Michigan Football: 3 takeaways from another miserable bowl loss

A Spirited Effort

Overall, Michigan football battled better than most expected for three quarters. It controlled the time of possession by almost 10 minutes. They also managed more first downs than the Tide and ran for more as well. Execution at that rate usually means a victory, but in this case the Wolverines will have to settle for a what could have been.

Big plays doomed the maize and blue, just like they did in their four losses. The secondary held Henry Ruggs to next to nothing, while DeVonta Smith did enough on one play to get past Lavert Hill for the go-ahead score. Then bowling bowl Najee Harris slowly wore down the rest of the defense and put the game on ice.

In a matchup where Don Brown needed something positive to go their way, the same results surfaced again. In the first, Michigan’s defense was getting three and outs, but the offense couldn’t put it in the endzone to make them pay for it. Eventually Alabama did what was expected of them and got the ball to their playmakers leaving Brown’s defense on the wrong side of the scoreboard once again.