Michigan football grades: Near-perfect marks for historic Rose Bowl win over Alabama
PASADENA, Calif. — Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia grades Michigan football on a scale of A to F after the Wolverines' 27-20 OT win over Alabama on Monday in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl:
Offense: A-minus
J.J. McCarthy was nearly intercepted on the first play of the game, but it was overturned upon review. Once that happened, he said, it was all he needed to settle into the game — and did he ever. Given the stage and the opponent, McCarthy has never played a better game.
The junior completed 17 of 27 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns. His first score was an 8-yard pass to Blake Corum and the second was a 38-yard catch and run by Tyler Morris, McCarthy's high school teammate, on third-and-10. However, none were as big as the last, a 4-yard toss to Roman Wilson to knot the game at 20 with 1:34 to play.
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That came after McCarthy and the Wolverines were down seven with less than 5 minutes to play. McCarthy hit Corum for a 27-yard gain on fourth-and-2 to keep the tying drive alive, then found Wilson on a 29-yarder to set up first-and-goal just ahead of the tying score to Wilson.
In overtime, it was all Corum, who carried the ball on both plays; his go-ahead 17-yard touchdown capped a 19-rush, 83-yard, two-touchdown performance.
“Unbelievable, everything Blake is all about,” McCarthy said. “When it’s overtime and everybody’s tired, Blake’s the one that’s gonna show up, Blake’s the guy that’s been putting in the work since he was a young'un, so this was nothing new for him,; he was just waiting for his moment.”
Defense: A-plus
This was a statement about how far Michigan has come. The Wolverines’ defense was run off the field the last time they played Alabama in the Citrus Bowl, four years ago to the day. The Crimson Tide got 172 yards on the ground this time, but they needed 43 carries to do it, averaging 4 yards per carry.
Most importantly, U-M bottled up quarterback Jalen Milroe. Not only was he held to 16-for-23 passing for 116 yards, but his 21 rushes (including sacks) netted just 63 yards. Sacks? Oh yes, there were six. Braiden McGregor had two, while Michael Barrett, Josaiah Stewart, Kris Jenkins and Derrick Moore each had one.
In total, the Wolverines came away with 10 tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble (by Quinten Johnson and recovered by Josh Wallace). Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s unit also forced seven punts, but perhaps the most impressive stat is this: The Tide did not have a single drive go more than 55 yards.
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“It feels great,” Minter said. “Our goal was to get back got this point, prove that we learned from the past — personally, our players, our defense, our team. Prove we learned things we could do better, maybe prepare better.
“There’s not another group I’d rather have when the game’s on the line than our defense.”
Special teams: D-minus
Had Michigan lost, it wouldn’t have been too hard to figure out why. Special teams, generally a strength of this program, had a disastrous afternoon. It started in the first quarter as Semaj Morgan tried to catch a punt on the run; it bounced off his chest and ‘Bama fell on the loose ball.
In the second, after Michigan's go-ahead touchdown, the snap on the extra point went wide of holder Tommy Doman; James Turner never even got to attempt a kick.
Seemingly the most costly moment came in the fourth quarter, when Turner lined up for a 49-yard kick with 10:36 to play and Michigan trailing by four. He pulled it wide to the left, setting up the final need for a touchdown. Finally, in the last minute of regulation, Michigan had a chance to push for a winning field goal, but Jake Thaw muffed a fair catch, forcing him to fall on the loose ball inches in front of U-M's end zone, nixing any thought of pushing the offense before overtime.
Doman didn’t have a great game punting, either. The Orchard Lake St. Mary's alumnus attempted six different punts with a long of 45 yards, an average of 39.5 yards and no drive starts inside of Alabama's 20.
Coaching: A-plus
Alabama head coach Nick Saban entered with six straight CFP semifinal wins. Arguably no one had mastered the month of CFP preparation period like the former MSU coach — but Jim Harbaugh and his staff seem to have adapted as well.
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Harbaugh changed U-M’s prep to make sure the Wolverines were fresher than in years past, and it showed in all facets Monday. The defense was fresh through the last snap, stopping Milroe on a QB keeper on fourth-and-goal. The offense was balanced, just as the staff promised it would be, with 30 rushes and 27 passes in regulation.
The coaches had the team believing: U-M trailed Alabama in the fourth quarter, yet the U-M sideline was full of players jumping up and down, waiving towels, encouraging the crowd to stay with them. There was a belief in this team, in each player, and it starts because the coaching staff believes in them.
Minter called just the right amount of blitzes to keep Alabama’s line off-balance. Offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore went against his tendencies with passes to Corum and Kalel Mullings; they had three catches for 56 yards after just 82 receiving yards combined (all by Corum) all season.
Michigan didn’t press and it didn’t panic. It controlled the game most of the way and even when the Tide threatened to pull away, nobody tried to do too much. Masterful.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football grades: Coaching, defense lead Wolverines over Tide
