Alabama 35, Michigan 16
It went a hell of a lot better than the last time.
That may sound derisive; it's not meant that way. When these programs played to open the 2012 season, they didn't appear to belong on the same field. In closing the 2019 season, Michigan showed they've covered a lot of ground since. These teams played an evenly matched contest until Alabama salted the game away late and it's fair to say the Wolverines left a lot of yards and points on the field.
Early on, it looked like the game might go the way of 2012. After Michigan got the opening kickoff, Shea Patterson and Nico Collins couldn't connect on two potential big plays, leading to a three-and-out. Alabama took all of one play to take the lead; Mac Jones found future top-five pick Jerry Jeudy one-on-one with a safety and hit him for an 85-yard touchdown. The next Wolverine drive also ended with an off-target throw and a punt. It felt inevitable that the Tide would break the game open.
Instead, a banged-up defense starting a walk-on and a true freshman at defensive tackle bore down. Lavert Hill broke up a third-down throw on a well-timed changeup to cover two from the usual man coverage, forcing Bama to punt it back.
Hassan Haskins had some punishing runs. [Barron]
Josh Gattis drew up an excellent gameplan and it finally paid off on the ensuing drive. The offensive line started opening up holes for Hassan Haskins and Zach Charbonnet, who both were plenty capable of grinding out extra yards against Alabama's five-star-laden defense. Gattis schemed up a big play on a direct snap to Haskins that turned into a flea flicker with Shea Patterson throwing to a wide open Donovan Peoples-Jones. The next two plays beautifully played off each other; first, a split zone to Haskins with jet motion netted a first down, then they faked the same play with Nick Eubanks leaking wide open into the flat for an easy seven-yard touchdown catch.
After the defense got another quick stop, Gattis drew up another long gain, this time using Giles Jackson as a running back on a play-action wheel route. Patterson couldn't squeeze in a third-down corner route to Nick Eubanks, who had a step on his man, and Michigan settled for a Quinn Nordin field goal.
Nearly the same sequence capped the first quarter and opened the second. Another stop. Another Michigan drive with multiple first downs stalls out in Bama territory, this time when Ronnie Bell steps out of bounds before catching a would-be conversion. Nordin kicks a 42-yard field goal. While the Wolverines owned a 13-7 lead, it felt like they should've been up 14.
That's a dangerous way to play against a team as talented as Alabama. On the next drive, Lavert Hill had to take a defensive pass interference to prevent another Jeudy touchdown, and Najee Harris hurdled over Josh Metellus for a touchdown two plays after a questionable roughing the passer flag on Aidan Hutchinson extended the drive. Michigan once again worked their way into scoring territory to end the half, only for poor clock management and a sack on Patterson to force a 57-yard field goal attempt by Nordin that eked over the crossbar as the half expired.
Second-half mood. [Barron]
In the second half, the missed opportunities continued, and those from the first half began to sting more. A perfect throw-and-catch from Jones to DeVonta Smith went for a 42-yard touchdown on the half's opening drive. Then came an extended staredown; neither team could crack the other's defense for the next five possessions. Patterson missed a couple more deep passes, this time in the direction of Ronnie Bell.
The proverbial dam broke in the fourth quarter. After two long completions to Jeudy, who finished with 204 yards on six receptions, Jones tossed a score to little-used tight end Miller Forristall when two defenders went with Harris on a wheel route. Forristall hadn't caught a pass since October. Michigan's next drive ended on—guess what—an overthrown deep ball to a well-covered Mike Sainristil.
The defense gave Patterson one more chance to lead an unlikely comeback. That ended in one play. Eubanks appeared to break his route upfield in anticipation of a Patterson scramble drill; instead, Patterson lofted a ball well short of Eubanks and directly into the hands of Shyheim Carter.
Alabama then ground away nearly the entire rest of the game clock, and could've kneeled it out completely, but Nick Saban instead let Harris run in another score—which, fair enough. My only complaint is it made the final score less resemble the closeness of the game.
