Michigan Football: Grading the offensive disaster against Alabama

Michigan football didn’t need a miracle to win the Citrus Bowl, just an offense with a pulse. CPR was unsuccessful.

In the 2019 Citrus Bowl, Michigan football met college powerhouse Alabama in Orlando, Florida, with hope for a tenth win and a meaningful victory for Jim Harbaugh in his tenure, which is typically marked by big-game defeats.

There wasn’t an expectation for a win, especially with Harbaugh’s record against top 15 opponents on the road or at a neutral field sitting at exactly zero wins and a dumpster full of losses.

And then the first half ended, and the non-believes began to come around to the possibility that Jim and company might be able to pull off this one and once again become a part of football relevancy.

After all, while ‘Bama may have missed their NFL quarterback due to a season-ending injury, their roster is full of future first, second, and third-rounders chomping at the bit to play one more game and to give their fans something to cheer about considering they missed their opportunity at a playoff for the first time since it’s inception.

Shea Patterson was hitting on enough of his passes to extend drives and get into the endzone once. The other scores consisted of three field goals taking the lead 16-14, to the bewilderment of the Tide.

Even when Mac Jones connected with Devonta Smith to jump ahead a score, hope remained -at least for a few minutes. Patterson’s seven-plus overthrows, two interceptions, and an inability to get the run game going again took the wind from Michigan’s sails. They allowed the Crimson Tide to trounce on the once-powerful beast, handing Harbaugh his fourth bowl loss in five years.

It was a watchable first half and an ugly second. Here are grades for their performance.