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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’s not a lot to necessarily bolster an entire offense against one of the perennial powerhouse defenses in the country, but any little thing could help Michigan against Alabama.
The two teams will square off on Jan. 1 in the VRBO Citrus Bowl in Orlando, and there are two personalities on the Wolverines who have familiarity with the Crimson Tide.
Michigan’s man under center Shea Patterson has faced the SEC West power once before (on the field), when he was helming Ole Miss as its signal caller in 2017.
He didn’t exactly have a stellar performance, going 14-of-29 for 169 yards and two interceptions, but having spent time studying what Bama likes to do, it could certainly be something — especially compared to the rest of the Wolverines offensive personnel, who just started looking at tape on the Crimson Tide for the first time last week when the game was announced.
So, when Michigan sat down to see what the 10-2 Alabama team looked like all reason, how similar or different did it look to Patterson?
Ultimately, he says, it doesn’t matter much how familiar or not he might be, because the onus is still on the Wolverines offense to execute, no matter who they’re playing.
“It’s the same type of scheme,” Patterson said. “They are always very well-coached and have tremendous athletes. It’s Alabama, they’re always going to have that.
“I think with us, this year, it’s always been an emphasis about ourselves and our own execution. Because at the end of the day, who we’re playing or where we’re playing, we feel as long as we execute and pay attention to detail, play together as a team, it doesn’t matter who we play. But Alabama is a heckuva program. Has a lot of success in the past. Just looking forward to it.”
But Michigan does have another potential ace up its sleeve on that side of the ball.
One person inside the program has an incredible amount of familiarity with what Alabama wants to do on both sides of the ball, because he spent time formulating said plans, just one year ago.
Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was an offensive assistant with the Crimson Tide before being hired away by the Wolverines last January, working closely with then-OC Mike Locksley as co-offensive coordinator. Despite both being gone to the Big Ten now, if anyone knows the intricacies of the scheme and the personnel, it’s Gattis.
Patterson certainly thinks that could be a help, but like with anything else, the focus is less on what Alabama brings to the table as much as what Michigan can or should do, if the execution is perfect.
“Coach Gattis being there and having knowledge of their defense and offense as well, I think it helps,” Patterson said. “It gives us a little edge maybe.
“But I think the way we’ve ended the season, the last 5-6 games, we’ve got a good amount of momentum going into this one. We’re just gonna try to keep that rolling.”
The VRBO Citrus Bowl is set to kickoff at 1PM EST on Jan. 1 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
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