Alabama's season ends where it started

Every Monday we present Tide Takes, where we’ll get into a different topic on the Crimson Tide, break down the previous game, preview the upcoming game, and everything in between.

In this week’s edition, the season comes to a conclusion with a devastating Rose Bowl loss to Michigan. Alabama seemed to revert back to the team it was at the beginning of the season.

The Wolverines were the more prepared team on Monday night in Pasadena. Jim Harbaugh had his team, and more specifically his defense, ready to go from the opening whistle.

The Michigan front seven was able to confuse Alabama all night with stunts and disguised pressure; overwhelming a Crimson Tide offensive line that seemed to revert back to what it was at the beginning of the season.

The offensive line that showed up against Georgia in Atlanta simply did not make the trip out to California.

Jalen Milroe followed a similar path, seeming off from the first snap and rattled by the pressure. Alabama was not able to establish a consistent passing game the entire night.

Milroe was effective with his legs, but indecisiveness of when to hang in the pocket and throw and when to run led to a couple of the six sacks Michigan had on the night, something that has been an issue all season long for the Tide quarterback.

Even still, with under five minutes left, Alabama still appeared to have the game well in-hand. Minutes earlier, after forcing back-to-back three and outs and taking the lead, Alabama was moving the ball before a Jalen Milroe fumble gave Michigan the ball around midfield.

Alabama got away with the mistake, with a Michigan missed field goal giving Alabama the ball back up four with ten minutes remaining, and a long drive in which a touchdown would have sealed it stalled out on a sack.

Will Reichard gave Alabama a touchdown lead with a 52-yard field goal, and having bottled up the Michigan offense the entire second half, Saban and company had to feel pretty good about where they were at.

What followed was Michigan’s most impressive drive of the game: An 8-play, 75-yard march led by J.J. McCarthy to tie the game with under two minutes remaining — pushing the game to the brink of overtime, where in the end Michigan was just the better team.

All week, Nick Saban talked about “finishing.” But it became the opposite of what the Tide did in Pasadena on Sunday night.

You can question the play call on overtime in fourth down that ultimately ended the game, but Alabama put itself in a position down the stretch that it didn’t want to be in, and the Wolverines were able to capitalize.

Saban often speaks of execution, and that’s what the Rose Bowl came down to. At the end of the game, Michigan executed better than Alabama, and that’s why one is headed back to Tuscaloosa and the other to Houston for a chance at its first title since 1997.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP