Alabama captains recall watching last Pasadena trip, look ahead to Michigan

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Malachi Moore remembers watching Mark Ingram cross the goal line and bring his hands together to show the pair of Alabama As on his gloves after he scored his first of two touchdowns in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif.

“I went to practice the next day and every time I scored, I would do the same thing every single time I scored,” Moore said. “I definitely remember that, and it’s going to be fun playing there.” 

Now a senior for the Crimson Tide, Moore is hoping this Alabama team has similar success.

The fourth-ranked Crimson Tide (12-1, 8-0 SEC) will face No. 1 Michigan (13-0, 9-0 Big Ten) in the same venue, Rose Bowl Stadium, on Jan. 1. The winner of the College Football Playoff semifinal will advance to play either No. 2 Washington or No. 3 Texas for the national title.

The upcoming matchup will be Alabama’s eighth game played in Pasadena, and the last time the Tide made the trip out west was that 2009 season. One of the team’s members, defensive lineman Josh Chapman, is on staff at UA and reminds the players of the win over Texas.

“He talks about that game all the time,” said quarterback Jalen Milroe of Chapman. “I’m familiar with the game. I’m familiar with how our Alabama team finished the game with four quarters. That’s something that stood out about that game. I am familiar with that game and how hard it was to take Texas down.”

This version of Alabama faces a similar challenge in its game against the Wolverines. Michigan earned the No. 1 seed after completing a perfect regular season and beating Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Wolverines’ balanced offensive approach (161.8 rushing ypg, 218.8 passing ypg) has stood out to the Crimson Tide’s defensive players.

“Watching them, they’re like a real balanced team,” Moore said. “JJ (McCarthy) does a good job of managing their offense and setting up the offense, changing the look if you give away a blitz or something like that, checking the calls and putting his team in the best situation to win.” 

Linebacker Dallas Turner added, “We’ve just got to bring our hard hats whenever we play them, and we’ve just got to be the more physical team. We’ve got to practice like that throughout the week, pick up on every single tendency that they do as an offense.”

McCarthy has thrown for 2,630 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions on 213-287 (74.2 percent) passing. He also has rushed for 146 yards and three scores on 57 attempts.

“He stands out in the way that he runs that offense,” Turner said of McCarthy. “He’s kind of like the general on that offense. He makes sure that those guys know what they’re doing. He’s just a good quarterback and a good leader, is what I’m seeing.”

While Michigan’s offense doesn’t jump off the page statistically, the Wolverines have produced impressive defensive numbers, albeit against the nation’s 35th-best strength of schedule. UM is No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense (9.5 ppg), ranks second in both passing defense (152.6 ypg) and total defense (239.2 ypg) and is among the top 10 in rushing defense (86.62 ypg, 6th) and opponent red zone touchdown conversions (42.86%, 7th).

“The first thing that pops up is how tough they play,” said Milroe of the UM defense. “There’s a reason they’re undefeated, because of how well that defense plays together. They force turnovers. All elements of their defense plays hard together, and you can see that. It jumps off on tape. We have a hard task in front of us. We have to prepare the right way to be ready to play Michigan.”

Milroe, Moore and Turner are Alabama’s three permanent captains, which are voted on by their peers, and they are focused on preparing for the playoff the same as the last 13 games.

“Our goal each and every week is to go out there and play our best game for 60 minutes,” Moore said. “It’s going to take great preparation to do that, and that’s something we’ve been harping on all year. So it shouldn’t be much of a change. Maybe a little bit more attention to detail, a little bit more urgency in practice.

“But yeah, just making sure we go out there and do the right thing and execute the call the coaches give us.”

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