MICHIGAN VS. EVERYBODY: ALABAMA

 ROSE BOWL GAME

PASADENA, CA – January 1, 2024

#1 MICHIGAN v. #4 ALABAMA (COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF)

The holiday season, my namesake. A time for singing Christmas songs at school, gluing Christmas tree crafts, reading Mickey’s Christmas Carol, gifts from parents in the form of Starbucks and Target gift cards, plummeting temps and Holiday blend coffee, Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, Elf, travel plans. Last year, to save money, I flew home a couple days after Christmas; my family, ever flexible, accommodated my plans by celebrating Christmas late. This plan allowed me to watch Michigan’s college football playoff matchup, which they played on New Years Eve at the Fiesta Bowl, with my best buddy Al and his fiance Austin at their house in Grand Rapids. Michigan lost that one, of course, to TCU. 

This year, I again planned to fly home after the actual Christmas holiday. Michigan’s date with Bama in the Rose Bowl, a trip to the natty on the line, factored heavily into the question of when to fly back. One option mirrored last year’s travel plans: fly home a couple days after Christmas – say, perhaps December 27 – and stay through New Years Eve. That option presented the opportunity to watch the Rose Bowl in Michigan with friends. On the other hand, I considered waiting a bit longer, flying home a few days after New Years Day. In that scenario, I could watch the Rose Bowl in Minnesota and a potential National Championship in Michigan. A potential loss to Bama, of course, nullified the upside of the second option. As such, option two constituted a gamble, one that prompted deep introspection regarding my own faith or lack thereof. Optimism won out, for once in my life; I booked a flight for January 5, three days prior to the national championship. The past twenty-five years taught me not to take for granted such moments, in fact to cherish them, for they occurred only once or twice in a lifetime, if you were lucky. 

January 1, 2024

Christmas alone drained me. A feeling of homesickness built up in my gut in the days preceding and following Christmas Day, zapping my appetite. My drug intake deprived me of sleep throughout the week, exacerbating my homesickness, anxiety, and general despair. All this resulted in a weekend spent catching up on sleep, half-repenting, not exactly stoking myself up for Michigan’s Rose Bowl Game. A cold gray week fit the mood in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, with rumblings at work to top it all off; Ms. Emily indicated that she is looking for other jobs, and I think she’s serious about it. Moreover, the kids seem ungrateful lately, more annoying than usual. 

Perhaps by distraction I hoped to protect myself from crushed hope. When I woke up this morning, the first day of the new year, I didn’t even have a way to watch the Rose Bowl Game. This dreadful realization occurred to me yesterday. ESPN was not broadcasting the playoff games via ESPN+ – only on ESPN itself, which I don’t have. Kara, on her way home from Texas, where she spent the holidays, suggested I try a free trial of Sling TV. I signed up for a $15/first month plan, figuring I’d spend that much if I went to a Buffalo Wild Wings or some other bar to watch it. As a bonus, the subscription allowed me to watch the ReliaQuest Bowl featuring LSU and Wisconsin, which proved a fine tune-up for the playoff games later in the day. In one of the better bowl games of the season, LSU, playing sans Heisman Trophy winner Jaden Daniels, prevailed 35-31.

Knowing I wouldn’t eat later, I ordered Applebee's via Door Dash about an hour prior to kickoff. James, my dasher, noted my Michigan sweatshirt and my ‘Michigan vs. Everybody’ knit hat and said good luck. He predicted, very specifically, that the Alabama quarterback would throw two interceptions. I sat down and ate my boneless wings, but they did not calm my nerves. In fact, I was a jittery wreck leading up to the game.

In a shot that went viral, post-game, a sky camera panned over the Rose Bowl, looking down upon that storied single bowl stadium nestled at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, where the endzones bookending the grass field boasted of two of college football’s most storied programs, one painted crimson with white lettering and the other navy blue with yellow lettering. Alabama and Michigan. The two winningest programs in college football history. 

The way we started certainly didn’t help my anxiety. On the first offensive snap of the game, JJ McCarthy dropped back and threw what appeared to be an interception along the sideline. It felt surreal, like a nightmare you’d had before. Fortunately, the defender had stepped out of bounds before making the leaping grab in-bounds, rendering it an incomplete pass upon video review. We felt grateful to punt, after that near-fiasco.

Michigan’s defense looked fierce, on the other hand. Michigan had been outmatched by Alabama teams previously, most notably in 2012, but the opening drive demonstrated that was not the case anymore. On the contrary, Michigan’s defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage on Bama’s opening possession. On first and 10, Braiden McGregor finally broke free for an overdue sack, bringing down Milroe for a loss of 13 yards. Then, following an 11-yard reception on 2nd and long, Josiah Stewart broke into the backfield and recorded his own sack, this one for a loss of 11-yards, effectively forcing a three-and-out.

