How Alabama football won the SEC championship, how that applies to Michigan matchup

June 28, 2024

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama defeated the No. 1 team in the country in the SEC Championship Game for entry into the College Football Playoff. Can the Crimson Tide win their second consecutive game against a No. 1 team to reach the national championship? That’s the task that lies ahead.

Alabama’s reward for beating Georgia is a Rose Bowl game with Michigan, which has been in the College Football Playoff in each of the last three seasons but has yet to win a game in the Playoff. The Wolverines, who largely have dominated their schedule, played through two suspensions for coach Jim Harbaugh to get to this point, and Alabama’s ebbs and flows-filled season has crescendoed during the past month to an eighth Playoff appearance, the most in the nation.

Both teams turned in impressive championship performances in their own way: Alabama ended a 29-game winning streak by Georgia, and Michigan posted a shutout against Iowa. And both provided useful anecdotes as attention turns to their New Year’s Day showdown.

This edition of the Alabama football film study takes a different approach: How did the team win a hard-fought game in Atlanta, and more importantly now, what does it mean for the Rose Bowl semifinal?

Which quarterback will thrive most against four-man rushes?

Georgia threw the first punch of the game with an opening touchdown drive with little resistance, then went scoreless on seven of its next eight drives. The biggest difference, Nick Saban said, was the defense’s shifting to four-man pressures exclusively for the remainder of the game. Dropping the rest in coverage virtually eliminated big play threats and kept other underneath plays contained. A full explanation has made its rounds on social media since Saturday.

The video in question:#SECFootballFinal #RollTide @colecubelic @Jsheff001 #GOATSaban https://t.co/Jb6jr2lBkh pic.twitter.com/NLvyuuV9VU

— Pete Brown (@pjbrown_III) December 3, 2023

It’s a strategy that should work against Michigan with the Big Ten Championship Game as evidence. Iowa, a 4-2-5 base defense, only blitzed 20.6 percent of the time (according to TruMedia), which is the third-lowest output Michigan has seen this year. Yet, Iowa held Michigan to the lowest yards per play of the Harbaugh era (3.3), 213 total yards (66 rushing) and 3-for-15 on third downs.

Michigan’s offensive line is a bit in flux right now after the season-ending injury to three-time All-Big Ten guard Zak Zinter against Ohio State. The first full game without him wasn’t a great sign: Michigan allowed 11 pressures and four sacks against Iowa, which was 12th in the Big Ten in sacks entering the game.

On one sack, Iowa initially sent four, and then Deontae Craig (No. 45) backed out to serve as a quarterback spy. The speed rush on the outside forced McCarthy forward and into Craig’s vision. The offensive line lost track of Craig, which allowed him to get the sack.

Midway through the second quarter, Iowa got a coverage sack. Michigan hoped for a deep shot with just one high safety, but there wasn’t much separation by the receivers, and it turned into a scramble drill for McCarthy, and Iowa corralled him.

McCarthy finished 22-for-30 for just 147 yards, netting 4.9 yards per attempt. Michigan didn’t have a completion longer than 14 yards.

In a similar fashion against Alabama’s defense, Georgia hoped for a deep shot with Malachi Moore as the single high safety. But the pressure collapsed the pocket immediately, Georgia’s Carson Beck had nowhere to go, and it resulted in a sack.

Stopping the run and forcing Michigan into long down-and-distance situations, which get Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell on the field together, is critical. Michigan is starting a new right tackle as a result of Zinter’s injury, and it’s a potential matchup to be exploited — like this Turner sack against Georgia freshman Earnest Greene on a third-and-12.

Michigan isn’t a heavy-blitz team; per TruMedia, the Wolverines blitz 25.2 percent of the time (85th nationally), but they are seventh nationally in pressure rate (41.2 percent) and 11th in sack rate (8.8 percent), which speaks to the potency of their front four. The onus is on Alabama’s offensive line to keep the pocket clean and Jalen Milroe to make good decisions with several defenders in coverage.

The encouraging sign is that Milroe largely made good decisions against Georgia under such circumstances, another testament to his season-long growth. Plays like these, when Milroe’s initial read wasn’t there but he remained calm, moved in the pocket and found the checkdown for the conversion, are a winning formula.

Winning the rushing battle is the foundation for success.

Alabama’s rushing numbers were eye-popping against Georgia, as the offense was able to churn out consistent runs of 5 to 7 yards that paced the attack. That was an element of the running game that was largely missing in the early part of the year.

One of the most successful elements of Alabama’s running game this year has been duo (double-team) blocks between the guards and tackles. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees leaned into it heavily Saturday, which allowed for the running backs to hit the second level untouched. Below is an early example. Midway through the first quarter, Jam Miller ran through a hole created by Tyler Booker and Kadyn Proctor. Once Georgia’s Nazir Stackhouse (No. 78) was removed from the play, Proctor moved on to block the inside linebacker. This formation was also a 13-personnel (three-tight end) wrinkle from Rees, who had each tight end standing up like a wide receiver.

Later in the first quarter, Rees flashed another wrinkle with the duo block: an unbalanced line with Proctor, Jaeden Roberts and JC Latham all to the right side. Latham helped with the double-team with Roberts and then moved upfield, Proctor sealed his side, and that allowed Roydell Williams to gain 8 yards.

Michigan, like Georgia, employs a good amount of odd (three-man) fronts on the defensive line, making it susceptible to these kinds of blocks. But Michigan’s defensive front poses a much more formidable challenge. Georgia allowed 78 rushing yards per game on average in 2021 and 2022, but this year, that number is up to 117.5 yards per game — still No. 1 in the SEC but a significant dropoff. Conversely, Michigan ranks fifth nationally in rush defense (86.6 yards per game). Michigan allows 1.46 yards before contact and just 1.08 yards after contact.

Plays like this are why. Michigan was in an odd front against Penn State with an edge as the fourth man. Kenneth Grant (No. 78) won his matchup, and even though it was outnumbered up front, Michigan stopped the run for little to no gain.

Later in a third-and-2 situation, Michigan showed an even two-man front with two edge defenders. Kris Jenkins (No. 94) got the initial strong push, and the rest of the front held its blocks and filled the necessary gaps, which allowed Mason Graham (No. 55) to recover. The group rallied to Penn State quarterback Drew Allar for the stop, which forced a punt.

Michigan is also known for its five-man fronts with three down linemen and two edge rushers.

Alabama’s rush defense turned in one of its most impressive performances of the season, holding Georgia (which averages 177 rushing yards per game) to just 78 yards. The defensive line did its job, but it was a collective effort on all three levels. Against Auburn, Alabama was vulnerable to perimeter runs. Georgia tried several times to get outside of Alabama’s defense, but almost every attempt was shut down.

This was one of the most underrated plays of the game: Terrion Arnold slid past tight end Oscar Delp, and the rest of the defense rallied and got a key third-down stop.

This level of effort is paramount against Michigan’s rush offense, which sets the tone. Since the start of November, Michigan has 15 rushing touchdowns and just one passing touchdown.

Michigan features an in-line, physical rushing attack but probably doesn’t get enough credit for its creativity. The Wolverines’ offense will run in a multitude of ways, including quarterback J.J. McCarthy scrambles. This is an example that Alabama needs to be weary of: Michigan reserve quarterback Alex Orji broke out for a nice run against Ohio State with the help of motion misdirection. This type of play caused Alabama problems against Auburn.

But Michigan will have to defend against similar looks from Alabama, and Milroe is the most athletic quarterback Michigan has faced this season. The Wolverines will be tested as well by looks like this, which involved motions and misdirection.

(Photo of Jalen Milroe: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

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