Blake Corum describes Michigan huddle before critical play by Roman Wilson
Blake Corum knew Roman Wilson was going to make a difference at the end of the game. The Michigan running back had faith in his teammate to come up big.
That he did. During the game-tying drive, Wilson reeled in a 29-yard pass from JJ McCarthy to set up the Wolverines with first-and-goal at the five.
He’d score a couple of plays later to tie the game and the rest was history.
“Roman previously had a mistake, and he said, I promise, I’m going to make a play,” Corum said. “That’s what Roman did. We all had faith in him. We all believed in him. He was just playing hard, and things happen.
“I love my guys. I love my guys. I don’t really know what to say right now. I’m just blessed. I want to thank God for just allowing me to be here. This time last year I wasn’t here, so I just want to thank God, full circle, full 365, and I’m blessed.”
Roman Wilson makes it happen for Michigan
Wilson finished with four catches for 73 yards and a touchdown (the tying one at that). Corum finished it off in overtime with two runs to the end zone to give Michigan the Rose Bowl victory.
“It was a team effort, team effort,” Corum said. “We’re going to deal with adversity here. We had some adversity today, a little sloppy, but we came together as one. I’m my brothers’ keeper, and I know my brothers had my back, and I told them, if we score this thing and go to overtime, we’re going to win, and we came out on top, and I’ll see you in Houston.”
Alabama took a 20-13 lead in the fourth quarter, but that’s where Corum and Wilson had their moments.
On 4th and 2 on the ensuing drive, Michigan took a gamble. McCarthy found Corum wide open in the flat and he made it to the Alabama 32. However, a block in the back penalty moved it back to midfield.
McCarthy followed it up with a run of 16 yards back into Crimson Tide territory. Then, he found Wilson for a huge gain, getting down to the five-yard line.
Alabama called a timeout with 1:44 remaining following Wilson’s catch. It became gamesmanship after a Corum one yard run as the Crimson Tide spent their second timeout with 1:38 left.
On the very next play, McCarthy found Wilson for a four-yard touchdown and Michigan tied things up 20-20 with 1:34 left.
You know the rest. Michigan will play Washington for the College Football Playoff National Championship next Monday.