Any positive momentum generated by McGregor and Stewart’s sacks, however, evaporated on the ensuing punt, which saw recently inserted freshman Semaj Morgan muff the punt badly. Alabama recovered. This set the Crimson Tide offense up with excellent field position – a first and 10 from the Michigan 44. They took advantage with a quick score, one that saw running back Jase McLellan run 34 yards for a touchdown. Bama went ahead seven-zip after a disastrous start for Michigan.

At that moment, I flashed back to one of my worst ever nights: September 1, 2012, a night that saw Alabama pummel Michigan in Dallas, Texas in the midst of one of my alcoholic benders, one so bad it resulted in my first serious attempt to stop drinking. Alabama led 31-0 in that one before halftime, demonstrating the talent gap and the cultural gap that existed between the two programs then. I blacked it all out.

Remember, though: the 2023 Michigan Football team was not like those that had come before it. They’d proven as much against Penn State and Ohio State. McCarthy and company reminded me of this fact on their next drive, which saw them respond like a true heavyweight fighter. JJ handed off to Corum on the first two plays of the drive, allowing Corum to settle the game down. He ran for 6 yards on 1st and 10, then broke loose for 21 on 2nd down, pushing the ball across midfield and into Bama territory. Then McCarthy got involved, completing his first pass of the game to Colston Loveland for 2 yards and scrambling for 7 on 3rd and 8. Sherrone Moore called for another Corum touch on the ensuing 4th and 1. The gamble paid off; Blake ran for 4 yards, setting up a 1st and 10 from the 34. McCarthy then completed a 19-yard pass to Kalel Mullings before connecting with Corum for an 8-yard touchdown pass – a rarity, this represented Corum’s first reception touchdown of the season – to cap the drive. James Turner added the extra point to tie it at 7. What a counterpunch.

Michigan got the next score, too, but not until late in the half. Five punts – three by Bama, two by Michigan – followed Corum’s tying score, settling the game down into a sort of groove. The fifth of those punts pinned Michigan at their own 17. Corum ran three straight times before McCarthy started showing off his throwing arm. He found Loveland for a gain of 11, then Wilson for 20, and finally Tyler Morris for a 38-yard touchdown. His first receiving touchdown of the season, Morris showed off his speed in reaching the end zone, giving Michigan their first lead of the game. I pumped my first, my first outward display of emotion all day. A missed extra point tempered my rekindled enthusiasm, but not by much. Michigan led 13-7.

In the final two minutes of the first half, Bama marched right downfield in an attempt to double-dip, as they got the ball to start the second half. They’d moved as far as the Michigan 25-yard line when Derrick Moore sacked Milroe for a loss of seven on 3rd and 3. Michigan’s third sack of the half-forced Alabama to attempt a field goal, which the ever-reliable Will Reichard nailed from 50 yards. That made it 13-10 at halftime.

The halftime special: I walked around the block in my Uptown neighborhood, smoking a bowl, first, then a cigarette. With a little bit of snow on the ground, I wore my Bean Boots. It was cold, mid-twenties, and the sky was ashen and gray. The bowl rendered me numb for the beginning of the third quarter – perhaps even most of it. 

Two bad snaps dogged Milroe and Alabama in the third quarter; it was an issue that had plagued the Tide earlier in the season and would factor into the end of the game. On their third possession of the half, though, a bad punt set them up with good field position and Milroe made some big plays. He ran it four times for 37 yards and threw once for 9, practically willing the Tide into scoring position. The drive culminated in a 3-yard touchdown scamper by running back Jase McClellan, his second of the game. That put the Crimson Tide back ahead 17-13 with the fourth quarter just underway. 

Sundown over the San Gabriel Mountains, rendering the sky purple and pink. A quick three and out for Michigan gave Bama the ball back and made things feel dire. I paced throughout, picking at my fingernails. Then Jalen Milroe fumbled the ball at midfield and. Josh Wallace recovered for the Wolverines. You could hear the momentum changing in Chris Fowler’s voice. But Michigan failed to capitalize. In what felt like his first missed field goal of the season, James Turner hooked a 49-yard attempt left. Jesus, when’s the last time we missed a field goal, I wondered. “We’re going to lose,” I texted Kara. 

Then Michigan got another sack from Braiden McGregor, his second of the game and the team’s first of the second half. It came at a critical juncture, as it forced the Tide to settle for a field goal try. Will Reichard nailed it, giving Forrest Gump’s alma mater a 7-point lead with just under five minutes left in the game. 

On the ensuing kickoff, the sky in Pasadena looked periwinkle, mauve, and creamsicle sherbet. “With 4:44 left,” Fowler declared, his tone somber, “Michigan can’t be sure they’ll see the football again.” Sudden death. The season in the balance. Are we going to lose to Bama like always? Or is this the team to rewrite history, to finally top ‘97?

