Michigan football takes on Alabama in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. What has the Crimson Tide said about the Wolverines so far?
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In their first-ever matchup, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh takes on Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban. This is a matchup people have wanted to see for years and one that people thought would happen in a College Football Playoff game. While it isn’t on center stage, it’s still on New Year’s Day and in a solid bowl game.
Either way, Saban and his coaching staff and players got to prepare for what Harbaugh and his team will throw at them. Alabama is already out two starters as cornerback Trevon Diggs and linebacker Terrell Lewis have already declared for the NFL draft and will not be playing in the Citrus Bowl. Michigan won’t have any players sitting out to help their NFL draft stock, but some will miss the game due to injuries.
“This is an opportunity to enhance a player’s future by playing really well, and maybe improving their draft status,” Saban said. “That’s what we’ll emphasize to our older players on the team, and they’ll all have a choice to make. But when you have guys that don’t play in bowl games, and they do play in the playoffs, that in and of itself tells you the view of the players in terms of how they look at the bowl game.”
Another talking point about this game is Michigan offensive coordinator and former Alabama co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis. How will his knowledge of the Crimson Tide team help the Wolverines will be something to watch, and Saban had nothing but positives to say about his former colleague.
“I think Josh has done a really, really good job with their offensive team,” Saban said. “They present a lot of problems for you. They’ve got great balance. They can run the ball. They’ve got a good offensive line. They’ve got a good, young back. The quarterback has played well for them. He can make all the throws. They use the RPOs. But I think the balance that they have on offense, the formation variables that they use, the things that they make you adjust to are difficult things to prepare for, and it’s good that we have a little extra time. But I think their offense has been very effective for them this year.”
When looking at how this win can help Alabama, Saban noted what it means for his team and the program itself. Not many people see a point in a bowl game and some see it as a dangerous game for players that have a chance to get drafted in the NFL. Others see it as a learning experience for young players and more, despite it not being for the National Championship.
“I think playing well in the game helps the future of the program,” Saban said. “I think a lot of young guys are getting an opportunity to play in this game. I think we have like eight guys or something like that that started the season as starters that will not be playing in this game, for whatever reasons. Most of them because of injury. A couple guys chose not to play. So, for the guys that get experience, I think that’s invaluable. I think from a team standpoint, we have a lot to prove, so I’d like to see the guys that are in this class and the seniors and the people who play their last game here have something to be proud of in terms of what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve been able to do because we’re all a little disappointed in the way things ended up for us this year, so this is an opportunity to try to make it right.”
“Just how crafty they are,” Smith said. “They can switch it up. They can be physical. They can be patient and adjust in the things that they do. They switch it up, keep you guessing, and have you just wondering, like, ‘OK, what is he going to do this time?'”
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian had more to add when talking about the Michigan defense.
“I think from a scheme standpoint, I think Coach Brown does an excellent job,” Sarkisian said. “They’ve got a lot of man-to-man principles they play. And, as DeVonta said, they’re crafty at corner. I think (Lavert Hill) and (Ambry Thomas) are both crafty in their man-to-man skills. But they do a really good job in their scheme of mixing it up, mixing up different zone coverages, zone covers that match up in the man coverages.”
The tide then switched as defensive coordinator Pete Golding spoke about the Michigan offense and how Gattis and quarterback Shea Patterson have led the team to some success this season.
“I think offensively what they did, Coach Gattis and those guys do a really good job,” Golding said. “So, schematically, they make you account for all 11. They’re going to run the quarterback. So, obviously, your structure on defense, you’ve got to be able to account for the quarterback and the run game. And I think on third down, he does a really nice job of extending plays. So when things break down in the back end, they’ve got guys covered, he can step up or out. And he does a really nice job, based on the coverage, whether he’s going to scramble at the back stretch in a two-man principle or he does a nice job in the zone of keeping his eyes downfield.”
“Their receivers do a really good job of breaking off the routes,” Golding said. “And a little of their explosive plays come on third down when the play broke down and it wasn’t designed to be that way but it became an explosive play off the scramble. You know, in a man principle or a zone principle, you know, the scramble rules and he hits a deep shot.”
“So I think the big thing is accounting for him, obviously in the run game,” Golding said. “He’s very athletic. They do a lot of unique things to be able to run the quarterback, for you to use all 11 guys. And I think on third down, it’s going to be pivotal, obviously, to keep him, make him be a pocket passer and use our hands. Obviously, I think, the flight of the ball, we’ve got to do a good job upfront getting our hands up but we’ve got to be able to contain him and keep him in the pocket.”
Golding then added more about Gattis and how he’s changed since leaving Alabama for Michigan.
“I think obviously the unique thing is, anytime you’re playing an opponent, you know, whatever you struggled with on tape you’re normally going to see,” Golding said. “All right? Obviously, they go through that. And things that you struggled with throughout the year normally end up showing back up. I think what’s unique about him having been here, you know, regardless of whether it’s been on tape or we’ve been put in that position this year, he knows, having been here in practice, things, obviously, that make us adjust certain ways and certain calls and things like that. So I think, obviously, that does give him an advantage because we haven’t put everything on tape.”
“So most guys that play us, hey, what you struggle with on tape, you’re going to repeat and you’re going to see again,” Golding said. “And, obviously, he knows our system, you know, and he knows, obviously, some of the rules of the system. But you’ve got to execute. You know, I think, as coaches, you call the play. The players got to execute the play. You know, it ain’t always perfect. So I think we’ve got to do a good job of extending disguises, some fronts and some coverages. But the bottom line is it’s going to be about our execution and our players playing extremely hard.”
Safety Xavier McKinney had something to say, not about Michigan particularly, but about his team and how isn’t going to just go into this game with nothing. They have something to prove and they want to show everyone that they are still a powerhouse despite not being in the playoffs for the first time since it’s creation back in 2014.
“Just that we’ve got it, just that we can still compete, we can still play hard, you know, that we still have the ‘Bama factor, something that we talk about a lot,” McKinney said. “So I know in a lot of the games that we play, we haven’t really played our best, but we just want to come out here and show that we still can play and that we still can show that we are ‘Bama and that we can go out and dominate.”
Michigan takes on Alabama on New Year’s Day at 1 p.m. in Orlando, Florida in the VRBO Citrus Bowl.
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