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The Michigan Wolverines lost in each of their previous two College Football Playoff semifinals. This time, they got the job done. It wasn’t easy, but they rallied to force overtime and beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in an extended-length Rose Bowl to make their first College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Michigan 27, Alabama 20.
Wolverines Wire wrote:
“Michigan got home again and again. Michigan had five sacks in the first half and put on an artistic display of blitz execution. The Wolverines discipline in the backfield allowed them to corral Milroe for chunk losses and set Alabama behind the chains.
“Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter deserves some cake here. Michigan hasn’t produced an extreme amount of sacks this season, but he opened the playbook in the biggest game of the decade and made it count.”
The national title game is next Monday, January 8, in Houston.
Michigan’s win saved the Big Ten another embarrassment on the big stage. Ohio State scored just three points in a Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri. Penn State gave up 38 in a Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss. Iowa and Wisconsin lost bowl games on New Year’s Day. The teams which finished in the upper half of the Big Ten struggled in the bowls. Michigan became the one exception, putting the Big Ten back in the national championship game for the first time since Ohio State in the 2020 season versus Alabama.
USC joins Oregon, Washington, and UCLA in the Big Ten next season. Michigan might reasonably have reaffirmed itself as the team to beat, though Blake Corum and other stars are heading for the NFL after the national title game.
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Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-rescues-big-ten-bowl-111937302.html
Author : Trojans Wire
Publish date : 2024-01-02 11:19:37
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