Jesse Minter says Alabama will be best offense Michigan has faced – ‘matchup issues all over the field’

LOS ANGELES — Alabama has had its ups and downs this year offensively, but the Crimson Tide have played great complementary football to get to 12-1 and earn the SEC title. As a result, they sneaked into the playoff and will face No. 1 Michigan behind an athletic team with a high ceiling. 

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They haven’t always reached it, a work in progress much of the year. They barely got by Texas A&M, for example, and needed a miracle to beat Auburn. When it came time to beat the best of the best, though, they rose to the occasion and topped Georgia behind an opportunistic offense and a fast-to-the-ball defense.

Much has been made of the SEC speed, and while some like Michigan junior safety Rod Moore have downplayed it — “Any team has speed. I don’t think it’s just the SEC,” he said Thursday — defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said the Alabama athleticism was evident on film. He said he thought Alabama would be the best offense U-M faced this year.

“Yeah, I do,” Minter said. “When you combine their offensive line, their quarterback’s ability to make plays, the speed they have at receiver, their ability to run the ball, the extra time to prepare … when you take in all that, they’re in the final four for a reason. They’re in the top 4. It’s a great challenge, one that we really respect how they play and how they operate, and one that we really look forward to the challenge. 

“You look at their whole offense, and it’s a really explosive offense. But they’ve also been really balanced, which I think has made them play winning football this year. They play very complementary football, similar to our own team. They’ve got a really, really big, powerful offensive line that they can lean on. They’ve got three different backs that all do different things, three different tight ends that all do different things. They’ve got a track team at wide receiver. Lots of speed. So, they really have talent all over the field — they have match-up issues all over the field. But — I feel really good about our guys and look forward to the challenge of all those players.”

One — receiver Isaiah Bond — has come on recently. He’s caught 10 passes for 154 yards in the last two games and has the ability to get behind defenses. 

“His speed … they run routes with him that allow him to hit top end speed, take the top off at times, get him the ball in space at times,” Minter continued. “I think just his speed and the ability to make plays after the catch … he’s really good with the ball in his hands There are not a lot of guys out there that run the track times he’s run. 

“His speed is legit; the playmaking ability has been real. He’s developed really strong chemistry with [Alabama quarterback Jalen] Milroe. He’s playing really well. He’s going to be a tough challenge for us.”

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is on the rise

But stopping the Alabama offense starts with slowing Milroe, who finished in the top 10 of the Heisman voting. Michigan used Alex Orji to simulate in him practice, and Minter acknowledged that what he used to do with the Baltimore Ravens to slow a guy like Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson a few years back could be helpful.

“There are similarities there,” Minter said. “Their ability to make the play after the play. The second play in football is what really makes the elite quarterbacks really good. Even the guys that aren’t perceived as great athletes over they years — Aaron Rodgers was always elite in the play after the play, Lamar, even Tom Brady back in the day. The ability to stay alive and then still throw the ball downfield that these guys do now … the difference is the ability to stay alive, throw the ball downfiled, and take off and run — be a running back with the ball in their hands, or be a receiver with their speed.

“There are certainly things we always tried in practice or maybe watched other teams try to defend Lamar, so we’re experienced in that with studying film, talking to different people. But he’s his own player. He’s played at a really high level.”

Milroe a different type of runner, too, Minter added of the Alabama signal caller.

“He runs with power, as well. He really runs like a 225-pound tailback when he’s in the open field,” Minter continued. “The key is that’s how you have to try to tackle him. You can’t leave your feet; can’t try to push him out of bounds. You have to tackle him like he’s Derrick Henry running the football. He’s an elite player, elite athlete capable of making those second plays, then they also design runs for him.”

And that’s something Michigan hasn’t seen much this year, Minter admitted. It’s one of the attributes that makes Alabama a unique challenge. 

“There are times where offensive football is really 10 on 11 when the quarterback  is under center and he hands the ball off,” he said. “He’s really not a factor. But they make you play 11 on 11 with how they use him. His ability to run the football, and then his ability to make huge plays in the passing game — his deep ball accuracy, his ability to throw the ball down the field, the plays that coach [Tommy] Rees and those guys have schemed up for him — really complement how he plays. So,  it’s a very well-constructed, well designed offense for his skill set. Certainly over the last 7, 8 games he’s played at a really, really high level.”

But he hasn’t faced many defenses like Michigan’s, either. As much as some pundits like to say U-M hasn’t seen many teams like Alabama, the same can be true the other way. How it plays out Monday at the Rose Bowl will be fascinating to watch, but the Wolverines seem confident and ready to finally play their best game in the postseason.