4th and 2 on our own 33. “Harbaugh pushes all the chips into the middle of the table.” The eternally-money McCarthy found an open Corum for a big gain. The season, the dream remains alive for the moment. Corum crosses mid-field, but a block in the back penalty brings it back to the 50. On the next play, JJ scampers 14 yards for another first time. We’re moving, but the clock is down to 2:20, now. JJ takes the snap and throws high to Roman Wilson. Too high, but Roman Wilson leaps to make a sensational catch, then turns and runs with it inside the 10-yard line. Wasting no time, the team hurries to line up. JJ takes another snap and finds Wilson again. Wilson skips into the endzone and does a childlike jump in celebration – TIE GAME!

Arguably as good as Woodson’s 1997 unit, the defense held, but a muffed punt – yes, another – nearly gift-wrapped the game for Nick Saban. Fortunately, forward progress negated a safety; we got the ball at our own 1-yard line with 44 ticks of the clock left. Just get us to overtime, boys. A Blake Corum burst gave us breathing room, then JJ kneeled twice to run out the clock. We were damn lucky to escape to overtime. Then again, luck often favors championship teams. 

Flashback to the 2000 Orange Bowl, watching with my dad on the plaid couches in our living room in Millwood – Tom Brady’s best game in a Michigan uniform. It ended in overtime when Alabama’s placekicker shanked an extra point attempt that would have sent the game to double overtime. Dad and I jumped up and down in celebration. I was 12. Now that the Rose Bowl was headed to overtime, I wondered if it too would become one of those magical memories. 

Somehow, the trauma of the late-Carr/Rich Rod/Hoke/early-Harbaugh eras rendered me hopeless going into OT, though. Always expecting the worst and prepared to suffer it. I mean, Michigan more or less validated such notions on multiple occasions during the game: first on JJ’s overturned interception, first play of the game, then on both fumbled punts, the second of which delivered a near-fatal blow to my general welfare. Brian Cook of Mgoblog wrote aptly of this phenomenon. He called it a healing process. Only beating Bama in the Rose Bowl could heal the wounds of TCU and Georgia from the previous two years, the wounds of the 2007 Rose Bowl, when USC dominated us 32-18 my freshman year, the wounds of the 2005 Rose Bowl loss to Vince Young’s Texas Longhorns. 

Two fitting captains, symbols of the team, even, Sainristil and Corum walk out to midfield to attend the coin toss. Bama wins it; Michigan goes on offense first. I assumed the fetal position, terrified, then paced. JJ handed the ball to Corum. On first, Corum took it for 8 yards. Then on 2nd and 2 from the 17, he breaks free for a beautiful dash to the corner of the endzone. Improbably, this very touchdown made him Michigan’s all-time leader in touchdowns scored, truly a legend. A run a lot like the touchdown run immediately after the Zak Zinter injury against Ohio State – a legacy run. Turner banged through the extra point, putting Michigan ahead 27-20. That put the onus on Bama to match or die. 

The Tide looked sharp to start their possession. On 2nd and 10 Milroe made a great run that looked like it might go for six, but Rod Moore brought him down at the 8. First and goal for Alabama. The defense battened down the hatches. “Nothing there,” Fowler said of first down. Then on 2nd, Mason Graham, the California kid, broke through the line and brought McClellan down for a loss of six yards. “Two plays to get 14 yards,” Fowler noted. On 3rd down, Milroe connected with Jermaine Burton, who caught the ball around the 3-yard line. Rod Moore and Josh Wallace made sure Burton didn’t get any farther. 

Two godforsaken timeouts ensued – time enough for a heart attack. What crossed my mind during this ungodly purgatory was what Rod Moore said about his game-ending interception of Kyle McCord: “someone’s gotta call game. I called game.” A flicker of confidence in my soul, perhaps? Finally, the snap. Another low one. Milroe rushes forward over the left guard and left tackle. He’s stuffed!

Michigan players rush the field. The maize and blue confetti flew. Bring out the freshly cut roses. I texted multiple parties, “I’m coming home for the natty!” Jubilation within my studio apartment. The MVP award went to JJ McCarthy, who held a rose between his teeth. One more to go, baby. 

Kara came over for a bit after the game as we hadn’t seen each other in over a week. “I’ve never seen you this happy,” she commented. Big smiles, indeed. “The best part,” I told her, “is we get to watch the Rose Bowl highlights during halftime of the Sugar Bowl.” And the announcers would mention it throughout, of course. We weren’t exactly paying close attention to the Sugar Bowl, but Penix and his corp of NFL-caliber receivers looked sharp, as efficient as any college offense I’d watched this season. In fact, I was in the camp that thought Penix deserved the Heisman. 

UW got 3 passing touchdowns in the first half alone. Each one gave them a lead but Quinn Ewers and Texas answered each time. At halftime the score was 21 all. Then UW dominated the third quarter; the Huskies took a 31-21 lead into the fourth. The Longhorns had their chances and they were able to move the ball – even a couple shots at the endzone in the final thirty seconds – but in the end they fell short. I fell asleep as it was ending – I had to work at eight in the morning.

In the morning, headlines on my phone confirmed: Michigan versus Washington for the National Championship.