Michigan’s D made the stop that matters

PASADENA — You try against Michigan, you run into trouble. And you are also run out of the College Football Championship.  

In one of those games that had too many timeouts and not enough action, everything turned on the final play of only the second Rose Bowl ever to go overtime.

They now are 14-0 and it is because of their defense.                                                                    

They stopped Alabama quarterback, Jalen Milroe, around the two on a fourth and goal carry.

So the Wolverines, ranked No. 1 the past few months, defeated the Crimson Tide, 27-20, dealing another blow to the school that for so long dominated the college game. 

“We obviously were disappointed in the outcome of this game,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who for a third straight year will be kept from the place his team occupied for so long.

“The clock was running down,” said Saban about the way things ended, “and a couple of times we mis-executed.” 

That probably was because of the D, the part of a Michigan team that survived every opponent, and even the controversy created by coach Jim Harbaugh where he was accused of spying.

He was suspended for three weeks, but as you can see from his record it had as little effect on Michigan as everything else.

It wasn’t exactly three yards and a cloud of dust as was the situation with Ohio State under Woody Hayes, but Michigan played tough physical football on both sides of the ball.

What proved to be the difference was that Blake Corum ran 17 yards for the score that would win, contributing to him being selected as the offensive player of the game.

This has been a spectacular time for the Harbaugh family, who once lived on the San Francisco peninsula when father Jack was a coach at Stanford. A few days back, John Harbaugh coached the Baltimore Ravens over the 49ers, and now Jim leads his alma mater into the College title game.

“Happy New Year,” was the way a properly thrilled Jim Harbaugh, the Michigan coach, greeted the media. “A great way to start the New Year. That was glorious.”

Perfection so often is.

“Alabama had a great game plan for us,” said Harbaugh when told that until the final drive of regulation, the Wolverines had only 41 yards of offense in the second half.

A great game plan that wasn’t quite enough.