Michigan belonged. But where Bama scored touchdowns, Michigan managed field goals, and while Mac Jones was money when his receivers were open downfield, Shea Patterson was not. The Wolverines finish the season a disappointing 9-4. Still, it wasn't hard to see the potential in this program today; with a few more on-target throws, this is a dogfight with the Crimson Tide. May next year's quarterback hit them, because it sure looks like they'll be there.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
January 1st, 2020 at 8:42 PM ^
But the funny thing is that people want to have it both ways. You can't say, oh, well if we would have made all of the plays we didn't make then it would've been close. Well we had our starting QB and they didn't so you can just as easily have a what-if where they have Tua playing. In fact, if Alabama had had two of their best defenders who sat out, their starting QB, and motivation it's a 35 point win for them. You can't just say well if one team had a best case scenario where every possible thing goes right then it would have been close so therefore we're competitive. Leaving opportunities all over the field is the norm and not the exception for this program, unfortunately. Parcells was right, at some point you are what your record is.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:53 PM ^
I get your point, and it's exactly because we haven't had much competent QB play for years that is a major factor in undermining confidence in the JH regime, because you need good QB play to win against equal or better opponents. It's just that it was somewhat encouraging that our guys were very much competitive in the trenches with Alabama.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:10 PM ^
On a down to down basis, I think Michigan belonged. It was the big plays that Alabama was able to make that were the difference.
How much of that YPP is affected by the 85 yard bomb? How much of Michigan's is affected by Patterson overthrowing a number of guys on potential big plays?
January 1st, 2020 at 7:35 PM ^
Losing 3-4 games with the Michigan staff or this staff (mgoblog) is just fine? Cool. Who else could win 9 or 10 games in the big ten East?
James Franklin.
January 1st, 2020 at 7:39 PM ^
Goodbye Shae Patterson. Maybe Gattis was right, should have spent more time in the film room and off the golf course last summer.
January 1st, 2020 at 7:46 PM ^
After five years of this, I have resigned myself to the fact that 9-3 seems to be the ceiling for the program with Harbaugh. My hopes were high when he arrived. All of the hype. Satellite camps, tweaking the SEC, even his quirky weirdness made me think that we could compete with the big dogs. It is not to be. Did someone say that we are a basketball school now?
January 1st, 2020 at 7:48 PM ^
I with the earlier post stating gattis should recruit and develop his own QB
January 1st, 2020 at 8:08 PM ^
This is the exact same article we made fun of MSU mercilessly for. Hey we didn't get our ass kicked! Yay!
January 1st, 2020 at 8:11 PM ^
I've pulled the numbers and Michigan has been a Top 10 program under Jim Harbaugh.
10th in Win % - Bama, Clemson, OSU, Oklahoma, Georgia, LSU (thanks to this year alone), Penn State (by a game), Notre Dame, and Wisconsin are above them.
Michigan has made two NY6 games - only 8 schools have made more
Michigan has 3 seasons with 10 wins or more - only 8 schools have more
I don't know what to tell you except Bama, Clemson, OSU, and Oklahoma have dominated the CFP era. Consider this:
- There have been 24 available playoff spots. Those 4 teams have grabbed 17 of them. And 15 of the past 20. Meaning every year, it's 3 of those 4 and one random team.
- Of the 24 conference championships available to those teams, they've won 18. Ohio State only has 4 because Penn State blocked a FG and 2015 MSU had the most amazing luck. Clemson has won the ACC in 5 straight years. Ditto OU and the Big XII.
The top 3 teams in the 2020 recruiting rankings: Bama, Clemson, OSU.
Who is better? What coach is out there that's going to take Michigan from Top 10 to Top 5?
Matt Campbell? 7-6 at Iowa State is good, but it's not otherworldly. And they rely on JUCOs. Can he outrecruit those three schools? Doubtful.
