– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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TAMPA, FLORIDA — The year 2024 started in the best way possible for the Michigan Wolverines, who then saw most of the rest of the calendar year go far from how they would have wanted to go on the gridiron. However, the the end of the year coincidentally went the same way as the fantastic start of the year played out: feeling the euphoria after defeating Alabama.
Michigan’s defense recorded five sacks and forced three turnovers as the Wolverines also got just enough from their offense to defeat No. 11 Alabama 19-13 in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on New Years’ Eve Running back Jordan Marshall rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries, whole quarterback Davis Warren threw a first-quarter touchdown pass to Fredrick Moore as the Wolverines opened up a 16-0 lead at the end of the game’s first 15 minutes before holding on.
So much has changed in the past 365 days for Michigan, from Sherrone Moore taking over for Jim Harbaugh as head coach to the subsequent 8-5 season, one full of offensive inconsistencies, that followed a perfect 14-0 season and a national championship with an offense that pounded its way through the Big Ten and the College Football Playoff. But, at the very least, both regular seasons ended with wins against Ohio State, including last month’s victory in Columbus, and, just like the first day of this year, the Wolverines’ postseason includes a win against the Crimson Tide.
“We’ve got a great culture and great kids,” Moore said. “No one person wins a game … no two people. It’s always going to be a team sport.”
Alabama also completed its first season under a new coach, and more questions remain in the nascent regime of Kalen DeBoer, who last saw the Wolverines in last season’s national championship game while leading the Washington Huskies. The loss ended the Crimson Tide’s 16-year streak of winning at least 10 games in a season, as it was Nick Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa when Alabama did not reach that threshold back in 2007 (7-6).
“Every time you’re in the locker room and you have something like this, it’s disappointing. But I think there’s a lot of things that you take from it,” DeBoer said. “So to me, it’s a success if we move forward and we take advantage of the lessons, even though we don’t want to learn those lessons sometimes, because they’re hard,” DeBoer added. “We’re going to learn from those lessons, move forward and be better next year because of it.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 31 pictures in total.
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