Alabama’s rollercoaster season in college football came to a dramatic end in the Rose Bowl semifinal against Michigan. A miraculous fourth-down conversion against Auburn had kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive, but a failed fourth-down play in overtime against the Wolverines sealed their fate.
The crucial play involved quarterback Jalen Milroe attempting a designed run up the middle, only to be stopped short of the goal line by Michigan’s Derrick Moore. This decision sparked debate about the play’s quality, but according to Alabama head coach Nick Saban, it was the execution, not the call itself, that fell short.
Saban explained, “[Offensive coordinator] Tommy [Rees] just felt like the best thing that we could do was have a quarterback run, which was kind of our 2-point play, one of our 2-point plays for this game. The ball was on the 3-yard line, which is just like a 2-point play, but we didn’t get it blocked so it didn’t work. We didn’t execute it very well and it didn’t work.”
According to that blocking by @AlabamaFTBL , Milroe was supposed to start middle and cut left. (Watch Guard pull and lead and not trap) They got what they wanted with the @UMichFootball DE as he ran up field and they didn’t have to block him. #CFBPlayoff #littlethings pic.twitter.com/tgaaWHcwg7
— Kevin Kelley (@coachkelley1) January 2, 2024
A recurring issue for Alabama throughout the season, including the Rose Bowl, was poor snaps, which may have contributed to Milroe’s hesitation during the critical play.
Milroe reflected on the moment, saying, “All it came down to was fall back to your level of training, and we just failed on that play. That’s all it was. At the end of the day I just trusted the guys up front for believing in me on the last play to have the ball, and unfortunately we just missed and we just didn’t get in the end zone.”
The loss not only extended Alabama’s national championship drought to three seasons, the longest under Saban, but also prevented them from beating two AP No. 1 teams in the same season for the first time ever. It was a bitter end to what had been a rollercoaster season for the Crimson Tide.