The Alabama football team had a good year in 2023 as they made it all the way to the College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide got the fourth spot after winning the SEC, and they played #1 Michigan football in the Rose Bowl semifinal. It was a close game and Alabama even had a touchdown lead late in the fourth quarter. However, Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe was stopped short of the goal line on the last play of the game in overtime, and Michigan advanced to the national title game.
Michigan football was a big topic of conversation during the 2023 college football season for a lot of reasons. They were one of the best teams all season long and they ended up winning the national championship, and that was a big reason, but their sign-stealing scandal was another.
Low-level staffer Connor Stalions became a household name after this investigation began. He had been sending people to games across the country to scout future Michigan football opponents in-person, which isn’t allowed.
Michigan played Alabama football a couple months after this all went down, so the Crimson Tide were well aware of any potential risks regarding their signs. Jalen Milroe was recently asked if he thought Michigan cheated during an appearance on Bussin’ With The Boys, and he repeatedly said that it doesn’t matter what he thought, because the Wolverines beat the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl.
Asking Jalen Milroe if Michigan cheated pic.twitter.com/y2AAJWF7hR
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) April 30, 2024
At the end of the day, Alabama put themselves in a great position to win the Rose Bowl against Michigan, but they just couldn’t get the job done down the stretch. Both offenses had trouble moving the ball the entire game, and Milroe ended up getting sacked six times. Still, the Crimson Tide ended up with a seven-point lead late in the game, and a big reason for their lead was because of special teams execution.
The Crimson Tide kicked a long field goal to go up 20-13 late in the game, and they even got Michigan into a 4th and three situation. If the Wolverines didn’t convert, Alabama would’ve gotten the back in field goal range with about three minutes left, and the game likely would’ve been over. Michigan did convert, and they ended up scoring a touchdown on the drive to send the game to OT.
It took just two plays for the Wolverines to score in OT, and they went up 27-20. Jalen Milroe and the offense needed to respond, and they got the ball down to the Michigan three, but it was fourth and goal. Bad snaps had been an issue all day for the Crimson Tide, and on the biggest play of the game, the ball was snapped low. Milroe kept it himself and tried to score, but he was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, and the game was over.
A lot of people have been wondering if that play would’ve ended up different if the snap was good. Would Milroe have thrown it instead? He doesn’t know.
“We’ll never know,” Milroe said. “I’ll be real like, that truly made me really love the coaching staff because you can see how much they believed in me. It is probably one of the most impactful plays of our whole season. And the balls in my hands on the last play of the game. That speaks a lot about our coaches that believe in me. So I took it as a positive although we came out short.”
Michigan ended up cruising past Washington in the national title game, and you have to think that the Crimson Tide probably would’ve done the same. Alabama was that close to a potential national title in Nick Saban’s last season.
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