PASADENA, Calif. — Twenty-six years to the day after it last won the Rose Bowl, the No. 1 Michigan football team took the field on New Year’s Day to face No. 4 Alabama beneath the San Gabriel Mountains with everything on the line. 

After a tumultuous season, the Wolverines again found themselves nearing college football’s summit. The past two years, Michigan had found itself in the same position, in a College Football Playoff semifinal, inches from the national title, and both times it had stumbled. 

And again on Monday, with the contest coming down to a Crimson Tide fourth-and-3 in overtime, it would be a game of inches. This time, it was Alabama that fell just short. 

In a tightly contested overtime thriller, the Wolverines (14-0 overall) narrowly beat back the Crimson Tide (12-2), 27-20, behind a swarming defense that bought enough time for their up-and-down offense to orchestrate a comeback and earn a spot in Houston for the chance to win it all. 

“I haven’t felt this feeling in my whole life,” Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant told The Michigan Daily. “It just feels so good (for) all the hard work, and sweat and tears, everything, the relationships we have, it’s just great to come out on top.”

But five minutes into the game, the Wolverines were far from that jubilation; instead, they appeared to be headed in the same direction that they’d gone in the past two years. With a near interception on the first play of the game from junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy and a muffed punt a drive later from freshman wide receiver Semaj Morgan that set up a 34-yard touchdown from Alabama running back Jase McClellan, it felt like deja vu for the Wolverines.

Then, on the next drive, senior running back Blake Corum got to work. Grinding out 33 yards on the ground and catching just his third career receiving touchdown, Corum evened the score.

But throughout the contest, it was their defense that saved the Wolverines. With an overwhelming pass rush that blew past the Crimson Tide’s offensive line for five sacks in the first half alone and seven overall, Michigan’s defense bought time and gifted opportunities to its offense. 

“Our mantra was just, ‘Grind it out,’ ” Michigan edge rusher Braiden McGregor told The Daily. “We’re a team that’s built to go the distance and last as long as we can. That’s our big thing, it might not work for the first drive, the second drive, even the first half, but at the end of the day something’s gonna click.”

And with enough chances bought by the defense, the offense found moments to strike. 

Late in the second quarter, McCarthy piloted an impressive 83-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by a triple pass fake and a 38-yard touchdown catch-and-run from sophomore wide receiver Tyler Morris. However, following a bad snap on the extra point and a late Alabama field goal, the Wolverines ran into the locker room with an uneasy 13-10 lead. 

As the second half progressed, Michigan’s defensive front ‘grinded it out,’ stifling Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe’s offense on the first two drives and forcing a fumble on the fourth. But after allowing a touchdown on the Tide’s third drive in which they ran all over the Wolverines, it still seemed like it may not be enough.

Michigan’s offense went stagnant. Its trick plays started to backfire, Corum couldn’t find holes and it missed a crucial field goal that would’ve cut the lead to one. But despite stagnant drive after stagnant drive from McCarthy and the offense, the Wolverines’ defense didn’t break, containing Milroe and keeping the game within one possession.

That was all Michigan’s offense needed. Down 20-13 with 4:41 remaining, finally, McCarthy and the offense woke up. 

“We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times,” Michigan wide receiver Cornelius Johnson told The Daily. “But when it’s all said and done, we were able to make enough plays and execute offensively to get that win.”

On that final drive, it all came pouring out. After three ineffective plays, McCarthy hit Corum in the flat for a major gain on a fourth-and-2 and kept the Wolverines alive, then senior wide receiver Roman Wilson made a leaping grab for 29 yards. And two plays later, following a four-yard touchdown reception from Wilson, Michigan was celebrating in the end zone with the game tied 20-20. 

The Tide had one last chance, and again, Michigan’s defense ruled the day. It pushed the game to overtime in which Corum ran just twice, covering 25 yards for a touchdown that made him the all-time career leader at Michigan. Then, for the first time all game, the roles were reversed. 

The Wolverines’ offense gave its defense the chance to win it — and it did just that.

Backed up on the ropes with a fourth-and-3 and the game on the line, the contest came down to one play. And as Milroe bolted through toward the goal line, he fell just short. Michigan, meanwhile, sprinted onto the field.

“We knew the quarterback was going to run the ball,”  Grant said. “… I think it was me and Mason (Graham), and we stopped it, and that was game. That was all she wrote. It was really indescribable.”

Michigan’s defense had bested Milroe’s offense one final time, and as the confetti rained down and the Wolverines rushed the field preparing to go to Houston, it was confirmed.

Michigan’s defense had kept the Wolverines  alive — and sent them to the national championship.