For Alabama football, bowl season is nothing new. The novelty, though, has yet to wear off, especially during a season that started with a hurricane of doubts but now leads to the iconic Rose Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff.
“This [the Rose Bowl] is one of the greatest experiences in college sports,” head coach Nick Saban said.
After the Week 2 loss to Texas and a quarterback battle with seemingly no end in sight, speculation around the death of the dynasty lurked around every corner.
Fortunately, the talk only added fuel to the fire, and the Crimson Tide has ridden the flames all the way to the postseason.
“Everybody criticized us and said we weren’t any good and we were done and Coach Saban is past his prime and all that,” Saban said. “It was like eating Wheaties, breakfast of champions. That helped us. So now can we handle the success, that’s the next question.”
Although it felt far on the horizon at the beginning of the season, the success has finally arrived for the Crimson Tide: Revenge wins over Tennessee and LSU. Clinching the SEC West with a victory in Lexington. Gravedigger. Upsetting the No. 1 team in the country to become SEC champions and stoke the fire of Alabama’s playoff dreams.
On Monday, the Crimson Tide will once again confront the No. 1 team in the nation, this time the undefeated Michigan Wolverines, with the hope of extending its CFP run and continuing its hard-earned success.
While competing against the toughest teams in the nation is nothing new for Alabama, the Wolverine defense has set itself apart as the best of the best. Ranked the No. 1 total defense in the nation, Michigan allowed less than 10 points per game on average while also being top three in defensive touchdowns and red-zone defense.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe said a lot of the Rose Bowl preparation has been focused on how physical the Michigan defense is.
“The first thing that sticks out when you look at the tape is how physical they play,” Milroe said. “They have a veteran core. Then they have a lot of stunts and twists and stuff like that. That’s something we have to prepare really well for in this game because they’re going to hit us with a lot of things in this game.”
Although the Michigan defense has impressed the college football world all season, the offense shines just as bright. Wolverine running back Blake Corum has been turning heads, leading the rushing game with 1,028 yards and 24 touchdowns. In comparison, Donovan Edwards is the second-most accomplished running back, with 382 yards and three touchdowns.
Linebacker Dallas Turner said the offensive line is a huge part of the Wolverines’ success.
“Their O-line, a very experienced O-line. Very smart O-line as well,” Turner said. “With a good running back like Blake Corum, it can be dangerous with that combination with the O-line and running back and stuff like that. Having a good quarterback like J.J. McCarthy, a field general, runs that offense very well, I feel like he orchestrates the offense perfectly.”
On the other side of the ball, McCarthy is just as aware of Turner and the rest of the Crimson Tide defense. Under first-year defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, the Alabama defense has found a new, shutdown mentality, led by Turner’s nine sacks and a total of 13.5 tackles for loss that total 86 yards.
“Dallas is one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” McCarthy said. “Just in combination with the speed, the size, the technique, he’s a tremendous football player, and the motor doesn’t stop for those guys. It’s going to be a tough challenge for our tackles, but they’re excited for it.”
Historically, Alabama has had the upper hand when it comes to bowl games. Harbaugh has lost six bowl games in a row, including a 2019 Citrus Bowl loss to Saban as well as two semifinal games, bringing him to 1-6 with the Wolverines. While Saban also has six bowl losses, he also has sixteen bowl game victories, including his six Alabama national championships.
McCarthy, though, says none of that matters.
“At the end of the day, it’s just history,” McCarthy said. “The only thing we can control now is the present moment and the future ultimately by handling the present moment. I feel like all that’s in the past, can’t do anything about it now.”
The Crimson Tide isn’t focusing on the history either; for Milroe, the Rose Bowl is just the next goal to tackle.
“All of our short-term goals that we had, we achieved them,” Milroe said. “It’s something to take a lot of pride in, a lot of things to be proud of. … We have a hard task in front of us right now, and to be able to accomplish more great things as a team, that would be great.”
The bottom line, though, is that the Rose Bowl itself is a “great thing” that didn’t seem to be in the picture at the beginning of the season. From a silenced Tuscaloosa crowd in Week 2 and a rainy struggle in Week 3 to challenging another college football powerhouse, at the Tournament of Roses in sunny Pasadena, California, Turner and the Crimson Tide are soaking it all in.
“It’s moments like this that you dream of when you are a kid,” Turner said. “Just being able to put my shoulder pads and helmet on and say that you’re a Rose Bowl champion.”
Alabama vs. Michigan kicks off Monday at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
