Michigan defense pressures Milroe all day, Wolverines beat No. 11 Alabama 19-13 in ReliaQuest Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A year removed from winning the national championship, Michigan finished its first season under Sherrone Moore with a victory setting the tone for a bright future.

Moore replaced Jim Harbaugh after the former Wolverines coach left for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers last winter. He called Tuesday's 19-13 victory over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl a total team effort that bodes well for the Wolverines moving forward.

“We’ve got a great culture and great kids,” Moore said. "No one person wins a game ... no two people. It’s always going to be a team sport.”

Michigan's defense sacked Jalen Milroe five times and forced three turnovers by the Alabama quarterback. ReliaQuest Bowl MVP Jordan Marshall rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries to help the Wolverines dominate time of possession.

Dominic Zvada kicked four field goals and Davis Warren threw a first-half touchdown pass to Fredrick Moore as Michigan (8-5) finished the season on a three-game winning streak that included back-to-back upsets of rival Ohio State and Alabama.

“We were 5-5 and then we won some games, but it’s not the standard,” Marshall said. "We’re going to be better than this next year.”

Alabama's season ended with a loss to Michigan for the second year in a row. The Wolverines and the Crimson Tide (9-4, No. 11 CFP) met in a College Football Playoff semifinal at last season's Rose Bowl, with Michigan winning on the way to capturing the national championship.

Tuesday's loss ended Alabama's string of 16 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. Kalen DeBoer inherited the streak from seven-time national championship-winning coach Nick Saban, who retired after last season.

“Every time you’re in the locker room and you have something like this, it’s disappointing. But I think there’s a lot of things that you take from it,” DeBoer said, reflecting on his first season with the Crimson Tide.

“So to me, it’s a success if we move forward and we take advantage of the lessons (learned this season), even though we don’t want to learn those lessons sometimes, because they’re hard,” DeBoer added. "We’re going to learn from those lessons, move forward and be better next year because of it.”

Milroe shrugged off a disastrous first quarter that was played almost exclusively in Alabama territory during heavy rain that sent many in the crowd at Raymond James Stadium scurrying for cover. The Crimson Tide had a chance to win it in the closing minutes but turned the ball over on downs after driving to the Michigan 15.

Milroe lost two fumbles and threw an interception on three of Alabama's first four drives. The fourth possession ended badly, too, with Milroe being sacked for an 11-yard loss at the Crimson Tide 44 on fourth-and-4.

Michigan, however, was able to turn the blunders into only 16 points — Warren's TD pass to Moore and field goals of 45, 30 and 21 yards for a 16-0 lead.

Milroe cut into Alabama's deficit with a 25-yard TD pass to Robbie Ouzts, then ran for 41 yards and threw to Germie Bernard for 40 on back-to-back plays to set up Graham Nicholson's 24-yard field goal just before halftime.

Michigan defense made the narrow halftime lead stand until Zvada's 37-yard field goal put the Wolverines up 19-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Alabama countered with Nicholson's 51-yarder to make it a one score game again with 4:38 to go.

Milroe finished 16 of 32 passing for 192 yards, one TD and an interception.

Warren was 9 of 12 for 73 yards without an interception before limping off the field after being sacked early in the third quarter. Alex Orji finished up at quarterback for the Wolverines.

Michigan pressured Milroe all day long, and the Crimson Tide never fully recovered from the quarterback's early mistakes.

Michigan: Opens next season on Aug. 30 at home vs. New Mexico following a highly anticipated competition for the starting quarterback job. The nation's No. 1 high school recruit, Bryce Underwood, practiced with the Wolverines for the ReliaQuest Bowl and was on the sideline Tuesday as an early enrollee. The competition also will include Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene.

Alabama: The Crimson Tide opens their second season under DeBoer on the road on Aug. 30 at Florida State. One question heading into the offseason is who will take the first snap at quarterback. Milroe hasn't said if he'll enter the NFL draft or return to school.

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Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore celebrates after his team defeated Alabama to win the ReliaQuest Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets interviewed former Washington and Carolina coach Ron Rivera on Thursday, the first known head coaching candidate to meet with the team.

ESPN analyst and former NFL safety Louis Riddick also interviewed with the team for their general manager vacancy. Riddick, who previously worked in the front offices of Washington and Philadelphia, is the fourth known GM candidate to meet with the Jets.

Rivera went 26-40-1 during a four-year stint with the Commanders, leading Washington to the playoffs during his first season with the team in 2020. He was fired last January after a 4-13 season.

Rivera, who turns 63 next Tuesday, is the only coach in NFL history to have led teams with losing records to the playoffs more than once, having done so with Carolina (7-8-1) in 2014 and Washington (7-9) in 2020.

He led the Panthers to the postseason four times during his tenure in Carolina from 2011 to 2019, including a Super Bowl appearance in the 2015 season when the team went 15-1 in the regular season and eventually lost to Denver in the title game.

Nicknamed “Riverboat Ron” for his aggressive decisions on the field, Rivera has a career record of 105-108-2, including 3-5 in the playoffs.

He played in 137 games, including 56 starts, during a nine-year playing career with Chicago where he was a linebacker on the Bears team that won the Super Bowl during the 1985 season behind its exceptional "46" defense under coach Mike Ditka and coordinator Buddy Ryan.

Rivera served as an assistant for the Chargers and Bears before becoming a head coach.

The Jets fired coach Robert Saleh on Oct. 7 and have gone 2-9 under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich. Former Jets coach Rex Ryan is also among those expected to interview with the team.

New York, which fired Joe Douglas in November, has also interviewed Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy, former Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff and former Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson for the GM job.

The 55-year-old Riddick joined ESPN in 2013 and serves as an NFL and college football analyst on the network and ABC. He interviewed with Detroit and Houston for their GM openings during the 2020 offseason.

Riddick, a ninth-round pick by San Francisco in the 1991 draft out of Pittsburgh, had 155 tackles and two sacks during six NFL seasons with the Falcons, Browns and Raiders.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - ESPN's Monday Night Football analyst Louis Riddick walks on the field during pre-game warm-ups before an NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts, on Oct. 11, 2021, in Baltimore, Md. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, File)

FILE - Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera speaking during a press conference at the end of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Jan. 7, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)