A month ago, blue and yellow confetti fell in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, marking an Alabama football victory over the No. 1 team in the nation and possible playoff contention.
In a strange, ironic twist, the blue and yellow confetti falling in Rose Bowl Stadium on Monday night marked the exact opposite — a 27-20 loss to the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff and elimination from the national championship.
“Obviously we’re very disappointed about the outcome of the game,” head coach Nick Saban said. “We played great in the first half, but I was really, really proud of the way our players played in the second half. We just didn’t finish the last four minutes of the game the way I would’ve liked to.”
With under five minutes left in the game, placekicker Will Reichard kicked a 52-yard field goal to put the Crimson Tide up by a touchdown — a healthy lead. But the Michigan Wolverines cruised their way to a touchdown to send the game to overtime. With the ball first, quarterback J.J. McCarthy wasted no time in securing another touchdown. With the Wolverines suddenly scoring fourteen unanswered points, Alabama had to score a touchdown to keep the game alive.
While not as dominant as the Wolverines, the Crimson Tide looked like it could work its way into the end zone. A 15-yard run from quarterback Jalen Milroe and an 11-yard reception for wide receiver Jermaine Burton lifted hopes. But on fourth and 3, Milroe went up the middle and was stopped in his tracks, ending the game and the season.
“[Offensive coordinator] Tommy [Rees] felt like the best thing that we could do was have a quarterback run, which is one of our 2-point plays for this game,” Saban said. “The ball was on the 3-yard line which is just like a 2-point play. But we didn’t get it blocked so it didn’t work. We didn’t execute it very well.”
As for Milroe, he said he was grateful that his coaches and teammates trusted him to have the ball in that moment.
“I’m appreciative of my coaching staff for believing in me to have the ball in my hands on that last play,” Milroe said. “You win some, you lose some and it’s all part of the game. With anything, it came down to falling back to your level of training, and we just failed in that play, that’s all it was.”
The Rose Bowl began almost as excitingly as it finished.
On the first play of the game, McCarthy threw an interception to defensive back Caleb Downs, but it was overturned. After punting the ball away, Milroe was sacked on the first play of the Alabama drive.
Alabama also punted the ball away, but when the Michigan returner muffed the punt, Quandarrius Robinson recovered it. Less than three minutes later, running back Jase McClellan put the Crimson Tide on the board first with a 34-yard rushing touchdown.
But without a doubt, Michigan led most of the game, both offensively and defensively. The Wolverine defense, ranked No. 1 in the country, sacked Milroe six times and limited him to just 93 passing yards. On offense, McCarthy kept his team alive, passing for two touchdowns in the first half. The first was to running back Blake Corum, his first touchdown reception of the year, and who also rushed for 55 yards.
But the fourth quarter seemed to be different for the Crimson Tide. Thirty seconds into the fourth quarter, Alabama took the lead thanks to a rushing touchdown from running back Jase McClellan, capping off one of the strongest and most confident Alabama drives of the night.
Hopes continued to rise when McCarthy was sacked for the first time of the night, a Milroe fumble only led to a missed Michigan field goal, and Reichard kicked his 52-yarder.
Unfortunately, Michigan took the reins from there, resulting in the blue and yellow confetti in Pasadena.
Although obviously disappointed with the loss, the trip to Pasadena was an accomplishment in itself.
“Obviously right now it’s heartbreaking,” Reichard said. “But I’m really proud of the way we continued to fight all year. At the beginning of the season, there were people that thought we’d go 8-4, that thought we wouldn’t get the chance to be here. So the way that we continued to try and prove everyone wrong, I’m super proud of the way we did that.”
