Michigan Vs. Alabama: What They're Saying Less Than A Week Out From The Rose Bowl

By Anthony Broome

The Michigan Wolverines and Alabama Crimson Tide meet on Jan. 1 in Pasadena in the Rose Bowl with the winner set to play for a national title in Houston on Jan. 8. Less than a week out from the game, the analysis and predictions are starting to crank up.

Here’s a sampling of what some other outlets are projecting for the New Year’s Day clash of college football powers.

Bleacher Report – Joe Tansey

Rose Bowl 2024: Factors That Will Decide Alabama vs. Michigan Playoff

[J.J. McCarthy] rarely makes mistakes, and although he may not be asked to throw the ball a ton, he must come up with some big plays when asked.

McCarthy did that in both of Michigan’s Top 25 Big Ten wins over the Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions.

There is belief that he can once again support the dominant rushing attack, and in this instance, use his experience to his advantage against a tough Alabama defense.

Alabama has two NFL prospects at cornerback in Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold.

McCarthy needs to get the best of that matchup in order to advance Michigan to its first CFB Playoff final.

If the mistakes show up again, Alabama could produce points with a short field and control the contest in a similar fashion to the SEC Championship Game.

AL.com – Matt Stahl

3 key matchups for Alabama vs. Michigan in College Football Playoff

Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell have terrorized quarterbacks all season coming off the edge for Alabama. Turner earned the SEC’s defensive player of the year award, as voted on by the league’s coaches.

It would behoove the Tide to keep J.J. McCarthy under constant pressure, take a dimension away from the Michigan offense. However, the U-M offensive line isn’t going to make that easy.

The Wolverines will be without All-American Zak Zinter, who suffered a leg injury vs. Ohio State in the regular-season finale. However, the current group did just fine in his absence vs. Iowa in the Big Ten title game.

McCarthy is mobile and liable to take off, but Alabama has racked up 38 sacks this season. The ability of the Tide to affect the quarterback will be a major storyline in the Rose Bowl.

ESPN.com – Bill Connelly

Can Michigan counter an angry Alabama?

What’s the opposite of rat poison? Nick Saban always starts complaining when coverage is too positive and when people start expecting too much of his team. But now he’s been able to feed off a unique amount of negativity with the reaction by some (who will remain nameless) to Alabama’s playoff inclusion over an unbeaten Florida State. History suggests that means we’ll see a particularly strong and motivated version of Alabama in Pasadena. Combined with the fact that their last performance — an SEC championship win over Georgia — was their best of the season, that could be a pretty scary thing.

Michigan has been the most consistently dominant team of 2023, showing as much upside as required and grinding teams to dust with great line play and efficiency. But the Rose Bowl might be determined by just how much upside Michigan can deploy. Big plays haven’t been a major feature for the Wolverines’ offense; they might have to show up now.

How the Alabama Crimson Tide were built for 2023 College Football Playoff

It took Alabama a while to figure out its winning recipe for 2023, but it came together just in time. On offense, the Tide are built around avoiding negative plays. While this isn’t the best run game they’ve ever had, they are always moving forward (only 13.5 percent of rushes have been stopped at or behind the line, ranking 11th nationally), and they are virtually perfect in short-yardage situations. Meanwhile, though their season-long sack rate allowed is dismal, it’s improving rapidly: Bama QBs have gone down on 10.8% of dropbacks (128th in the country), but that rate was only 5.2% (55th) in five games after Nov. 1. They are finding themselves in fewer passing downs and protecting Jalen Milroe better when they have to.

Defensively, it’s the same story: It’s all about negative plays and passing yards. The run defense is merely solid by Bama standards, but once you’re behind schedule, you’re toast. Bama ranks 11th in sacks per dropback (8.3%), an average that rises to 13.3% in obvious passing downs (second-and-8 or more, third- or fourth-and-5 or more).

The Athletic – Bruce Feldman

Michigan vs. Alabama: Big Ten coaches predict tough battle for Wolverines in CFP semifinal

“I think it’s the same old thing with Michigan,” said a Big Ten secondary coach. “They’re extremely talented, but if someone can hold up up front with them, I think they’re just too one-dimensional. … They’ve got to get explosive plays on the perimeter somewhere, and those are gonna be hard to come by because Alabama can match up with them outside and still be stern enough against the run.

“Michigan is going to have to play such a clean game.”

One head coach said he wouldn’t be shocked if Michigan won — but he’s picking Alabama. “If Milroe plays like he has lately, I think that’ll be too much for Michigan. There’s nobody like him in the Big Ten. (Alabama) has figured out how to use him, and that’s scary.”

Another head coach did point out that Michigan has the “kind of stuff” that keeps the Wolverines winning — after all, Michigan is 13-0 despite its head coach being suspended for almost half of the season, including during its toughest stretch.

“They don’t have any superstars, but they’re strong and they’ve got a bunch of really good college players,” he said. “They have a really good culture. None of them gives a s— who gets the credit. These guys clearly love playing with each other. They have the chemistry to win a championship.”