TAMPA, Fla. — Michigan’s defense sacked Jalen Milroe five times and forced three turnovers by the Alabama quarterback to lead the Wolverines to a 19-13 victory over the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Tuesday.
Dominic Zvada kicked four field goals and Davis Warren threw a first-half touchdown pass to Fredrick Moore for Michigan (8-5), which finished the season on three-game winning streak that included back-to-back upsets of rival Ohio State and Alabama.
Alabama’s season ended with a loss to Michigan for the second year in a row. The Wolverines and the Crimson Tide (9-4, No. 11 CFP) met in a College Football Playoff semifinal at last season’s Rose Bowl, with Michigan winning on the way to capturing the national championship.
Tuesday’s loss ended Alabama’s string of 16 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins.
Michigan pressured Milroe all day long, and the Crimson Tide never fully recovered from the quarterback’s early mistakes.
Milroe shrugged off a disastrous first quarter that was played almost exclusively in Alabama territory during heavy rain that sent many in the crowd at Raymond James Stadium scurrying for cover. The Crimson Tide had a chance to win it in the closing minutes but turned the ball over on downs after driving to the Michigan 15.
Milroe lost two fumbles and threw an interception on three of Alabama’s first four drives. The fourth possession ended badly, too, with Milroe being sacked for an 11-yard loss at the Crimson Tide 44 on fourth-and-4.
Michigan, however, was able to turn the blunders into only 16 points — Warren’s TD pass to Moore and field goals of 45, 30 and 21 yards for a 16-0 lead.
Milroe cut into Alabama’s deficit with a 25-yard TD pass to Robbie Ouzts, then ran for 41 yards and threw to Germie Bernard for 40 on back-to-back plays to set up Graham Nicholson’s 24-yard field goal just before halftime.
Michigan defense made the narrow halftime lead stand until Zvada’s 37-yard field goal put the Wolverines up 19-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Alabama countered with Nicholson’s 51-yarder to make it a one score game again with 4:38 to go.
Milroe finished 16 of 32 passing for 192 yards, one TD and an interception.
Warren was 9 of 12 for 73 yards without an interception before limping off the field after being sacked early in the third quarter. Alex Orji finished up at quarterback for the Wolverines.
Michigan opens next season Aug. 30 at home vs. New Mexico following a highly anticipated battle for the starting quarterback job. The nation’s No. 1 high school recruit, Bryce Underwood, practiced with the Wolverines for the ReliaQuest Bowl and was on the sideline Tuesday as an early enrollee. The competition will also include Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene.
The Crimson Tide opens the second season under DeBoer on the road Aug. 30 at Florida State. One question mark heading into the offseason is who will take the first snap at quarterback. Milroe hasn’t declared if he’ll enter the NFL draft or return to school.
KLUBNIK WILL RETURN
CLEMSON, S.C. — Quarterback Cade Klubnik, who led Clemson’s surprise run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and College Football Playoff, will return for a fourth and final season with the Tigers rather than declare for the NFL draft.
Klubnik, who announced his decision on social media Monday night, recently finished his second full season as the Tigers’ starter. He threw for 36 touchdowns, third-most in the country, against only six interceptions and averaged 260 yards passing per game as the Tigers went 10-4.
“The story isn’t over. See y’all in 2025,” Klubnik wrote on X.
Klubnik is 19-9 as Clemson’s starter and was named MVP of the ACC championship game in 2022 and 2024.
Klubnik set an ACC title game record with four touchdown passes in a 34-31 win over SMU. He threw for three more scores in a 38-24 loss to Texas in the first round of the CFP and finished with 336 yards through the air, the most allowed by the Longhorns this season.
He was responsible for 43 touchdowns this season (36 passing, 7 rushing), behind only the 44 by Miami’s Cam Ward and Washington State’s John Mateer, according to Sportradar.
MIAMI FIRES DC
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami parted ways with defensive coordinator Lance Guidry on Tuesday, after the Hurricanes failed to make the College Football Playoff and allowed 42 points in each of their final two games of the season.
The Hurricanes had gone 50-0 in games since the start of the 2000 season where they scored at least 38 points and had at least 500 yards. But they went 0-2 in their last two games of this season when putting up those big offensive numbers — blowing a 21-0 lead and losing 42-38 at Syracuse to miss a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and a likely CFP berth, then losing 42-41 to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
“I want to first thank Coach Guidry for his contributions to the University of Miami,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “In a continuous effort to always improve all aspects of our program, I have decided to make a change on defense. We will move forward and make decisions that provide our players, staff and program the best opportunity to win and develop at the highest level.”
Guidry spent two seasons with the Hurricanes. Miami is 27th nationally in yards allowed per game this season, but ranked 70th in points allowed per game and registered only 18 takeaways in 13 games.
And as the season went on, the numbers got worse. Miami was 97th nationally in points allowed per game in November and December, then gave up 10 or more yards on 35 different plays in the losses to Syracuse and Iowa State.
It added up to a frustrating end, even at 10-3 for Miami — especially with an offense that was among the nation’s best, led by Cam Ward and his school-record totals of 39 touchdown passes, 305 completions and 4,313 yards.
“When we win, we win as a team. When we lose, we lose as a team, as well,” Cristobal said after the Pop-Tarts Bowl. “When you look at certain aspects of our game, there were some issues. Sometimes it’s communication and sometimes it’s alignment. Obviously, it’s nowhere near where what is the standard for us.”
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