Matt Rhule? I'd listen, but he's not leaving unless it's for PSU or the NFL. And Baylor played one good team all year and lost twice including blowing a 28-3 lead at home. They should've lost to TCU and Texas Tech. Is a 9-4 Baylor squad in a down Big XII as enticing to you?
Fleck? I'm curious, but I'd like to see more than 1 really good season before I kick Jim Harbaugh to the curb for him.
I get the expectations.
Ultimately, what this all boils down to is this: 0-5 versus Ohio State. If Michigan beat Ohio State this year and lost the Rose Bowl, let's say, to Oregon, nobody probably cares. If Barrett is ruled short or the refs pretend to call it fairly in 2016 and Harbaugh wins the B1G and makes the playoffs in Year 2, we're probably a little worried, but it's fine. Hell, if John O'Korn isn't the worst QB alive in 2017, maybe we feel a little better.
Brian posted a while ago that Football Armageddon I led directly to Carr "retiring" and the RR and Hoke eras. Football Armageddon II led to this. If Michigan beats Ohio State in 2016, it changes everything.
It's not an ultimately meaningless Citrus Bowl loss against a Bama team that lost by 7 to the national champs and got unlucky against Auburn. It's not a tough road loss against a Top 10 Penn State team.
It's Ohio State. That's the thing bringing out all the trolls and doomsayers and people who want to throw McCaffrey in with 6 minutes left in this game or get rid of Don Brown to keep Chris Partridge.
Again, I get it. This program has been frustrating to follow since 2004 or so. That's a long time. If you get rid of Jim Harbaugh, there's a slight chance it gets better. People point to Kirby Smart and Mark Richt. Okay. Kirby Smart is recruiting in Georgia. His backyard is filled with 5* and Mark Richt got 15 years at Georgia before they finally decided to move on. Michigan has a handful of teams ahead of them. There's a lot further to fall if they make the wrong move than there is to rise if they make the right one.
If Michigan does ever decide to fire Jim Harbaugh and they end up reliving 2008-2014, every person on this board who decided that Top 10 wasn't good enough should be forced to issue a public apology.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:32 PM ^
This. We can be a top 10 team winning 8-10 games a year with a hope for a better season every now and then (which is what Michigan has been since the 1950s).
Or we can fire Harbaugh and try to get a “good, young, rising” coach and risk going 6-7 every year with literally zero guarantee they'll achieve anything more than Harbaugh already does.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:14 PM ^
I don't want to fire Harbaugh. I want him to wake the fuck up and stop stubbornly playing the senior QB every time. This isn't the 70's. Other teams are winning with freshman! Don't just hand the job to McCaffrey because he has the most seniority. If Milton has more upside, go with him. Same goes for other QBs on the roster. He keeps going with the high floor/low ceiling guys like Speight and Patterson. Those guys look good against weak competition but fall apart against better teams. You need a QB that has the tools to make all the deep throws and doesn't shit the bed mentally. Solve that and we will be winning big 10 titles. Don't and we will keep being in the 3rd place in the division.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:13 AM ^
We are not a top 10 team under Harbaugh in my opinion.
Against top 10 teams we are 2-10.
Our November to January record is 14-11. I post this because this is when championships and rivalry week are played. I believe this is when top ten teams prove they are top ten and should be playing at their highest level.
Final AP rankings were easiest for me to look up. I am using our 2019 rank before our loss to Alabama. In 2017 we finished unranked and were not one of the next 9 teams to receive at least 1 top 25 vote. Being generous I'll consider us the immediate next team and rank us 35th. That puts our final AP rank under Harbaugh at 17.6 and without my leniency 19 is more accurate.
None of these stats suggest top 10.
If we re-live the Hoke/RR era it has nothing to do with the fan base and everything to do with the failure of our University. Hoke was a .500 coach before he got here and never should of been considered a real candidate. RR was a terrible fit who we let blow up the program to a 3-9 season. By the time we hired him the college football world caught up to any genius his offense previously had. We didn't hire a young brilliant upcoming offensive mind. We hired a has-been with a roster that did not fit anything he wanted to do. The hiring process was a massive fail both times.
