The Michigan Wolverines got off to a quick start and lead against the Alabama Crimson Tide by going up 16-0 in the first quarter and held on to win 19-16 at Raymond James Stadium on New Year’s Eve.
The stadium was packed with fans from both sides and they stayed throughout a deluge of rain in the first quarter and were then treated to a beautiful Florida afternoon once the rain subsided.
The Wolverine’s defense was stout all day holding the Crimson Tide and their quarterback Jalen Milroe who opted to throw his hat into the upcoming NFL Draft ring, to 260 total yards and 21:48 in time of possession.
Edge Derrick Moore was a beast all day for the Wolverines defense with 4 solo tackles and 2 sacks and a fumble recovery and kicker Dominic Zvada could have been the MVP with 4 field goals but RB Jordan Marshall took home the trophy.
Michigan also forced a season-high three turnovers in the first quarter and held Bama to -2 yards. Offensively, Michigan was led by the aforementioned Jordan Marshall with a career-high 100 yards on 23 carries and Frederick Moore with 3 catches for 37 yards. Quarterback Warren Davis went 9-12 for 73 yards and was injured in the third quarter and was replaced by Alex Orji.
Warren told fans that he looked forward to being back on the practice field with his teammates, while revealing the devastating injury he suffered in the bowl game. “Celebrating a win and so proud of the way the boys finished the season!”
Warren wrote. “I unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in the bowl game. Thanks to the Michigan faithful for all the support this season. “Can’t wait to battle to be back on the field with my guys in AA and go blue!”
The second quarter was much better for the Crimson Tide as they were able to get 10 points on the board and get it to a six-point game going into halftime.
TE Robbie Ouzts caught a 25 yard TD pass from Milroe to cut the score to 16-7 late in the second quarter and kicker Graham Nicholson hit a 24 yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the half to tighten the score at 16-10.
That felt like a major win after the way the first quarter went, but the Michigan defense was absolutely smothering in the second half.
Alabama did a good of keeping Michigan from scoring, but they weren’t able to get anything going offensively in the second half. Neither team scored in the third quarter, and then the Wolverines kicked a huge field goal to make it a two-score game with a little over seven minutes remaining in the contest.
Milroe had a chance to lead the Crimson Tide to victory with a last-second drive but couldn’t punch it in as the Wolverines stopped them on 4th down with 56 second to go to hoist the Reliaquest Bowl trophy.
The Crimson Tide (9-4) finish the 2024 season with four losses, the first time it reached that total since 2007, when it lost six games in Nick Saban’s first season. It’s a tough loss for Alabama, as Michigan was playing without most of its top players, who opted out to prepare for the 2025 NFL draft.
For Michigan, it was a positive ending to a tough season but one the players could hang their hat on as the youngsters who played in this game will only get better in the future and will compete next year to get back into college football’s playoff system.
Coming into Saturday’s game with the Crimson Tide, no one except the Bulls thought they could stay with them for 4 quarters. Well the USF Bulls proved everyone wrong as they were in the game until late in the forth quarter when Bama Quarterback Ty Simpson punched it in from the 1 yard line to give Alabama a 17-3 lead late in the game.
The Bulls fought all game long and weathered a hour rain delay in from of over 65,000 fans. It was the most fans I have see in the stadium for a Bulls game since I started covering them 15 years ago. It was also great to see Alabama fans worry about losing the game as their team struggled.
Bulls QB Byrum Brown was great with 23 carries for 92 yards but struggled mightily with his accuracy and finished by going 14 for 28 for 87 yards and 1 costly pick as the team was moving the ball in the forth quarter trying to tie the score at 10.
Bulls fans, the coaches and the national media could not say enough about the Bulls defense who held Alabama QBs to 107 yards in the air with Buchner and Simpson throwing for a combined 10 for 23. The Bulls defense was led by Daquan Evans who had 8 tackles with 4 for loss, 3 sacks and 1 pass deflection. He was in Bama’s backfield all day long and had an amazing game.
Other Bull players who stood out in Saturdays contest were linebacker Jhalyn Shuler, who led all players with 11 tackles; receiver Sean Atkins (six catches, 42 yards); and running Nay’Quan Wright, who rushed 15 times for 62 yards and ignited the entire stadium with an early bull-dozing run of an Alabama defender.
