Michigan claim chaotic Rose Bowl in overtime over Alabama

With a spot in the National Championship game on the line, Michigan and Alabama competed in a game that can only be described as madness. Michigan ran out 27-20 winners having scored a late touchdown to send the game to overtime and squeeze over the line to maintain their unbeaten season. They will now head to the NRG Stadium in Texas where they await the winners from the Washington vs Texas Sugar Bowl game.

The game got off to a chaotic start. First play saw Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy throw what looked like an interception, only for the Alabama defender to step out of bounds as he caught it. Alabama’s first drive succumbed to the strength of the Wolverines defence, with Braiden McGregor and Josaiah Stewart both recording sacks. The Tide would strike first however, seeing their punt fumbled by Semaj Morgan, leading to a Jase McClellan 34-yard rushing touchdown to put his side up 7-0.

Michigan replied instantly by putting together a strong drive of their own resulting in a score. A 10-play drive led to McCarthy throwing an 8-yard pass to wide open Blake Corum to tie the game up. 

The second quarter started with Michigan’s defence really flexing their ability, sacking Milroe on back-to-back plays this time from Michael Barrett and Kris Jenkins, taking the total to four sacks for the Wolverines early on. Michigan retook the lead thanks to a 38-yard Tyler Morris touchdown but thew extra point was missed. With their opponent’s defence dominating, Alabama looked to like they needed to find some sort of offensive flow if they were to win the game. 

They did cut the deficit just before half time to 13-10, following a 50-yard field goal from Will Reichard. This came after their offensive drive stalled following a fifth sack of the half for Michigan’s defence with Derrick Moore now adding one to the box score.

Alabama’s offense continued to struggle at the start of the second half. Consecutive poor snaps that were recovered by Milroe saw them lose 19 yards and led to them punting the ball away. 

The third quarter saw neither side add to their tally. Both defences stepped up as they have all year and neither offense could provide the firepower to cause any problems. 

Milroe kicked off the final quarter with a terrific 18-yard rush. He sensed a blitz and quickly exploded forward to take his side to the 3-yard line. Jase McClellan ran in from there to put the Tide up 17-13. McCarthy and his offense registered just 23 total yards of offense in the third quarter and it was now down to them to maintain Michigan’s unbeaten season. 

Michigan’s offense stuttered yet again and were forced to punt. However, their defence bailed them out again with Quinten Johnson forcing Milroe to fumble and Josh Wallace recovered on their 49-yard line. 

They once again didn’t make it easy for themselves, attempting a flea flicker that was fumbled and lost a big chunk of yardage leading to a field goal. Jaylen Harrell missed wide left and Michigan were doing everything in their power to not win the game.

Milroe was sacked for the first time in the second half and it came at the perfect time for the Michigan defence. Reichard was good again from 52 yards to put Alabama up 20-13 with less than five minutes to play.

McCarthy started to click. He ran for 16 yards and then connected with Roman Wilson for 29 to take the offense into the redzone. Wilson continued to take a lead with a 4-yard receiving touchdown and the extra point from James Turner tied the game up at 20. 

The Wolverines defence once again made a huge stop to force a fourth down and keep Alabama out of field goal range. Nick Saban took the decision to punt and hope his defence could get the Tide into overtime. It could not have gone any better. Michigan fumbled to the punt again and recovered on their 1-yard line. They ran one play, took a knee and made the decision to let the clock run out and take it to overtime instead of risking losing the game.

Michigan had possession of the ball first and their offense went straight to work. One the second play of overtime, Blake Corum ran in from the 17-yard line and the successful extra point put them 27-20 with their defence now looking to stop Milroe.

Alabama saw a good run by Milroe followed up by a run for loss and a third down from the 14-yard line. Milroe found Jermaine Burton for 11 yards, leaving them with one play to score from the 3-yard line. Milroe was stopped on the goal line and Michigan punched their ticket to the CFB Championship game with a 27-20 win.