A look around what the local and national media is saying after the Michigan Wolverines fell 35-16 to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Citrus Bowl:
Chris Balas, TheWolverine.com: Notes, Quotes & Observations From The Citrus Bowl
Alabama’s 35-16 win over Michigan in the 2020 Citrus Bowl wasn’t as lopsided as the final score might indicate.
Frankly, that doesn’t matter. There’s no dignity in defeat at a place like Michigan, even for a program that’s now lost 20 straight games away from home to top-15 teams.
Let that one sink in a minute before we continue …
Simply put, this program hasn’t been able to beat very good teams since Lloyd Carr left, and that was a long, long time ago now (2008). We can talk about reasons why, etc., but none of them matter. All that does is figuring out a way to fix it, something everyone expected head coach Jim Harbaugh to do before year six.
He still might, and again, he probably would have a few signature wins if not for some bad fortune in 2016, in particular.
But there are some glaring weaknesses U-M still needs to overcome in order to compete at the highest level consistently, and one or two big wins away from home over ranked teams isn’t that much to ask. Minnesota — Minnesota— picked one up against Auburn (a team that beat the Crimson Tide) in the Outback Bowl in P.J. Fleck’s second year.
That happened right around the same time Alabama was holding U-M scoreless in the second half to hand U-M its fourth straight bowl loss under Harbaugh.
Michigan, which dropped to 9-4 with the loss, has now lost three straight bowl games under Jim Harbaugh. Nonetheless, there are some reasons for optimism in Ann Arbor based on the way the Wolverines improved over the second half of the season.
The hype around Josh Gattis’ offense did not materialize until a mid-October loss to Penn State. But the flashes shown in that game carried over to a four-game winning streak. But that wasn’t enough to put a halt to Michigan’s losing streak to Ohio State.
Perhaps a full offseason with that system in place will culminate in a season full of offensive success in 2020. Still, it’s hard to envision Michigan making a move up in the Big Ten East pecking order. Until proven otherwise, the Wolverines are lagging far behind Ohio State with Penn State holding that No. 2 spot for now.
It's always going to be something with Harbaugh. That's part of being the coach at Michigan. But Wednesday's loss was another blow to the narrative that the Wolverines' favorite son can't win the big games. Of course, that's not entirely true. The blowout over Notre Dame earlier in the season looks better now than it did at the time. But Harbaugh has now lost four straight bowls (and is 2-5 all time) and has not been competitive lately against the best teams on the schedule.
Looking at the totality of Harbaugh's time in Ann Arbor, it's fair to surmise that he's overall been a good coach. He's won 72% of his games and hit 10 wins three times. That's objectively good. However, without a Big Ten East title or a statement bowl win to hang his hat on, his time at Michigan is incomplete. Some of this has to do with Ohio State's current success; it's hard for two blue-blood programs in the same division to be amazing at the same time. There are ways to fix Michigan's struggles, namely in recruiting, but right now Harbaugh's taking it in the teeth for coming up short yet again.
None of this is new to Michigan. Thanks to Harbaugh, the Wolverines have dug themselves out of their early 2010s malaise, but his tenure has become increasingly defined by an inability to join the upper caste of college football. Part of it is recruiting; the Wolverines didn't have a player of Jeudy's caliber on Wednesday. But part of it, at least against elite teams, is a consistent mixture of strong play with spells of penalties, missed opportunities and allowing big gains.
Just like against the Buckeyes in November, U-M's offense burst out of the gates and faltered late. The defense strung together a few stops but struggled to contain Alabama's dynamic play-makers. Yet again, explosive plays were the downfall for defensive coordinator Don Brown and his defense.
What's left is a sensation of deja vu when reflecting upon Harbaugh's tenure in Ann Arbor. Since 2016, Michigan has played with an uncanny level of symmetry. In the even years, the Wolverines have hosted Wisconsin and Penn State and beaten them. In the odd years, they've lost to both teams on the road. And in every year, they've lost to Ohio State and whichever team they play in the bowl game (usually somewhere in Florida).
The climb to join college football's elite remains as steep as ever. And it's easy to wonder what else the Wolverines can do to reach it.
Harbaugh deserves credit for changing his offense last offseason and for bringing in Josh Gattis to better take advantage of the talent U-M does have. Now he’s got to find the handful of players to close the gap.
Though the gap isn’t as grand as it seems. Maybe it’s the width of a river, not a canyon.
For the Wolverines can line up and play with Alabama on most spots on the field, just as they did with Ohio State.
U-M held up just fine on the line of scrimmage, where teams down south used to have a considerable advantage. The offensive line got push in the first half and the defensive line stayed solid for most of the game.
This allowed U-M to move the ball in small, steady bits, and while it racked up the yards, it couldn’t rack up the points, settling for two field goals when touchdowns were needed.
The last of explosiveness requires a kind of perfection, especially against a team like Alabama, even against one of Saban's least-fearsome defenses.
Yes, it’s still stuffed with future pros. Pros in the secondary. Pros who stayed stride for stride with U-M's receivers.
They couldn’t' get separation. So Shea Patterson couldn’t connect deep. And if not for the offensive line’s formidable push up front, the game might have gotten ugly early.
Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Same old bowl tune for Harbaugh's Wolverines
Obviously, there’s a talent gap between Michigan and the truly elite programs. That’s not in dispute, based on recruiting rankings and pro potential and all the eyes that witnessed Alabama’s 35-16 victory over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
But sorry, that can’t always be the sole response to explain away another disappointing end to another unsuccessful season. Every time Jim Harbaugh’s program loses to Ohio State (0-5) or loses a bowl game (1-4), it can’t simply be chalked up to, oh well, the other guys were faster and bigger and perhaps even meaner.
In five seasons under Harbaugh, the gap has been graphically identified, seared into the minds of weary Michigan fans. The Wolverines (9-4) hammer the teams beneath them but never pull the upset against those on top. Alabama was mildly ripe, out of the playoff for the first time, but only two significant players opted to sit. Nick Saban’s gold-standard program still had plenty of motivated guys, and the outcome wasn’t a surprise.
So, what are the Wolverines going to do about this disparity, besides point it out?
They can start by stopping making crushing mistakes, from turnovers to penalties. They can try more unpredictable game-planning and better adjustments. They updated their offense after last season, and in the first year under Josh Gattis, it showed promise. Against the Crimson Tide, the running game was humming early, and a clever trick play produced a 34-yard pass from Shea Patterson to Donovan Peoples-Jones, which led to the tying touchdown, 7-7.
If you can’t pry as many difference-makers from the recruiting powers, then the coaching and the culture have to make a difference. Harbaugh is still struggling to create that, partly because he’s struggling to find a game-changing quarterback.
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