What happened to Alabama's defense late in Rose Bowl loss to Michigan? 'We didn't finish'

PASADENA, Calif. − Sitting hunched over in the chair next to his locker, Alabama safety Caleb Downs kept giving the same answer to each question.

What changed the last drive and in overtime? "We didn't finish as a team."

Was there anything Michigan did differently? "We didn't finish as a team," Downs said again. "Alabama didn't finish as a team."

Asked about what was going through his head postgame, his answer didn't change.

"We didn't finish as a team," Downs said, getting choked up as he finished the sentence.

Michigan, having not scored all of the second half, managed to drive 75 yards on eight plays to tie the score with 1:34 left. That forced overtime, and the Wolverines drove 25 yards in two plays and scored again.

That proved to be enough as the Alabama offense failed to score when it got its turn in overtime. So, the No. 4 Crimson Tide lost the Rose Bowl 27-20 to No. 1 Michigan. The Wolverines will play in the national championship game while the season comes to an end for Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

LAST CALL: Alabama's Nick Saban explains final play that fell short

"I can’t even think right now," defensive back Malachi Moore said postgame. "I’m not going to lie. It just feels all surreal man. It’s tough. It’s tough. It’s tough."

It's a bit baffling, considering the defense had done so well with second-half adjustments. Alabama had given up only 44 yards over the first four drives after halftime. And two of those resulted in three-and-outs. The only second-half drive that wasn't a punt was a missed field goal after the Wolverines had a short field following quarterback Jalen Milroe's fumble.

Then Michigan took the ball off a kickoff with 4:41 left. A few minutes later, after a few long passes, a 16-yard run from quarterback JJ McCarthy and a couple rushes from Blake Corum, McCarthy hit Roman Wilson for a 4-yard passing touchdown. That tied the game and ultimately sent the game to overtime.

"They didn’t really do anything differently," safety Jaylen Key said. "They just kind of did some eye manipulation. Just came back with a high route in the backfield. So it was just eye manipulation."

Once overtime arrived, Michigan got the first crack at scoring after Alabama chose to defend first. Then Corum made the most of it. He ran right for 8 yards on the first play, then he rushed for a 17-yard touchdown.

"They were in an unbalanced look and formation," Moore said. "Motioned over. I know I had a guard or tackle pulling toward me. I don’t know what their backside was doing. Just got to execute a lot better."

Edge rusher Dallas Turner also stressed the lack of execution down the stretch as a reason for the defense falling up short.

"We didn't do what we were doing the past couple drives," Turner said. "A lot of missed tackles. A lot of that extra stuff that we don't condone."

And as a result, Michigan celebrated while Alabama trudged back to the locker room.

In there, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban brought everyone together, Key said. Then Saban told everyone to keep their heads level.

"We all know we wanted to be in Houston, and he just brought everybody up and made sure everybody was good and in a good headspace," Key said. "And he talked about finishing."

That was the difference, and something that should fuel the Crimson Tide as it prepares for the 2024 season.

"We’ve just got to finish," Key said. "We preach that year round. Finish, finish, finish, and we didn’t finish today."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama defense 'didn't finish' in Rose Bowl loss to Michigan