Defense / ST notes: Michigan turned New Year's Eve win over Alabama into a 'party' with early forced turnovers

TAMPA, Fla. — Michigan Wolverines football started the game with a flurry of big-time defensive plays, capitalizing off of Alabama mistakes. The Maize and Blue built a big 16-0 lead in the first quarter and held on in the 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl win.

Here were the results of Alabama’s first four drives:
• Turnover on downs
• Lost fumble
• Interception
• Lost fumble

Alabama turned the ball over on three of four plays during that stretch, and while the Michigan offense only scored one touchdown out of it, the Wolverines were able to get up by two scores. That was enough for the defense to hang on, giving up only 13 points all game, including 3 just before half.

The Wolverines had Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe rattled early on, with the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder losing both fumbles and throwing the interception to graduate safety Wesley Walker, the second of his long college career that began at Georgia Tech in 2019. Junior EDGE Derrick Moore picked up a Milroe dropped snap, and graduate cornerback Aamir Hall forced a fumble on a blitz (recovered by sophomore EDGE Cameron Brandt).

All the action at that point had occurred on the north side of the stadium, and much to the Wolverines’ delight. Michigan started its first four drives inside Alabama territory, including beginning in the red zone three times.

“It was crazy,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said of the first several minutes of the game. “We had a lot of presentations. Our staff did an excellent job throughout bowl camp, and we talked about plus-two [in the turnover margin]. In that time, we were plus-three. They’re going, ‘We’re plus-three right now, we’ve got a chance to win this game. We’re going to win this game now.'”

Michigan started to pour it on just as the rain fell at Raymond James Stadium, with the wet conditions potentially contributing to the Crimson Tide’s lack of ball security.

“The coolest part of that was it started to rain, and the boys went crazy,” Moore said. “It was like a party. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ They love stuff like that. They love adverse environments that people don’t expect, but we enjoy that.”

Shorthanded Michigan defensive line steps up

Michigan sacked Milroe 5 times, and held him to 6 yards per pass attempt (16-of-32 for 192 yards and a touchdown). The defensive line was down three starters in junior defensive tackles Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham and senior EDGE Josaiah Stewart, but still applied ample pressure.

“It was outstanding,” Moore said of his defensive line. “You talk about one of the most explosive people in college football with Jalen Milroe. He can hurt you with his legs, he can hurt you with his arm, and I thought they did a really good job of funneling him in the pocket and making it uncomfortable for him, hitting him.”

“I think they wanted to throw the ball on us,” Derrick Moore said. “They have great receivers. They have a great quarterback, got a great O-line. I think they wanted to figure out … get the deep ball on our secondary. But our secondary, they’re too good. They found a way to strap it up and get out after them.”

Michigan’s defensive line rose to the occasion, even with the depth stressed due to the lack of experienced players.

“I thought our D-line just did an outstanding job,” Sherrone Moore added. “All those guys that work with the D-line, it was unbelievable to watch.

“Credit to the players. You don’t have Mason Graham, you don’t have Kenneth Grant, so people think there’s this big falloff. Those are two incredible players, but our guys really take a lot of pride in being physical, and we wanted to do that all this bowl game. And we really did, tried to turn up the physicality to make sure we’re fundamentally sound, and I thought those guys did a great job.”

“No matter who we got or who we don’t have, we’re always going to have dawgs on this D-line, really on this team, and we’re going to always continue to be hungry and just show the world we want to work no matter who we go against,” Derrick Moore noted.

Even after the fast start, Michigan’s defense kept the foot on the pedal. Alabama’s lone touchdown came on a four-play, 71-yard drive, but that was just one of two Crimson Tide possessions that covered more than 42 yards.

This one ended with another fourth-down stop, just like last season’s Rose Bowl against Alabama. Tuesday in Tampa, Milroe fired an incompletion that sealed the Wolverine win, sparking a celebration ahead of New Year’s Day.

Miscellaneous Michigan football defense / special teams notes

• Michigan junior kicker Dominic Zvada led the Wolverines in scoring with 13 points on 4 made field goals and an extra point. His field goals were from 45, 30, 21 and 37 yards out.

• Michigan junior punter Hudson Hollenbeck played for the first time this season, and set his career high with a 69-yard boot. He averaged 46.2 yards per punt on 6 attempts, and pinned Alabama inside its own 20-yard line twice.

• The 3 turnovers forced by the U-M defense set a season high and marked the most since the Wolverines turned Iowa over three times in the 2023 Big Ten Championship Game (Dec. 2, 2023).

• Alabama’s 260 total yards marked the second-fewest it totaled in a game this season, behind the 234 it posted in a 24-3 loss to Oklahoma Nov. 23.

• Alabama’s 68 rushing yards were the fewest it recorded in a game since having 23 in a 26-20 win over Texas A&M Oct. 7, 2023.

• Alabama’s 192 passing yards tied for the third-least it had in a game this season.

• Alabama entered the game averaging 35.5 points per game. Michigan limited the Tide to 13 points — its second-lowest scoring output of the season. Bama fell 24-3 at Oklahoma on Nov. 23.

• Walker’s only other career interception came when he played for Tennessee, versus Clemson in the Dec. 30, 2022, Orange Bowl.

• Brandt recovered a fumble on Alabama’s fourth possession. It was his first career fumble recovery. Brandt later added a sack, his third of the year.

• Derrick Moore generated a sack on Alabama’s first possession and recovered a fumble on the next possession. The sack was Moore’s third this season and first since Michigan State (Oct. 26). It was the second time Moore recovered a fumble in his career, and his first recovery this season. When Moore registered another sack midway through the second quarter, it gave him his first multi-sack game, and 4 total this season.

• Eleven different Michigan players recorded a fumble recovery or interception for U-M this season (5 fumble recoveries, 12 interceptions).