PASADENA, California:They declared that it was impossible. With a month to prepare, the Nick Saban-led Alabama team was too strong for the Michigan football team. They claimed that the Wolverines were incapable of winning in the College Football Playoffs—or of winning at all—against an SEC team.
Nonetheless, the Wolverines appeared to be the superior team for the majority of the Rose Bowl, although the Tide gained momentum in the third quarter. Michigan recovered, tying the score late in the fourth quarter and going on to win 27–20 in overtime.
Following the game, a solemn Saban stood at the podium to explain why the maize and blue team defeated the Crimson Tide, complimenting the Wolverines on their performance in the Rose Bowl. This is what he had to say:
It goes without saying that we are extremely disappointed in the game’s outcome. Though I didn’t think we played well in the first half, I was incredibly proud of our players’ performance in the second half.
We simply didn’t play the final four minutes of the game as well as we would have liked to, and both the players and the rest of us are really disappointed.
But one thing that I mentioned to them in the locker room following the game was that, considering the team’s history, accomplishments, and SEC Championship, this season is among the best in Alabama football history. I’m incredibly proud of this group.
All we can do now is take lessons from the lessons that sometimes failures teach us. I only wish that as a coach I could have done more to help them succeed and finish.
Playing at the Rose Bowl
Yes, I was raised in the Big Ten, spent twelve years coaching there, and the goal was to win the Big Ten Championship and play in the Rose Bowl. That was unique from the beginning.
Though we’ve had plenty of chances to do so, the atmosphere here is fantastic right now. It was an amazing football match. Michigan deserves congratulations. They performed admirably in the game.
The only thing I would have changed is that we could have wrapped up a bit stronger. Nevertheless, our players had an amazing time, and we are very grateful to the Rose Bowl staff for their fantastic work providing us with exceptional hospitality throughout the entire week.
Why, even though Alabama football lost to Michigan, this was one of the team’s best seasons
I simply believe that there are two ways to look at it: either you won the championship or you couldn’t win the championship. Being a coach, all you want is for your team to get better and play at its highest level, and I believe this team has improved more than any other team I have ever managed after the early-season games against South Florida and Texas.
That requires a great deal of effort. Many individuals are highly dedicated to completing the tasks necessary for them to evaluate themselves and advance their skills, and all of these players bought into this team and performed to the highest standard.
Because of this, I believe that as a coach, it’s one of the teams I will always remember and be the most proud of—though perhaps not for everyone else.
About Michigan being under duress in the opening frame
Not just one specific thing, though. We had a few opportunities to redirect the protection, which we largely placed on the O-line, but we chose not to do so.
We missed a few opportunities to make a shot because the shot clock was running out, and we also made a few mistakes in front of the net when it came to blocking the appropriate players when we had the proper coverage.
It was a conglomeration of various factors. Although I felt we played better in the second half, we missed several opportunities for Jalen to make plays and for our receivers to run some plays down the field, which was crucial to the outcome of this game.
On the game’s final play
Three plays were called. We called one a timeout, they called one a timeout, and the last one was ineffective. That was a really poor call given that it didn’t work. Do you understand what I mean?
However, we had a bad impression, so we called a timeout. On the first one, we took a close look. They had to be aware of it.
However, Tommy believed that the most effective strategy for us to execute was a quarterback run, which served as one of our two-point plays for the game.
Similar to a two-point play, the ball was on the 3-yard line, but it didn’t work because we couldn’t block it. It didn’t work because we didn’t do it very well.
They put pressure on us, as we expected, but we also believed that we could gap them, block them, and still make it work, which is not what happened.
During the game, on special teams
Special teams performed admirably, in my opinion, tonight. Our field position control was excellent. Both experts, in my opinion, did an extremely fantastic job. James performed a fantastic punt job.
At the end of the game, they might have had two minutes left, and it was excellent that Christian fumbled the ball at the 1- or 2-yard line.
Will made two enormous field goals that were approximately fifty yards away. They had a field goal attempt that went wide, which gave us a great opportunity to win the game.
However, if you really break down the game, two major issues that we had were our inability to play strong defense when it mattered most and our overabundance of drive-stopping offensive plays. We also failed to finish a few drives. We really took a bullet to our own foot. A sack is a play that stops traffic. Usually, receiving a penalty stops a drive.
We caused some of those injuries on ourselves. It will be about what we do, I told the players both before and after the game, and when you look back, it’s kind of about what we did and what we didn’t do.
Not disparaging Michigan in any way. They had a fantastic game. Their team is quite strong. We could have done things a little bit better, but they are really well-coached, and we wish them luck in the future. That’s the coaches’ and my fault. It’s not the other person.
Thank you for everything the media has done this year. It’s fantastic that you generate so much interest in our sport. I appreciate you doing that.
