The Michigan Wolverines' football offense came out on fire on Wednesday against Alabama, putting up 286 yards through the first two quarters on a Crimson Tide defense that had only been yielding 318.5 per outing entering the contest.
Michigan's offense was also incredibly balanced in the first half, racking up 151 yards through the air and 135 yards on the ground en route to 16 points before the break.
The Wolverines stalled in the game's final two quarters, however, posting just 109 yards and failing to crack the scoreboard.
The Maize and Blue possessed the ball six times in the first half and scored on four of those drives (three field goals and a touchdown), but punted on four of their six second-half series and turned the ball over on the two others (a pair of interceptions by senior quarterback Shea Patterson).
“It just comes down to players making plays," Patterson said afterward. "We didn’t make enough today.
“I didn’t play my best. I missed a few throws and felt like I didn’t make enough plays."
Patterson in particular had a rough final two quarters, connecting on just 8 of 19 throws for 82 yards, finishing with a stat line of 17-of-37 passing for 233 yards with one touchdown and two picks.
He had averaged 351.6 passing yards over the last three regular-season games, but his streak of three straight 300-yard outings came to an end on Wednesday.
"They started cutting our edge," head coach Jim Harbaugh said, addressing Alabama's second-half adjustments. "That jammed up a few of the outside running plays. But I thought [redshirt freshman running back] Hassan Haskins and [freshman running back] Zach Charbonnet really ran well the whole game.
"We didn't make enough plays or keep enough drives going."
Michigan Was Forced To Settle For Field Goals Too Often In The First Half
Michigan saw three of its lengthy drives in the first half end in field goals after the offense failed to find the end zone. Two of them used up 10 plays and the other lasted 13, with all three taking at least 3:32 off the clock.
Michigan's three field goal drives all occurred in a row immediately following the club's first and only touchdown of the day at 7:10 of the first quarter, a seven-yard scoring pass from Patterson to redshirt junior tight end Nick Eubanks that completed an 85-yard march.
Failing to score touchdowns in the red zone had been an issue all season long for the Maize and Blue, who ranked 63rd nationally in the category entering the day (they had scored touchdowns on 61.4 percent of their red-zone trips).
"Any time you get the ball, you want to put points on the board," Patterson noted. "You have to score touchdowns in the red zone.
“It could’ve been a lot different. It comes down to making plays and I missed a couple throws. I didn’t make enough of them.”
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Notes
• After accumulating 395 total yards, Michigan eclipsed 5,000 yards on the year, and has now done so in all five of Harbaugh's seasons. Prior to the current head coach, the program had not eclipsed that number since 2011.
• U-M has scored 19 points or fewer in each of its past three bowl games — 16 on Wednesday, 15 against Florida last year and 19 versus South Carolina on Jan. 1, 2018.
• Freshman wideout Giles Jackson's four catches and 57 receiving yards were both career highs.
• Charbonnet's 84 yards were his most since he compiled 116 in the win at Illinois Oct. 12. His 13 carries, meanwhile, were his most since he racked up 15 in the victory over Notre Dame Oct. 26.
• Michigan's 395 yards in the game were its fewest since the win at Maryland Nov. 2 when it racked up 331.
• U-M ran 80 offensive plays on Wednesday, while Alabama only executed 55. The Maize and Blue held the ball for 34:47, while the Crimson Tide possessed it for 25:13.
• Patterson's first-quarter touchdown pass to Eubanks was the veteran's fourth scoring grab of the year and the fifth of his career.
• Haskins' 18 carries were the second most he had ever compiled in a game, only trailing the 20 he had in the win over Notre Dame Oct. 26.
• U-M's 162 rushing yards were its most since accumulating 303 in the triumph over Notre Dame.
• The Wolverines put together two scoring drives of 80 or more yards — a seven-play, 85-yarder and a 10-play, 81-yard march. U-M also converted eight of its 17 third downs.
• Patterson finished with 3,061 passing yards this year, becoming just the third quarterback in program history to throw for 3,000 yards in a single season, joining John Navarre (3,331 yards in 2003) and Jake Rudock (3,017 yards in 2015).
• Wednesday was Michigan's fourth straight bowl loss. The Wolverines fell to Florida State following the 2016 season, South Carolina after the 2017 campaign and Florida at last season's end.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
