Auerbach: Michigan’s Rose Bowl win ‘just means more’ for Wolverines … and the entire Big Ten
PASADENA, Calif. – Kris Jenkins has heard all about the big, bad Southeastern Conference. Actually, he’s heard way too much about it.
“We’re not big enough,” the Michigan defensive lineman said, his voice rising as he spoke Monday night in a postgame locker room strewn with rose petals. “We are not strong enough. We’re not fast enough. We can’t keep up with the SEC.”
That story helped fuel him. It helped fuel Michigan’s entire roster, especially those who had been on the field or sidelines when the Wolverines lost to Georgia in the program’s first trip to the College Football Playoff two years ago.
“So, you know, guess,” Jenkins said. “We said, ‘We’re going to show you. We’re going to remind you what this Block M means. ”
Next stop: Houston
We’re going to the Natty!#Go blue pic.twitter.com/cHFX7EPFpO
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 2, 2024
And that’s exactly what Michigan did against Alabama on the hallowed grounds here in the Rose Bowl on Monday night. In their 27-20 victory, the Wolverines showed not only the Crimson Tide but the nation that they were not simply the product of a weak Big Ten conference with poor quarterback play. They were finally one of the best in the country. Because they could beat the program that has been the gold standard in the sport for more than a decade, coached by the greatest in the sport’s storied history.
Because they defeated Bama.
Michigan’s win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl wasn’t just about these two teams or just about this year. It was about their brothers and their shared history – years and years of rather skewed history. Since the 2000 season, the SEC had gone 8-2 against the Big Ten in games between two AP top-10 teams, and six of those wins were by at least 23 points. The only Big Ten wins during that span were by Ohio State, with the Buckeyes beating Arkansas in 2010 and Alabama in 2014, the very first year of the College Football Playoff.
Often, only the Buckeyes carried the flag for the conference in the sport’s highest-stakes games. Before Monday, they were the only Big Ten team to play in a national championship game since the start of the BCS era. (There wasn’t even a real national championship game the last time Michigan won the title — a shared championship with Nebraska in 1997.)
So yes. Michigan beating Alabama meant quite a bit, especially because of the way the Wolverines did it. They were physically at the point of attack. They dominated Alabama’s offensive line for much of the first half and then again at the very end when it mattered most, late in the fourth quarter and on that fateful fourth-and-3 with the game on the line in the extension. They also scored a season-high six sacks of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.
“We had to bully the bully,” Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant said. “Everyone is talking about how big and bad Alabama is, how different SEC ball is. What’s on paper and what they look like outside of it are two completely different things. We just had to come out and bully the bully.
The Wolverines were just as great, just as bad. They were just as fast and abandoned the concept of “SEC speed” when rarely used receiver Tyler Morris outpaced the entire Alabama defense in the second quarter to score Michigan’s second touchdown. Running back Blake Corum dazzled and seemed to get stronger as the game went on, more explosive than he had been all season — all against a Nick Saban defense. It was fitting, of course, that he scored the lone touchdown in overtime on a 17-yard run.
That’s not to say Michigan played a perfect game. On the contrary, with miscue after miscue on special teams nearly costing the Wolverines the game. Alabama also played sloppily, with many botched shots and broken coverage. No one would mistake Monday night’s game for a masterpiece, but that didn’t matter. All that did was keep the Big Ten champion from holding back the SEC’s best from a chance to play for a national championship.
“In the SEC they say it just means more,” edge defenseman Braiden McGregor said. “That should be ours now.”
(Photo: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)