Michigan showed tons of resolve to reach national title game
Each player, coach and member of the Michigan football team stressed the importance of details throughout the past month, as they said a near-flawless game was a prerequisite to beat Nick Saban and Alabama.
But when the lights were brightest, the Wolverines didn’t play a clean game. Not even close.
Still, they showed resolve on offense with a drive to force overtime, on defense with a goal-line stand in the extra period to close the game and even did enough on special teams, rocky though it was, to secure the 27-20 OT victory over the Tide and secure their spot in the national championship game.
“Just how we responded in the pressure moments, in the pressure times, offense, defense, special teams, and rose to the occasion,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday on a conference call to preview the title game. “Tremendous play during the pressure moments of the game.”
Harbaugh listed the players and moments in which the team showed its championship resolve, starting on the opening play of the Rose Bowl. It was a sprint out to the right, and J.J. McCarthy should have thrown the quick out to Roman Wilson but waited too long and it was covered.
There was a similar play early in this season against Bowling Green, when McCarthy forced a pass that resulted in an interception. He vowed to never do it again and “throw it to the 300 level.” But on the first snap of Monday’s game, he again forced the ball in an impossible window, with Alabama’s All-American freshman Caleb Downs appearing to intercept it.
Much to McCarthy’s delight, replay review showed Downs’ heel had been just out of bounds prior to the pick, making him ineligible and turning the play into an incomplete pass.
“J.J., first play of the game, he clearly (needs to throw) the ball away, and I can tell you having made a bad play in a football game, it’s like a train going through your head,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, you see red. It’s like a deafening siren. There’s a lot of guys that will hang their head and go in the tank or get that deerin-the-headlights look, but every guy that had that happen to them in our game came back and made a phenomenal play.”
McCarthy said he expected to get chewed out on the sideline; instead, his coach told him he’s glad that was out of his system and that it was go-time. From there, McCarthy was all but flawless, finishing the game 17-for-27 for 216 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers.
The Wolverines had one turnover, and it came in the first quarter. Freshman Semaj Morgan was back deep to return Alabama’s first punt; when he tried to catch the ball on a running start, it bounced off his chest, falling onto the turf and, eventually, into the arms of a Tide player.
Four plays later, the Tide had a 7-0 lead. But again, Michigan responded. McCarthy took the Wolverines on a 10play, 75-yard drive, which included a 6yard catch by Morgan that set up Blake Corum’s 8-yard touchdown reception to tie the game.
Morgan also moved the chains on UM’s next possession, as he tied for the team lead with four catches for 24 receiving yards, with 20 after the catch.
In the second quarter, after McCarthy found Tyler Morris on a 38-yard drag route over the middle for a score, U-M botched the snap on the extra point. Later in the fourth quarter, after the Tide had scored 10 straight to take a fourpoint lead, James Turner missed a 49yard field goal wide left.
“We had a bad snap,” Harbaugh said. “Then that snap and hold has to be perfect and kick made (after the game-tying score) or else we don’t go into overtime. So many plays that you could point to. I’m just really proud of those guys.”
One of those plays Harbaugh noted was Roman Wilson’s block on the gametying drive. McCarthy found Corum for a 35-yard pass play on fourth-and 2, only for part of it to be negated when Wilson was lagged for a rather obvious and uncharacteristic block-in-the-back penalty downfield.
The first down stood, but it cost U-M nearly 20 yards in field position.
“I made a really bad play, really bad mistake,” Wilson said. “The team, the guys on the field, forgave me, bro. It really hurt, to look at the sideline, look at my sideline and be like really let this team down. But the guys forgave me and you know the only way I could make it up for them was making a big play.” Wilson didn’t just make one, he made
On first-and-10 from the 34, he ran a drag route and hung in the air for an extra beat to somehow haul in a ball that appeared to be sailing over his head. Once his feet hit the ground, he maintained his balance and turned upfield for a 29-yard pass play.
Wilson couldn’t describe it in any way other than “God kept me up there.” Two plays later, he caught a 4-yard touchdown, and the ensuing extra point knotted the score.
Michigan wasn’t out of the woods yet. The defense forced an Alabama punt, which special teams coach Jay Harbaugh opted to send senior Jake Thaw deep to return, presumably with some very specific instructions: Heels on the 10-yard line and if you have to back up, don’t catch it.
Instead, Thaw tried to wave for a fair catch, but muffed it and the ball bounded back towards the U-M end zone. At the last moment, Thaw grabbed the loose ball and dove back into the field of play, avoiding a safety by less than 12 inches.
Those on the outside saw a senior making a near-catastrophic play.
Those on the inside saw a game-saving play that propelled U-M to the national championship game.
“I think it was tremendous the way (Thaw) handled the situation,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “The way he handled it and not freaking out once the ball was going towards the end zone and accidentally kicking it or muffing it again and making sure he didn’t fumble it when he got hit by those three guys.
“There’s a lot of good that he did in that scary situation that I feel like needs to be appreciated, and that’s just a testament to our training and the mindset that we’ve forged over the last year.”