5 Takeaways from Michigan’s 35-16 loss against Alabama

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The matchup people have wanted to see for years finally happened. Jim Harbaugh vs. Nick Saban. Michigan took on Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl and while a lot of people were expecting a blowout, the game was closer in the end, and Michigan was on the losing end of the game, losing 35-16.

The high power offense of Alabama was somewhat contained, but their defense stepped up big in stopping the Wolverines offense. Michigan’s offense had some moments of big plays, while their defense did the best they can to slow down the Crimson Tide passing game.

Check out my five takeaways from the 35-16 loss against Alabama

1. Michigan’s Secondary did the best it could against Alabama’s wide receivers

Coming into this game, the biggest talking point between Michigan and Alabama was the battle between the Alabama wide receivers and the Michigan defensive backs. Alabama’s top three wide receivers put up 2,878 yards and 29 catches for 174 catches this season. Michigan had to somehow slow that down and while it wasn’t pretty, they did the best they could.

The top wide receiver on the team, DeVonta Smith had three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. The projected first wide receiver to get drafted in the 2020 NFL draft Jerry Jeudy had a great game, getting six catches for 204 yards and a touchdown. The third best receiver on the team, Henry Ruggs III had only two catches for 27 yards and left the game early with an injury.

Overall Michigan held those three to 287 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches. That isn’t great by any means, but those numbers are as good as you can do against that trio from the Crimson Tide. They had a lot to overcome, but it was just too much for them in the end.

2. Zach Charbonnet leading the charge into Sophomore season

Michigan freshman running back Zach Charbonnet had an impressive freshman year, rushing for 726 yards and 11 touchdowns. He finished the season with 84 yards on 13 carries against Alabama today. Next season, Chris Evans will return after being suspended for the 2019 season and he will be the main receiving back for the Wolverines.

Hassan Haskins will be back, along with Christian Turner and you can’t forget about incoming freshman Blake Corum. The running back room that was questionable heading into the season will now be vastly improved and Charbonnet has to be the leading back when the season begins.

He’s not going to be an every-down back, even though he could be. While he won’t, he deserves to be the starter next season. He has been the best running back Michigan has had since Mike Hart and needs to be a focal point for the group next season.

3. Michigan’s offensive line was the biggest difference for the offense

Michigan’s offensive line was the difference-maker when they were on the field today. The running game was able to get some good gashes on the Alabama defense and open up the passing game. The passing game needed some time to develop, which it was able to with the help of the offensive line.

Patterson did get sacked three times, and while that isn’t good, that’s the best they were able to do with the time they were giving Patterson. Patterson didn’t have his best day, finishing the game going 17/37 for 233 yards with a touchdown, and two interceptions, but it could’ve been worse if the offensive didn’t play as hard as they did.

The offensive line deserves to be the MVP for the offense in this game as, without them, Michigan wouldn’t have been able to move the ball on the ground or give Patterson time to help the passing game. The receivers needed time to get open and the offensive line did that for them.

4. Donovan Peoples-jones didn’t show much to scouts in today’s game

Michigan wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones is a junior and is able to declare for the NFL draft this season. He has been projected as a second-third round wide receiver in multiple mock drafts and hasn’t announced what his decision is going to be just yet.

College football players have until January 20 to decide whether they are going back to school or entering the NFL, so Peoples-Jones still has 19 days to make up his mind, and after today’s performance, he probably didn’t impress many scouts.

Peoples-Jones finished the game with only one catch for 34 yards. His career at Michigan so far has been 102 catches for 1,293 yards and 14 touchdowns, along with 88 punt returns for 745 yards and two touchdowns. Peoples-Jones has time to make his mind up, but this game didn’t seem to help his draft stock much and might have hurt it.

5. The defense rebounded better in 2019 than 2018

After getting embarrassed by Ohio State last season 62-39, Michigan rebounded with another embarrassing loss in their bowl game to Florida, losing 41-15. This year, Michigan lost to Ohio State 56-27 and didn’t get beat down as bad as it was projected.

The defense did allow 480 yards and 35 points. Last year when playing Florida they allowed 427 yards and 41 points. While it wasn’t that big of an overall difference, this offense by Alabama is better than what Florida’s offense had last year and holding them to fewer points on more yards is

Michigan’s defense did the best that they could against this high-power Alabama offense. They weren’t going to shut them out or force them to change up their style of offense. They had to just hope they could go pound-for-pound with the Crimson Tide and in the end, it just wasn’t enough.