But Harbaugh has been saying all season that Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy has become the standard bearer at that position, surpassing even his head coach. Harbaugh backed up that belief by putting the ball in McCarthy’s hands with the season on the line.
McCarthy converted a nifty pass to running back Blake Corum, who slipped out of the backfield, for 27 yards. The next play, McCarthy kept the ball for 16 yards. Then, McCarthy found receiver Roman Wilson for a 29-yard gain. Two plays later, McCarthy hit Wilson again for a four-yard touchdown, tying the score in what will go down as one of the all-time classic Rose Bowl Games.
Could Michigan finish off its comeback in overtime, overcoming a litany of unspeakable special teams errors that gave life to the Crimson Tide over and over again?
It took two dazzling Corum runs to put the Wolverines up 27-20. And, minutes later, there was McCarthy, pumping up the insatiable Michigan crowd as the Crimson Tide faced their own fourth-down-and-season from the three-yard line. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe ran into a blue wall of Michigan defenders for no gain, and Southern California experienced its second earthquake of the new year, the Wolverine faithful shaking the old bowl with a revelry their program hasn’t experienced since living it right here in 1997.
No. 1 Michigan, 14-0, will play in a true national championship game for the first time in program history on Jan. 8 in Houston (when it shared that ’97 title, it beat Washington State, the year before the start of the Bowl Championship Series).
Monday night’s thriller under the San Gabriels squashed all of the narratives surrounding the Michigan program. The Wolverines can’t win the big game, and when they started doing it of late against rival Ohio State, it was suddenly due to an elaborate sign-stealing scheme, in the eyes of many.
But Michigan’s analyst in charge of scouting the other team’s signs, Connor Stalions, resigned in early November. And the Wolverines won at Penn State and against Ohio State without him — and Harbaugh served a three-game suspension levied by the Big Ten.
None of it mattered. And not even Alabama, which was going for its seventh national championship under the legendary Nick Saban, could stop these Wolverines.
Michigan fans, which appeared to make up about 65 percent of the Rose Bowl crowd, had been waiting not so patiently for 17 years to make their return to Pasadena. McCarthy was named Rose Bowl offensive MVP and Wolverines defensive tackle Mason Graham was the Rose Bowl defensive MVP.
The Wolverines began looking overwhelmed by either the grandness of the stage, the stakes or both. On the first play, McCarthy failed to throw the ball away and was nearly picked off by Alabama’s Caleb Downs, before a replay review determined Downs was out of bounds. Michigan’s defense forced a three-and-out on its first series, but freshman punt returner Semaj Morgan mishandled the punt, giving Alabama the ball at the Michigan 44.
Four plays later, Alabama running back Jalen McClellan hit a wide-open hole and juked Michigan’s Mike Sainristil for a 34-yard touchdown run to put the Crimson Tide up 7-0.
But Michigan’s immediate response was encouraging. The Wolverines executed a 75-yard touchdown drive on Alabama’s stalwart defense, establishing Corum on the ground before McCarthy found him for an eight-yard touchdown pass.
Throughout the first half, Michigan’s defensive front made Alabama’s offensive line look more like Indiana’s. The Wolverines got to Milroe whether they brought four or blitzed extra defenders, sacking Milroe five times. Each sack seemed to build more confidence that Michigan hadn’t come all this way just to be issued a typical SEC beating with the whole country tuning in.
Harbaugh, sensing urgency to make the scoreboard reflect the flow of the game, went into his well of tricks. McCarthy threw a lateral pass to running back Donovan Edwards, who quickly tossed it back laterally to McCarthy. The quarterback made an acrobatic one-handed catch, then turned and heaved the ball down the field before getting hit hard by Alabama’s Dallas Turner. Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson was streaking open and caught the ball for a 20-yard gain to remember.
Michigan struck again on a third-and-8, finding Tyler Morris on a crossing route for a 38-yard touchdown. But once again, Michigan suffered a self-inflicted wound with a bad snap on the extra point.
The Wolverines led the yardage battle 199-39, but led just 13-7 on the scoreboard with 3:49 left in the half.