The whole "if Harbaugh can't beat osu then no one can here" is nonsense. Beilein was arguably our best bball coach ever and Howard was considered a risky 'best we could get' hire because we didn't have many options available. Yet he is recruiting like a badass, we've beat multiple Big Dance tournament teams, and brought home some (Atlantis) hardware already. He's exceeded my early expectations.
A couple years ago most of us had no idea who Ryan Day was and now in his 1st HC year some people on this blog were saying this is the best osu team ever despite replacing one of the most successful college coaches in the history of the NCAA. He's exceeded my expectations.
If Harbaugh can't ever beat osu there are coaches out there who can. Just because a random fan on a sports blog can't tell you who that coach is doesn't mean he doesn't exist. I couldn't of told you Howard and Day would be great but clearly that doesn't mean they don't exists. We aren't the ones paid handsomely to find these coaches. Acting like Harbaugh in the last 5 years is our ceiling or bust is fallacy. I hope we can start beating osu under Harbaugh but if we can't then there IS a coach out there we can get who can.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:24 PM ^
This game proved we are not a "high-octane" spread team. Had we stuck to the ball control gameplan used in the 1st half, we could have won this game. Fans want to get in a shootout with teams like Bama, but that is a fool's errand ... unless you have Bama level talent. Which is not likely in this era of college football.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:35 PM ^
Can we make one trade? Shea for their QB or Jeudy for Ronnie (the 4 drops) Bell....making one of these trades leads to a win for us. To me, that actually does mean we are close
January 1st, 2020 at 8:39 PM ^
1. As I told the folks I was watching the game with, when we started kicking field goals in the first half the game was over. Bama was going to get 4-6 touchdowns and field goals were meaningless.
2. Shea is just too inconsistent. But it wasn’t just him this season. Our receivers drop balls. And then drop some more. And then Shea misses again.
3. it might seem odd but i really commend the Defense. They gave us plenty of opportunity to win. Couldn’t take advantage.
4. I feel like we’re closer. I still believe in Harbaugh (and Santa Claus, just kidding but maybe not). Beating Bama and The(tm)OSU these days requires cheating or long term systemic growth.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:45 PM ^
this may sound like another excuse, but it's been a while since UM has had 'a gamer' at QB - a QB who consistently makes the key plays that win big games. In his prior gigs, when Harbaugh found his guy @QB, his teams rose to the next level... perhaps McCaffrey will be 'his guy' next year?
January 1st, 2020 at 11:17 PM ^
Perhaps. If he doesn’t get broken in half. The kid seems incredibly fragile. Just doesn’t have the physique to sustain hits and get through a season. Hope I’m wrong.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:55 PM ^
Glad to hear that in 8 seasons we are marginally improved against Alabama.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:04 PM ^
Ok I was at the game and Ace is completely on point. We hung with Alabama to the point I was hedging on live betting because I was so overweighted in Alabama winning from a betting perspective. We sold out to stop the run, went cover 1 with press and put Dax Hill on Jeudy and got killed on it at times and got home at times. I can’t fault the defense at all. The played WELL beyond expectation. When I tell you the Alabama offensive line DWARFED the Michigan D Line I am underselling it. If they aren’t using PEDs then they need to sell whatever their secret is to everyone else.
This offense can work well - you need a burner at RB and ...a QB who can run a zone read. Shea is senior enough to learn the offense but you aren’t going to make him something he isn’t. He won’t run with the ball either because he doesn’t want to or can’t process the read. He also can’t go off the primary read in the pass. This isn’t a QB coaching thing..it’s likely a Shea thing. I’m fairly certain there are QB reads in the offense - he isn’t reading it at all. The routes are there...WRs are open...but they are likely to be more open if the QB is a run threat.
