The Alabama Crimson Tide committed three turnovers on consecutive possessions in the first quarter as the Michigan Wolverines raced out to an early lead and held on for a 19-13 victory in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
With the loss, Alabama (9-4 overall) officially closed out its first season with four losses since 2007, Nick Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa that ended with a 7-6 overall record.
To say it wasn’t a pretty start for the Tide would be far too generous.
Alabama drove to the Michigan (8-5) 45-yard line on its first drive of the game, but quarterback Jalen Milroe was sacked when coach Kalen DeBoer decided to roll the dice on 4th and 3.
Michigan got to the Alabama 28-yard line and settled for a 45-yard Dominic Zvada field goal for the game’s first points.
With an early downpour falling in Tampa, Alabama turned it over on first down after a fumbled snap from Milroe gave Michigan the ball at the 19-yard line. The Wolverines drove to the Crimson Tide 12-yard line, but Alabama’s defense bailed out the offense again by holding Michigan to another field goal for a 6-0 lead.
Things got even worse on Alabama’s next drive when Milroe was picked off at his own 19 yard line to give Michigan a short field at the 16. This time, the defense bent on third down when Fredrick Moore hauled in a 13-yard touchdown from Davis Warren for a stunning 13-0 Wolverines lead after the extra point with 4:15 to play.
Alabama’s next turnover came when Milroe was stripped from behind by defensive back Aamir Hall. Michigan recovered at the 6-yard line, but a Tim Smith sack forced Zvada’s third field goal. Alabama would close out a miserable first quarter down 16-0.
The Tide’s early woes led to them having five drives that resulted in three turnovers, a turnover on downs, and a punt.
Rico Scott gave Alabama its first spark of the day when he took a misdirection play for 28 yards to the Michigan 43-yard line with 5:56 to play in the first half.
Three plays later, Alabama got on the board when Milroe found tight end Robbie Ouzts for a wide-open 25-yard touchdown strike to make it 16-7 with 4:06 to play in the opening half.
Alabama’s defense, which had hunkered down under enormous strain, forced a punt with 1:07 to play. When Alabama started at its own 4-yard line, Milroe rushed for 41 yards on 3rd and 1 to the Wolverines’ 46-yard line. He hit Germie Bernard for a 40-yard gain to the Michigan 6-yard line with 17 seconds left.
Alabama had to settle for a 24-yard Graham Nicholson field goal to close the half trailing 16-10.
Both teams had key injuries early in the second half. Warren went down with an injury after being sacked by James Smith and would not return as Michigan turned to Alex Orji at quarterback.
Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell had to be helped off the field with what the team said was an upper-body injury after going down with 5:58 to play in the third quarter. He finished with 11 tackles in what was surely his last game in a Crimson Tide uniform before heading off to the NFL.
With 7:21 to play in regulation, Zvada drilled his fourth field goal — a 37-yard kick that put Michigan ahead 19-10.
Nicholson answered with a 51-yard field goal on Alabama’s next drive with 4:38 to play to cut the lead to 19-13 and keep hope alive. The drive covered 42 yards on eight plays, but Alabama chewed nearly three minutes of game clock and didn’t show much urgency.
After getting the ball back with one last chance to steal a victory, freshman Ryan Williams returned a punt 38 yards to the Alabama 44-yard line. Jam Miller caught a screen that went 25 yards to the 15-yard line with around 1:30 to play.
But Alabama went nowhere and on fourth down, Milroe’s pass fell incomplete around the goal line to seal the victory for Michigan, a double-digit underdog entering the game.
Alabama finished the day with only 260 yards of total offense and just 68 yards on the ground. Milroe was 16-of-32 for 192 yards. Michigan won despite totaling just 190 yards of offense.
There will be time for plenty of introspection, but it will be a long offseason for an Alabama program that struggled to find an identity in Year 1 of the post-Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa.