Michigan 19, Alabama 13

 

Brandyn Hillman (#6) celebrates after a sack (image via Hawaii Tribune-Herald)

Surprise, surprise, surprise! For the second game in a row, almost nobody gave Michigan a chance to win. And for the second game in a row, almost everybody was wrong. The mighty Alabama Crimson Tide, who almost made the College Football Playoff with a 9-3 record, fell to 9-4. And when all is said and done, on paper that's not far from where Michigan finished at 8-5. Alabama had lost some players to the transfer portal, but Michigan was missing ten starters (Myles Hinton, Colston Loveland, Kalel Mullings, Tyler Morris, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josaiah Stewart, Will Johnson, Makari Paige, Tommy Doman) and the guy who was on the cover of NCAA '25 (Donovan Edwards) and still won the game.

Hit the jump for more.

Bowl records don't matter anymore. I want to say this close to the front, because I've been saying this for several years and it still applies. Whether Michigan won or lost, it didn't matter. Some teams have players opt out and the backups want to shine. Some teams have players play who wish they weren't there. In this case, I wonder if Alabama's players saw Michigan's depleted lineup and thought, "Oh, this is going to be an easy win. We're going to crush these guys." And then when Alabama got hit in the mouth in the first quarter, they didn't know what to do. So I won't say that Michigan was better than Alabama in 2024 or that Michigan has a superior program going forward, but on December 31, 2024, Michigan was the better football team.

The defense appears to be in good hands. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is slated to return in 2025, and that looks like a good thing. There's still an NFL hiring cycle remaining, and with the whole league trying to hire Baltimore Ravens-style defensive coordinators, there's no guarantee that a team won't take a shot on Martindale. But if he returns with the players who are expected to return, that side of the ball seems to be in good shape. Even with 75% of Michigan's defensive line gone - including two potential first round picks at defensive tackle - the remaining players got constant pressure on Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. Throw in a variety of blitzes that Milroe didn't recognize (CB Aamir Hall and S Brandyn Hillman each notched a sack, and Hall's was of the strip sack variety), and it was an ugly day for the star quarterback. Milroe finished 16/32 for 192 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 1 lost fumble, and 5 sacks taken. He had a 41-yard designed run and still managed just 7 net rushing yards on 16 attempts.

Jordan Marshall had a good debut as a starting running back. With Michigan's top two running backs opting out to prepare for the NFL, true freshman Marshall was given his first opportunity. After managing just 8 carries for 20 yards during the regular season, he broke out with 23 carries for 100 yards in this game alone. The offensive line didn't provide a ton of running room, so Marshall had to do a lot of it on his own by breaking tackles and bouncing things outside. But it's good to see that Michigan has another tackle-breaking back, because that's going to help them keep their identity moving forward under Chip Lindsey. The second-stringer for this game was Benjamin Hall (16 carries, 28 yards), who basically just got what was blocked for him, so I think it's good that Michigan is planning to bring in Alabama's Justice Haynes for a good 1-2 punch with Marshall.

The passing game was abysmal. I'm not going to harp on this because it was something we've seen all season, but starting quarterback Davis Warren (9/12, 73 yards, 1 TD) and backup Alex Orji (2/3, 2 yards, 1 INT) combined for 75 passing yards. The "leading" receiver was Semaj Morgan, who caught all 4 of his targets and had 19 yards after the catch . . . but still managed just 5 net receiving yards. Yes, you read that correctly: he ran for 19 yards after the catch and eked out just 5 total yards. Gross. Fredrick Moore had 3 catches for 37 yards, including a nice toe-tapping catch for a TD from Warren. Orji's only downfield attempt resulted in an ugly interception, further strengthening my argument that he should use his exceptional athleticism to change positions.

I didn't like Michigan's screen game, but I appreciated the attempt. Interim offensive coordinator Steve Casula's tweak for this game was to include more RPO-style plays, which included a screen wrinkle where fullback Max Bredeson would motion across the formation, the ball would be snapped with him in the slot, and then the QB would throw the ball to a slot receiver with both the outside receiver and Bredeson blocking for him. I believe Michigan tried it four or five times, and it was ugly pretty much every time, except when walk-on Joe Taylor gained 9 yards on one catch. I like that Casula was trying to give easy throws to the quarterbacks, but in reality, the timing just wasn't there, and Michigan's outside receivers didn't block it well enough, anyway.

The offensive line wasn't good but it was a possible glimpse at next year. With Hinton opting out of the bowl game and Jeffrey Persi and Andrew Gentry both unavailable, Michigan went with a true freshman Andrew Sprague at right tackle and moved starting right tackle Evan Link to left tackle for the bowl game. Sprague had just 6 total snaps coming into this game, played 67 against Alabama, and came away with a grade of 63.3 from PFF, which is respectable. Meanwhile, Link managed just his ninth-best overall grade (52.7) of the season, while flipping to the left side. It may be noteworthy, though, that his pass blocking grade of 87.2 was his second-highest of the season behind the 88.2 he posted against Michigan State. I talked in my unpublished game preview (sorry, but I just got through the offense before running out of time) about Link having been a left tackle in high school and being surprised he looked so uncomfortable at right tackle this season. I don't really buy that he lacks the athleticism to play tackle. He may be a guard in the long run, but I'm not ready to pull the plug on him as a tackle. Regardless, with Link at left tackle, Sprague at right tackle, Greg Crippen at center (who announced his return for 2025 on social media), and right guard Giovanni El-Hadi likely coming back in 2025, this may have been a preview of next year's line. The only guaranteed departure is left guard Josh Priebe. Michigan is currently pursuing transfer portal offensive linemen, as well as bringing in star recruit Andrew Babalola and possibly Ty Haywood. So there's a long way to go before things are decided, but it was a good thing for these guys to get reps together in a game situation.

It was a good way to end the year. Whether bowl game records matter or not (hint: they don't!), it's still a good feeling to come away with a win. It does give players, coaches, and fans a happy feeling to end on a high note. Now these players can walk into the off-season having felt success against another good team, and it was the first win as a major contributor for a lot of those young players like Sprague and Marshall. Anytime you walk into a competitive situation, you want to emerge victorious. And Michigan did that, so . . .

. . . Hail to the Victors. Go Blue.