHIGAN and ALABAMA on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl in a College Football Playoff game. It was Nick Saban. And Jim Harbaugh. And two of the most obnoxious – I sort of like the Bama fans, TBH – bases in the game.And the two evil empires. And the desperation of Michigan trying to put the last two CFP experiences in the past.
And the desperation of Alabama program that hadn’t won a national championship in three whole years.And, because we’re all adults here and can be sophisticated about it, this was for the national championship. And it went into overtime.This was truly special. 4. Really? Alabama lost? I’ll be totally honest here. My first thought after Jalen Milroe hit the turf Michigan ran out on the field was that something didn’t feel right.A disturbance in the force, a blip in the matrix, a pea under the bed – I’ll stop now – it just felt so weird. Death, taxes, and Alabama winning a gigantic College Football Playoff game to get to the national championship.I know, I picked Michigan to win.
Did I actually believe in it? Yeah, but not really, because it’s Alabama.Picking Alabama in a big game has been the ultimate security blanket for the last decade-plus. No one will ever blame you, or fire off a – my favorite – “your an idiot” tweet for taking the Tide. And almost always, you’ll be right when you do make that call.I wasn’t going to give it a half-second worth of thought. If Alabama beat Michigan, Alabama will win the national championship. There. Done. Over. Let’s take a steam. But it didn’t happen partially because … 3. Jalen Milroe never found his groove. There was a reason for that – Michigan does have the No. 1 defense in college football.The secondary erased the great Tide receivers, but Milroe was still far better than he’ll get credit for.
He completed 16-of-23 passes for 116 yards with no interceptions, but there was only one pass play of over 13 yards.Michigan dared Alabama to win on the ground, and it almost worked.No one ran 40 times against the Michigan defense, and Alabama was able to pound away 42 times. Only Penn State ran for more than 125 yards against this brick wall, and Bama tore off 172 – a season-worst for the Wolverines.Milroe took off for 63 yards, and he kept plays alive, and he did what he could, but he turned into a superstar because he could take over games with the deep shots. Not on Monday.This offense was as good as anyone has been all yet against Michigan, and it still came down to … 2. The fourth down call was everything. If Michigan wins the national championship, it needs to be pumped up as one of the most important plays in the school’s history.
Down 20-13 with just over three minutes to play, Michigan was stuck.It was 4th and 2 on its own 40. Miss this, and Alabama just needed a few yards to get in field goal range for Bama’s Will Reichard, who already showed off his 50+ yard ability. One kick, a 23-13 lead with 120ish seconds left, and that would’ve been it.Michigan had all of its timeouts left, it could’ve kicked it away and took its chances that the D would hold up.
Instead, JJ McCarthy connected with Blake Corum, who took it for the first down – the greatness of the play was sullied a bit by a block in the back call – and the game was still alive.Four plays later, touchdown, Roman Wilson, tie game at 20. National championship dreams still alive. 1. Michigan faced on-field adversity. Finally. There were plenty of off-the-field problems this year, but on the field?Michigan was down 7-0 to Indiana.
It won 52-7.Up six, it had to hold up on the final drive against Ohio State. And it did.But as seasons go, this was about as smooth as it possibly got. The team didn’t have to sweat, and most of the time it didn’t have to work all that hard.The Rose Bowl was the first time all year it had been behind in the second half. This wasn’t exactly a battle-tested team.But when it had to, it blocked well, tackled well, and was as solid as it had been from the start of the season. That blocking and running meant the Wolverines needed just two plays to get into the end zone in overtime, and it meant the D had the mettle to hold up when Alabama had the ball first and goal from the 9 and couldn’t get in.No it’s going against a Washington team that played in way too many one-score games and won them all. Michigan at least