Dylan may not be the passer Shea is but there is NO way he can’t get through reads and progressions better than Shea. I felt after today that we are a lot closer than I believed. Statistically we should have been destroyed. This was a 5 pt game in the 4th and Eubanks was wide open on the Int.
They played like a team that isn’t that far...let’s see what this looks like with Dylan at the helm. He is the ideal QB for this system....
January 2nd, 2020 at 7:28 AM ^
I think this is exactly right, Comrade. We've seen for two years now that Shea is a great athlete but a bad decision-maker. He can't see the field, he can't dissect a defense to find the open receiver, and he is even inconsistent at executing the zone read. McCaffrey's high IQ and eagerness to lower the shoulder gives me hope that he will be an improvement in these aspects of the game.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:06 PM ^
This is a minor quip, but can we start a petition to get rid of the road all white uniforms? Why did we decide to get rid of the iconic road uniform with yellow pants? The all whites look like pajamas, not to mention the fact that by the end of the season half of the winged helmet is covered in ugly helmet stickers.
does Harbaugh not realize that the look is atrocious? not to mention the fact that we are 0-10 in big games wearing them.
January 1st, 2020 at 11:20 PM ^
Let me restate this. We look and play like pussies in all white.
January 2nd, 2020 at 7:29 AM ^
+1000
January 1st, 2020 at 9:06 PM ^
Much too kind in my opinion. I think Alabama didn't care in the first half but once they did, they blew Michigan off the field.They outscored us 28-3 after Michigan went up 13-7. Even as the first half unfolded, I thought it was fool's gold. We emptied the playbook and got field goals to show for it. Alabama adjusted and turned up their intensity a few notches and Michigan had no answer. Poor QB play and receivers dropping balls took away any chance to keep this game close.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
Ace, your positivism is inspiring.
January 1st, 2020 at 9:19 PM ^
This team. So easy to pull for, so hard to watch.
January 1st, 2020 at 10:11 PM ^
We beat the Alabama in the first half on both sides of the ball. I thought we would be blown out, but we were right in there. Happy about that. Go blue.
January 1st, 2020 at 10:45 PM ^
I mean this as a criticism of the coaching staff and not the player, but Shea never really earned his starting role - he was anointed. Like other 5 stars like Henson and Greene, not only was he handed the job he may have been promised it. Hopefully next year the job goes to the player that earns it in a true merit based competition.
January 1st, 2020 at 11:29 PM ^
The offense-I liked the game plan in the the first half. In the second half, they struggled with throws to the outside, and I wish they had worked the inside throws more. The QB really struggled with accuracy on deep throws. LSU has been crazy successful throwing the ball in the middle of the field. The slot receiver, who got target after target, again struggled to make some tough catches.
I'm excited by McCaffrey at QB. In sports. sometimes coaches go with seniority, and I think they leaned too heavily into a limited QB this year. I know everyone likes to rail on that coaches always play the best guy, but Tua rode pine for a year at Alabama. Even the best coaches sometimes miss. I think coach was too stubborn in sticking with Shea. I hope they work the middle of the field more next year and can threaten with QB run.
Defense--It only took 13 games to figure out how to put Uche on the field a lot. Michigan adjusted this year, played more zone etc. but they still sometimes got pounded in big games. They need to hold more teams to FG's instead of touchdowns and they need to continue to be multiple. It seems like the defense will again be 10-15 with Brown as the coach, but they'll need the offense to score in the 30's to win in the big games. I'd guess 9-3 next year.
Go Blue.