With 6:54 left in the third and the game tied at 3, Alabama got things going as expected late in the game. Taking over at their own 16, the Crimson Tide went 84 yards on 6 plays with Roydell Williams diving in from the 1 yard line.
After Alabama scored, The Bulls got momentum and drove into Bama territory. On 1st and 10 at the Alabama 41-yard line, Golesh decided to go for a bomb towards the end zone. Brown threw a corner post route but the receiver ran a middle post and Malachi Moore intercepted the pass to thwart USF’s comeback attempt.
You could feel the air come out of the stadium and many fans departed after the play. Golesh said “Because we were moving it, we were chunking down the field on that drive. That was a critical drive in the game for us to make it 10-10 and I don’t know if I got impatient as much as I saw an opportunity. … In every imaginable way that’s my fault, and I told Byrum that and I told (the receiver) Michael Brown-Stephens that.”
With Alabama having 4-5 star players for backups, its tough for a club like the Bulls to keep up with SEC powerhouses when backups have to get rotated in. Its just a size situation but keeping with Alabama for the whole game, the talk of moral victory was said by many but Bulls Head Coach Alex Golesh wasn’t having it.
“Valiant efforts are for losers,” he said. “Moral victories are for losers. Winners win. So there are no moral victories. … You can say that’s an SEC team. You can say the No. 10 team in the country. You can say whatever you want. They’re on our schedule. They are playing us at home. We’ve got to go win football games. I’ll own it. We weren’t as good as we had to be tonight to win.”
Nick Saban after the game said he was most proud of how the team competed. Says they didn’t play great but kept answering the bell and was his happy with how team competed.
Up next for the Bulls, their conference schedule kicks in with a home game against Rice at 4pm.
TAMPA, OCT. 14, 2018 – One of just eight remaining unbeaten teams in FBS football, USF (6-0; 2-0 American) has reached bowl eligibility on the earliest date in program history and climbed into the top 20 of the national rankings for the 31st time in program history, checking in at No. 20 in the latest Amway Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll.
One of three unbeaten and Top 25 ranked teams in the East Division of the American Athletic Conference, USF’s comeback from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit in a 25-24 victory at Tulsa marked its largest fourth quarter comeback since 2012 and earned the Bulls bowl eligibility on Oct. 12, one day earlier than the previous earliest date in program history.
Randall St. Felix (Photo-Travis Failey)
Bowl eligible for the fourth straight season and in October for the sixth time in program history, the 2018 Bulls team bettered by one day the 2007 team, which earned bowl eligibility on Oct. 13, 2007 after a 64-12 defeat of UCF.
The American is the only conference nationally with three unbeaten teams. The Bulls are joined by No. 10/9 UCF (6-0) and No. 20/21 Cincinnati (6-0). UCF comes to Raymond James Stadium for the War on I-4 on Fri., Nov. 23 while the Bulls travel face Cincinnati on Sat., Nov. 10.
(Photo-Travis Failey)
Junior Jordan Cronkrite (Miami) posted his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game, collecting 151 yards and a 66-yard touchdown Friday in Tulsa. Cronkrite stands third nationally in rushing yards per game (151.4) and yards per carry (8.05) and became the first Bull to post four touchdown runs of 60-plus yards in the same season. With 757 yards and six touchdowns through six games, Cronkrite is well on his way to posting the ninth 1,000-yard rushing season in program history and becoming just the fifth Bull to accomplish the feat. The Bulls have been ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing in each of the previous three seasons and have had a 1,000-yard rusher for a program record four straight seasons.
Ronnie Hoggins (Photo-Travis Failey)
USF returns to Raymond James Stadium, where it has won 19 of its last 22 games, on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. Homecoming clash with UConn (1-5; 0-3 American). The Bulls have won six straight games against the Huskies and will be looking to equal the program’s best-ever start by improving to 7-0 for the second straight season. The Bulls are 34-6 in their last 40 games, a mark that is tied with Oklahoma for the fourth-best mark nationally over each team’s last 40 contests and trails only Alabama (38-2), Clemson (36-4) and Ohio State (35-5).
(Photo-Travis Failey)
Saturday’s game will be televised by CBS Sports Network and can be heard live on the USF Sports Network (820AM; iHeart Radio Bulls Unlimited).
Season and single-game tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-Go-Bulls, visiting www.USFBullsTix.com or in-person at the USF Ticket Office (Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center) Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
