‘Physical’ Michigan defense stifles Jalen Milroe and Kalen DeBoer again – ‘that’s what they thrive on’

Some expected Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe to get his revenge on Michigan Tuesday, his Crimson Tide team a heavy favorite in the ReliaQuest Bowl. U-M’s defense hounded him relentlessly in last year’s Rose Bowl win, never letting him get comfortable by bringing consistent pressure. Likewise, Kalen DeBoer got his shot to beat the Wolverines after Michigan handled his Washington team in last year’s national title game. 

RELATED: Michigan 19, Alabama 13: Notes, quotes, and observations — it sure felt like it mattered

But it was more of the same for both in a 19-13 loss in which the Michigan defense sacked Milroe five times and pressured him several more. The Crimson Tide quarterback might have been seeing ghosts, it was so similar to last year’s beating, and DeBoer praised the physical U-M defense for making the difference.

Alabama’s game plan seemed to be to throw early, but the pass rush and a stifling secondary, even with several opt outs, made the difference. 

“I think they’re one of the top five rushing defenses [in the country], and I know that there’s personnel on both sides … both teams that were different maybe from what you would see in the regular season, both us and them,” DeBoer said. “But I think there was certainly part of our game plan to where we felt we needed to spit the ball out and get the ball in the right guys’ hands and try to do that. Whether it was slipping or incomplete passes, some of those plays didn’t get executed the way that you practice them for the last two, three weeks.

“But there were some runs that I think Jam [Miller] had at the end of the game and poured up in there at the end of the first half. I really thought he did a nice job getting us out from behind our own end zone there. He ran hard, and I think just having a little bit of a balance was important for us in this game because of who they were and a little bit of what we felt we could do to attack them.”

DeBoer mentioned the elements — driving rain in the first quarter, especially when Alabama had the ball, made it tough to do much — but more than anything, the Michigan defense was just better. Two of the three turnovers were forced, including a strip from corner Aamir Hall on the blitz and an impressive pick from Wesley Walker on which he tipped the ball to himself with one hand. 

That one, a first quarter turnover, set up the Wolverines’ only touchdown of the game, one that made it 13-0. 

“That’s a really nice play,” DeBoer said. “You throw it maybe two inches out further and it’s a catch for us, and I’m not sure if we’d run out of bounds or what there. But they made a nice play.

“You guys were there, and you saw the elements on the snap. They’ve got a guy field it … but you can’t turn it over. They struggled, I think, and unfortunately, they had the field position — fortunately for them, they had the field position where they didn’t really have to press until the rain kind of moved through. But that certainly didn’t help us, and we kind of dug ourselves a rut, had to play a little different style again.”

But it wasn’t just the weather that slowed the Alabama offense. It was mostly a Michigan defense that fielded several new starters replacing All-Americans, but they didn’t miss a beat. There were several sacks and tackles for loss in the first 15 minutes that set the tone for the game, and while the U-M offense struggled (as expected) an Alabama’s got going a bit, the U-M defense and special teams won the game, the fast start a huge reason.

“The [tackles for] losses were the ones that hurt us,” DeBoer said. “A sack … being behind the chains. That’s what they thrive on. Their defense does a good job of thriving on being physical, forcing you into down and distances where you’re behind the chains. And then what happened — it’s tough to overcome against a team that understands their identity, plays team football. 

“We knew the game would get shrunk down when you kind of knock out the first quarter, which you can’t do because that’s part of the game. All of a sudden it takes on a different game of its own because you’re down 16-0. You’re just fighting, scrapping and trying to give yourself a chance like we did at the very end.”

In short, it was very much like the Ohio State game — play to your strengths, force some mistakes, shorten the game, and get just enough offense. Head coach Sherrone Moore admitted the offense will need to be much better next year if U-M is to reach its goals, but in wins over OSU and Alabama, this formula worked for a two-game sweep for a second consecutive year.

Given the number of players returning on defense next season, we’re looking forward to more of the same.