02/01/2024
02/01/2024
PASADENA, Calif., Jan 2 (AP): Blake Corum rushed for a 17-yard touchdown on the second snap of overtime, and top-seeded Michigan advanced to its first College Football Playoff championship game with a 27-20 victory over fourth-seeded Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Monday. Michigan’s defense ended only the second overtime game in the 110 editions of the Rose Bowl when Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was emphatically stopped as he attempted to sneak up the middle on fourth down from the Michigan 3.
Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines (14-0) will play for their school’s first national title since 1997 against Washington on Monday night in Houston, but only after a late comeback and a dramatic finish. Roman Wilson made a 4-yard TD catch with 1:34 left in regulation for the Wolverines, who hadn’t scored in the second half until that gritty 75-yard drive led by J.J. McCarthy. Corum needed only two snaps to score in the first overtime period.
Milroe found Jermaine Burton at the Michigan 3 on third-and-goal in OT, and Alabama turned to its quarterback on the final play call. But, Milroe ran into a waiting Michigan defense and was stopped 2 yards short of the goal line. Jase McClellan rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns for Alabama (12-2), which fell short of the chance to play for Nick Saban’s seventh national title at the school. The Tide led 20-13 on Will Reichard’s 52-yard field goal with 4:41 to play, but their defense couldn’t preserve the lead.
McCarthy passed for 221 yards and three TDs for Michigan. Milroe passed for 116 yards and rushed for 63 for the Tide, whose 11-game winning streak ended.
Michael Penix Jr. passed for 430 yards and two touchdowns, and Washington held off Texas in the Sugar Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff championship game, earning both the sixth-year quarterback with two surgically repaired knees and the beleaguered Pac-12 one more game this season.
The second-ranked Huskies (14-0) will face No. 1 Michigan next Monday night in Houston, looking for their first national championship since 1991 and the Pac-12’s first since Southern California in 2004. Washington is one of 10 schools fleeing the Pac-12 for other Power Five conferences next year, with the Huskies headed to join Michigan in the Big Ten.
No. 3 Texas (12-2) had four shots at the end zone after getting to the UW 12 with 15 seconds left, but Quinn Ewers missed on the last three. The final throw was a fade to a well-covered Adonai Mitchell that sailed long. In Texas’ first CFP appearance and final football game as a member of the Big 12 before it goes to the Southeastern Conference, Ewers passed for 318 yards and a touchdown. But it wasn’t enough against Penix and his array of talented receivers.