January 1st, 2020 at 11:43 PM ^
I also think he felt an obligation to not pull Shea Patterson, and it probably cost us this game. He played the whole season, it's his last season, it's the bowl game he got us to, he deserves to play it -- I guess, but especially after going pass-heavy against Alabama, who went largely nickel in 2nd half ... it was painful to watch all the missed throws then Shea MAYBE hits a 3rd down pass to keep the hopeless dream alive. I would have liked to have seen more running in the 3rd quarter. We gashed them the entire 1st half then gave up completely on the run game. I was staring at the ticking clock in the middle of the 3rd quarter going "Uhhh now's the time to try to keep busting the running game open because it'll be too late in 15-minutes" yet we just kept passing the ball and letting their defense off the field. We came out and did all the stuff that didn't work in the first half AT ALL and didn't do anything that worked in the first half AT ALL If the intent was to go pass-heavy in q3/q4, it was pretty obvious if we wanted to win, sentiment needed to be put aside and one of the two QBs vying to start next year should have been put into this game. Shea didn't want to run, and when he did run for ~9 yards, Nico had BLOWN THROUGH his coverage and was waving his hand wide open for a TD. We ran right through them for the first down, then threw a series of bad balls and punted. The running game was obviously still viable at that point in the game, and we went back to "throw it everywhere but at your receiver."
When I saw Saban break his headset I thought "man, they really broke Harbaugh's spirit after that costly penalty vs OSU, he never gets emotional like that anymore"
The first day Harbaugh coached at UM i was in row AA left of the 50 between 45-50 yard line. It was the day the clipboard went flying. I've never heard the big house get that loud except the Denard under the lights (2012?) and we were already in cruise control against a snowflake when the crowd exploded with harbaugh's energy. It was electric. I miss it. It all happened about 10 yards in front of our eyes and it ignited the spirit in me that michigan football was back.
Harbaugh got penalized because he was mad about how his players were being treated.
Saban gets away with it because he's directing the anger at kids.
Regardless, the ferocity works when it comes to this game no matter who it's directed at, I just wish Harbaugh's approach wasn't penalized because it's far more honorable, and he hasn't been quite the same since that OSU game.
Aside from my ramblings, I agree, we're way closer, except I think if we had our quarterback from back then with all of the staff and players of today, we would have won this game and did it in a way that made a major statement, instead of having najee harris shove an extra one down our throat to spite us in garbage time. (Yeah, that one hurt extra and they knew it)
I can't help but to be confused at some of the choices being made in this game, but I still think we can't do better than harbaugh, he's as good as we could possibly get, and there are external factors not being considered by a lot of people on here that don't seem to understand what bagmen and academic standards are.
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:51 AM ^
Thanks Ace....I needed that! Now, onward to basketball season....?
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:01 AM ^
QB was our problem this season. You need a QB who will make big plays and who is a consistent passer. So far Harbaugh has been unable to Recruit and develop one or get a great transfer. Ruddock a 3rd string IA transfer has been our best QB under Harbaugh. I thought Shea would have improved after his good 2018 season but he actually regresses. I wonder if Dylan or Joe will be our next good QB but I think they will be average at best!
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:01 AM ^
QB was our problem this season. You need a QB who will make big plays and who is a consistent passer. So far Harbaugh has been unable to Recruit and develop one or get a great transfer. Ruddock a 3rd string IA transfer has been our best QB under Harbaugh. I thought Shea would have improved after his good 2018 season but he actually regresses. I wonder if Dylan or Joe will be our next good QB but I think they will be average at best!
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:01 AM ^
QB was our problem this season. You need a QB who will make big plays and who is a consistent passer. So far Harbaugh has been unable to Recruit and develop one or get a great transfer. Ruddock a 3rd string IA transfer has been our best QB under Harbaugh. I thought Shea would have improved after his good 2018 season but he actually regresses. I wonder if Dylan or Joe will be our next good QB but I think they will be average at best!
January 2nd, 2020 at 1:24 PM ^
The problem with the direction of the program is that Harbaugh's supposed best asset, QB development, never made it to Ann Arbor. Without, the program will never be in the upper tier. Sure, paying kids helps, but if Patterson played as well as AL's backup, or MN's starter, Michigan wins this game.
January 2nd, 2020 at 2:14 PM ^
Sadly, the thing that stood out to me watching this game was Michigan had only one explosive guy with big play potential on their team... Giles Jackson.
Alabama had several.
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