Michigan football to play Alabama in ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on New Year's Eve

Michigan football to play Alabama in ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on New Year’s Eve

Posted by Admin December 8, 2024 Football

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Michigan football is headed to the Sunshine State to go bowling.

Highlighted by a 13-10 upset win over No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus, the Wolverines closed the regular season with a wave of momentum and are riding it all the way to the beach. Michigan announced Sunday it will play in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida at noon on ESPN on Dec. 31.

Although it hasn’t been officially announced, the Wolverines will reportedly play Alabama, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, which of course will be a rematch of last year’s Rose Bowl. Michigan won that game in overtime when the Wolverines stuffed quarterback Jalen Milroe on fourth-and-goal to advance to the championship game.

Alabama was the last team out of this year’s debut edition of the 12-team playoff, finishing 9-3 with losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma. That left the Crimson Tide vulnerable, and the College Football Playoff committee, chaired by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, decided SMU out of the ACC was the more-deserving team.

This is the fourth consecutive season in a row U-M is in the postseason; the past three seasons, of course, featured College Football Playoff berths, highlighted by the 2023 season which ended with a Rose Bowl victory over Alabama and a national championship win over Washington in Houston.

This is the first time U-M will play in a Florida bowl since falling to Alabama, 35-16, in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1, 2020.

It’s Michigan’s seventh appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl, formerly known as the Hall of Fame Bowl (1986-1994) and the Outback Bowl (1996-2022), with three wins and three losses; the most recent appearance came on Jan. 1, 2018 — a loss to South Carolina best remembered for Jadaveon Clowney’s big hit on U-M running back Vincent Smith.

Though it hasn’t been announced, the expectation is the Wolverines will be without a host of their top stars, as cornerback Will Johnson, tight end Colston Loveland, and defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant are all projected first-round selections in April’s NFL draft.

It has been a common theme across FBS for some time for top-level stars to sit out non-CFP bowl games to protect their draft stock; the widely held belief is all four of U-M’s players will do so, with the potential for others, such as edge Josiah Stewart, running back Donovan Edwards or safety Makari Paige, to make the same decision.

The Wolverines fired offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell earlier this week after U-M finished No. 128 out of 133 FBS-level teams in passing offense (133.6 yards per game), barely topping Iowa (131.7) for the worst among Power Four teams. Even with a 50-point outing against Northwestern in its penultimate game, U-M finished No. 112 in the country in scoring (22.2 points per game) and No. 128 in total offense (294.2 yards per game), ahead of only Northwestern and Florida State among Power Four teams.

Head coach Sherrone Moore tabbed tight ends coach Steve Casula to orchestrate the offense for the bowl game.

U-M faces several questions entering the postseason, such as, what are the Wolverines looking to get out of this bowl? Is it trying to get an eighth win, go into the offseason with momentum and try to ride the upperclassmen to one final victory? Or is the emphasis to prioritize a youth movement, letting running backs such as Jordan Marshall, Benjamin Hall and Micah Ka’apana get some run.

Also, what about quarterback? There’s essentially no chance that Davis Warren or Alex Orji start another game under center beyond this year, so what’s the play with Jadyn Davis? The former four-star quarterback was once believed to be the future of the position, but with 2025 No. 1 recruit Bryce Underwood coming into the fold, that no longer seems to be the case.

Will U-M use this as a chance for him to audition to battle for the backup spot, or will he not factor into the room at all in 2025?

Moore and the Wolverines have plenty to decide in the weeks ahead before U-M finishes its 2024 season.