This position on the field could determine Michigan football's fate vs. Alabama

LOS ANGELES — Not long after his Alabama team was pitted against Michigan football in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl, Nick Saban identified Colston Loveland as the Wolverine who presented the greatest threat to the Crimson Tide.

The iconic coach called the 6-foot-5, 245-pound sophomore from Idaho a “mismatch” during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“I think it's cool to get noticed,” Loveland said Friday. “I think I can be an X-factor in this game.”

But Saban, a brilliant defensive strategist and a schematic innovator, will do everything he can to ensure that doesn’t happen. Saban’s amoeba-like man-match system, in many ways, is designed to the eliminate the impact of the tight end position Loveland occupies. The free safeties are tasked with denying all seam routes while the linebackers are charged with disrupting crossing patterns and intervening before they develop. The idea is to funnel the ball to the strength of the defense.

As Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said, “Coach Saban is the best that's ever been that I've been around at being able to take what you do best and take it away not with just one pitch. … He's got a curveball for it, a knuckleball for it, a slider for it ... and so he's taking it away because he's changing leverages. He's got a gift for that.”

That’s bad news for the Wolverines, who must solve a difficult puzzle as they determine the best way to use Loveland and fellow tight end AJ Barner.

The presence of powerful edge rushers Chris Braswell and Dallas Turner on either end of Alabama’s front could influence Michigan’s thinking. Do the Wolverines buttress their pass protection by keeping Loveland and Barner on the line to block a dynamic duo that has dropped opposing quarterbacks 17 times this season?

It would make sense, considering the Wolverines have shown some vulnerability at both tackle spots, with breakdowns leading to sacks, quarterback hits and hurries on J.J. McCarthy.

But should Michigan select that option, it could diminish the tight ends’ opportunities in the passing game, where they may be needed, considering that the team’s top two wideouts, Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson, could face their stiffest challenge yet against a pair of elite cornerbacks, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold. The two Alabama stars have been targeted 132 times but have only conceded 65 catches, according to Pro Football Focus.

“They're both going to be NFL dudes one day,” Wilson said.

More: Jim Harbaugh hit by questions about his next move. Nick Saban once faced them, too

It’s also possible they will enter as first-round picks. McKinstry and Arnold are that good, which means Loveland and Barner may be forced to carry the load if Michigan has designs on moving the ball through the air.

They should be up for the task.

Together, they have contributed 26.6% of Michigan’s catches and 28.9% of its total receiving yards this season within an offense that deploys more heavy-personnel packages than most.

Barner was one of the most significant transfer acquisitions for the Wolverines last offseason. Loveland, meanwhile, has been a key cog in Michigan’s operation since the midpoint of his freshman year. His rapid rise from newcomer to difference-maker was preordained, in many ways. From the time he began recruiting him, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh seemed infatuated with Loveland, telling him how good he is and what a special player he could become.

“I think the cat’s out of the bag,” Harbaugh said in late November.

It certainly appears that way.

Only a few weeks after Harbaugh gushed about Loveland’s unique talents, Saban revealed he had come to realize how he could stress a defense.

“You've always got to pay special attention to how you do things so that you aren’t allowing them to create those kind of mismatches in the way you play on defense, and that's very challenging sometimes because that's not the only thing you have to stop,” he said. “The team we're playing has a really good tight end.”

But so did Alabama’s last opponent, Georgia.

The Bulldogs featured Brock Bowers, a big-bodied Swiss Army knife who was named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation's top college receiver. The Tide limited him to five catches for 53 yards — a big reason why Alabama upset its SEC nemesis to win the conference championship and qualify for the CFP. Their ability to suppress Bowers wasn’t a surprise, however. All season long, Alabama stifled tight ends, holding them to 31 catches for 435 yards and only two touchdowns in 13 games.

“Direct throws will kill you, and a lot of times, tight ends get in the seams on direct throws,” Steele said.

Then, with a nod to Georgia’s Bowers, he added, “They had a guy that was very capable of doing that.”

But Alabama kept him at bay. Whether the Tide has similar success against Loveland could determine the Tide’s fate. It’s why Saban has him in his sights, knowing that the tight ends will be critical to the sustainability of Michigan’s offense no matter if the Wolverines deploy them as supplemental blockers or extra receivers.

“I’m ready to get after them,” Loveland said.

Saban, meanwhile, is determined to stop him and leave Michigan with as few options as possible.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's CFP result could be determined by 1 position