PASADENA, Calif. — There were numerous narratives Michigan football had to destroy to stay alive. Jim Harbaugh had to win a bowl game. The Big Ten had to be able to take down the SEC. The maize and blue had to contain Jalen Milroe, a scorching hot quarterback.
It looked hairy for awhile, but the Wolverines prevailed over Alabama, 27-20, in overtime in the Rose Bowl.
If you were at the game or watched it on TV, you may know a lot about what happened, but certainly not the whole story. That’s where the Michigan athletic department has us covered with more facts and stats and trivia that you might not have known!
Facts/tidbits:
• With 14 victories this season, U-M has set a single-season program record and became the 12th team since 2000 to reach at least 14 wins without a loss, joining: 2002 Ohio State, 2009 Alabama, 2010 Auburn, 2013 Florida State, 2015 Clemson, 2016 Alabama, 2018 Alabama, 2018 Clemson, 2019 Clemson, 2019 LSU, 2022 Georgia.
• In the sixth all-time meeting between U-M and Alabama, the Wolverines improved to 3-3. It was the first meeting between the two programs in the Rose Bowl and the fifth postseason meeting.
• The Wolverines played in the program’s 21st Rose Bowl and improved to 9-12.
• In a matchup of the two winningest programs in college football history, U-M earned program win No. 1,003. Alabama has 965 victories.
• The Rose Bowl was Michigan’s first overtime game of the year and the program’s first since 2020, when the Wolverines defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 48-42. All time, U-M has won 14 of its 17 overtime games. It also marked the first playoff game to go to overtime under the new rules, which force teams to go for two after the first set of scores.
• The Rose Bowl was U-M’s third bowl game to go to overtime in program history. In those three games, the Wolverines are 3-0, defeating the Crimson Tide in the 2000 Orange Bowl and the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2012 Sugar Bowl.
• In quarterback J.J. McCarthy‘s 27 career starts, U-M is 26-1 for a winning percentage of 96.3, the best mark by any starting quarterback in at least the last 20 years. That win rate ranks above those of Trevor Lawrence (34-2; 94.4), Tua Tagovailoa (22-2; 91.7) and others.
• McCarthy (2,851) eclipsed his 2022 season passing total (2,719) and passed both his coach Jim Harbaugh (2,729, 1986) and Chad Henne (2,743, 2004) to advance to sixth all time for passing yards in a season.
• With three touchdown passes in the Rose Bowl, McCarthy (49) passed Rick Leach (48) and tied Denard Robinson (49) for fourth in career passing touchdowns at Michigan.
• With his 17-yard rush in overtime, running back Blake Corum (25 this season, 56 in his career) added to his program single-season rushing touchdown record and passed Anthony Thomas (55) to own the outright career rushing touchdowns record at Michigan.
• Corum’s first-quarter receiving touchdown was the third of his career and put him at 150 points scored during the 2023 season, setting a new single-season record for most points scored (previous: Jake Moody, 147 in 2022).
• Wide receiver Tyler Morris scored his first career touchdown on his longest career reception, a 38-yard receiving score in the second quarter.
• With his fumble recovery in the fourth quarter, defensive back Josh Wallace has contributed to a turnover in two consecutive games, having forced a fumble against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game.
• The Wolverines registered five sacks in the first half, matching their previous single-game season best in just 30 minutes and setting an all-time College Football Playoff record for sacks in a half per AP Sports (four by Clemson in the 2016 national championship game). It was just the fourth time in Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama that the Tide have suffered five sacks in a half, per ESPN Stats and Info (previous games in 2021, 2013, 2010). U-M finished the game with seven sacks.
• Alabama’s 288 total offensive yards marked a season low (previous: 306). U-M has allowed only two teams over 300 total offensive yards this season (Nebraska, 305; Ohio State, 395).