ANN ARBOR, Michigan: In the College Football Playoff in the Rose Bowl, Michigan football will have to contend with Jalen Milroe and the Alabama offense.
Former four-star prospect Milroe is a dual-threat quarterback of a caliber the Wolverines haven’t seen this season. Jaylen Harrell described him earlier this week as “talented, real athletic, freaky,” and he’s not afraid to throw it deep, as evidenced by Alabama’s fourth-best pass play total in the country (40 yards or more). With 12 running touchdowns this season, Milroe’s development during the 2023 campaign was crucial to the Crimson Tide’s trip back to the College Football Playoffs.
Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator for Michigan, discussed the difficulties Alabama presents on Tuesday. He stated the following regarding how the Wolverines
We get a chance to go against, I think, a really good offense every day to help prepare us for these moments. Certainly there’s some teams that have had some skill players that we’ve had to match up with and try to defend. I don’t think we’ve seen a quarterback like this. I think the closest thing we see is in practice with some of our guys. Taulia at Maryland was, as a scrambler, kind of a similar type of guy. But a guy like this involved in the run game, his ability to make off-schedule plays. I think Alex Orji has done a great job [of simulating Milroe as scout team QB] — some of our guys said this yesterday. He’s done a phenomenal job; Davis Warren as well.
It’s hard to simulate the offensive line, okay? You’re talking about 6-7 360, 6-7 360. We don’t have anybody. Myles Hinton is with our offense. And so we have nobody — that’s the hardest thing to simulate, and the speed of their receivers. So while the quarterback is important, and we’re trying to do a great job corralling that guy, it’s harder to simulate the other positions and the talent that they’ve acquired over the years.
Everybody knows how they recruit at a such a high level. So that’s the hardest thing to simulate. We’ll find out on the 1st if we’re prepared. Honestly, talking about it is really cheap at this point. So we’ll find out when the ball is kicked off if we’re prepared. I’m confident in the way our guys have approached it, the way they’re working, that it’ll give us an opportunity to hopefully have some success.
Penn State’s Drew Allar and Ohio State’s Kyle McCord, two of the better QBs the Wolverines saw this year, were primarily pocket passers. Though U-M saw a dual-threat QB in Tagovailoa — among others earlier in the season — none enter with as much potential as Milroe. His ability to scramble helps create positive plays behind an offensive line that, while massive, has had its share of pass-protection issues this year.
