The Alabama Crimson Tide shutout the Michigan Wolverines for 28 minutes and 26 seconds of the second half of Monday’s College Football Playoff semifinals.
But on its next-to-last drive of regulation, Michigan rallied for an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 20 and forced overtime, where the Wolverines stopped the Alabama offense on fourth-and-goal to punch its ticket to the national championship game.
Here are the key takeaways from Michigan’s CFP semifinal win:
J.J. McCarthy needs another year before he’s NFL ready: While McCarthy had another solid and efficient game (221 yards passing, three touchdowns, no interceptions), he didn’t really take the game over like some of the other top QBs in the country like USC’s Caleb Williams or LSU’s Jayden Daniels would have.
McCarthy stayed composed and showed good mobility escaping the pocket, but he’s not the kind of game-changing signal caller most QB-needy NFL teams are looking for. He would be better served staying at Michigan for one more year and truly proving he can be more than an efficient game manager. If he does, he could be a sure-fire first-round pick in 2025.
The rest of college football has caught up with Nick Saban: Alabama played in four of the first five CFP national championship games and six of the first nine. But this year will mark the second straight year the national title game won’t feature the Tide.
Saban used to be the most-feared coach and Alabama the most-feared team in the country from 2009 up through 2020 with six national championships over that span, but the rest of the college football world has clearly figured out how to chip away at his armor as evidenced by Monday’s Rose Bowl loss and his three national championship losses and since 2016.
Blake Corum has a strong case to be RB1 in the 2024 draft: Of the top 2024 running backs who played in bowl games, Corum had arguably the best showing of them all. He finished with 19 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, and he added two receptions for 35 yards and another score.
Both of his touchdowns against Alabama came in key situations — his first on Michigan’s second possession that answered an Alabama touchdown drive minutes before, and his second in overtime to put the pressure on the Alabama offense.
Between Corum, Trey Benson, TreVeyon Henderson and Will Shipley, Corum did the most to boost his draft stock during bowl season.
Michigan needs to stop being conservative with its second-half play calling: After two long touchdown drives and 199 yards of total offense (115 passing, 84 rushing) in the first half, the Wolverines mustered just 119 yards in the second half, with 75 coming on one drive.
The balance of runs (16) versus pass (13) was about as equal to what it was in the first two quarters, but Michigan had half as many rushing yards as it did in the first half and the team took the game out of McCarthy’s hands.
The Wolverines have played with a sizeable second-half lead in most of their games this year, so keeping their foot on the gas isn’t something they’ve had to do often. They won’t get away with being gun-shy against whichever team they face in the national championship game.
Alabama needs to take the reins off Jalen Milroe: In the Tide’s biggest game of the year, Milroe rushed a season-high 21 times but only attempted 23 passes and threw for a season-low 116 yards.
Milroe’s 69.6 completion percentage was admirable, but he only averaged 7.25 yards per completion and he was held without a touchdown pass for the third time in 13 games.
Milroe is obviously talented and has game-breaking ability, but during several games this season it’s seemed like he’s been held back by some overly cautious play calling. Milroe has a similar skillset and has shown flashes of the kind of offensive upside that some of the top QBs like Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr., Cameron Ward and Dillon Gabriel have.
The Tide need to finally unleash him and let him carry the team on his back.
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After passing for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns as a senior, former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders was expected to be drafted during the first round of April’s NFL draft. However, Sanders didn’t receive a phone call until the third day of the draft, when the Cleveland Browns selected him with the 144th overall pick in the fifth round. Due to the draft-day slide, Shedeur Sanders' father, Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, received criticism because he promoted his son as if he were going to be a first-round pick. However, during that time, Coach Prime took a step back from the spotlight due to some unknown health issues. Coach Prime has been recovering at his estate in Texas for the past few months, but is returning to Colorado this week. He hosted a press conference at the school on Monday to discuss his recent health issues before he returns to coaching the Buffaloes. Meanwhile, his eldest son, Deion Sanders Jr., talked about what his father went through after Shedeur Sanders' draft-day slide. “He was dealing with this back in the spring and throughout the whole draft,” he said during Monday’s episode of “The Morning Run." “People were celebrating when [Shedeur Sanders] didn’t get drafted in the first or third round.” “It’s like you don’t really know what the family is going through during this whole time. Y’all don’t know none of that.” Deion Sanders Jr. added that it’s crazy that people were celebrating while his father was ill and his brother was drafted later than expected.
The longtime former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins is in a serious contract dispute with his new team, the Buffalo Sabres. Nobody appears happy to stay with the Buffalo Sabres organization. Most of the talented players on the team were included in trade or free agency rumors, and now, Timmins doesn't appear too excited to sign with the team. Indeed, the Restricted Free Agent, who was traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Sabres earlier this offseason for Connor Clifton and a second-round pick, isn't close to reaching a deal in Buffalo. With arbitration hearings set to take place over the coming days, Timmins and the Sabres are likely to meet for that reason soon. Unless a deal is reached before then, the hearing will take place on August 2nd. The Ontario native is coming off a rocky season, where he played 51 games for the Leafs and 17 more in Pittsburgh after being traded. In those 68 games, the 26-year-old defenseman tallied 15 points, including three goals. After seeing three players around the NHL reach deals before their hearing date, some fans hoped to see the Sabres and Timmins sign a contract soon, but multiple reports confirmed that there hasn't been any 'traction' between both camps. As of now, five more players are scheduled to have salary hearings. Here's the full list, per PuckPedia: Arvid Soderblom (Chicago Blackhawks) - July 28 Maksim Tsyplakov (New York Islanders) - July 29 Dylan Samberg (Winnipeg Jets) - July 30 Conor Timmins (Buffalo Sabres) - August 2 Nicholas Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs) - August 3 Jayden Struble (Montreal Canadiens) - August 3 It'll be interesting to see what kind of contract Timmins would get in a hearing, or if a deal will be reached before the date. With the Sabres' reputation, it's not surprising to see that he appears reluctant to sign in Buffalo. Hopefully for their fans, massive changes will be done to the team to make sure they can attract top talent and convince them to stay with the team.
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is expected to miss most of training camp due to a leg injury, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. Johnson was placed on the non-football injury list when veterans reported to Chicago for camp. He suffered the injury during offseason training, according to Bears general manager Ryan Poles. Johnson is coming off his second consecutive Pro Bowl and is headed into the second year of a four-year, $76M deal. He has dealt with a number of injuries over his career, playing no more than 15 games in a season over the first four years of his career. In 2024, he played a full season for the first time, starting all 17 games with a career-high 1,032 snaps. An extended absence into the regular season would force Chicago to find another starting cornerback among their veteran depth, but Poles said that the team is not “overly concerned” about a long-term injury. “We’ve got a lot of faith that he’s going to put in the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes back,” said Poles on Tuesday. 2023 fifth-rounder Terell Smith will likely step into a first-team role in Johnson’s absence. Chicago largely relied on a cornerback trio of Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon last year; Smith is the only remaining defensive back on the roster who played at least 150 snaps on the boundary for the Bears in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus. Offseason signings Nick McCloud and Tre Flowers may also see a bump in reps over the coming weeks as Johnson rehabs his leg with his eyes on returning for the Bears’ Week 1 opener against the Vikings.
The 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class had its day in Cooperstown on Sunday. This year's class included Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, who were elected by the eligible voters from the Baseball Writer's Association of America, and Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. Here are some of the top highlights from Sunday's induction speeches. Dave Parker's son reads poem written by Hall of Fame father Parker's induction into the Hall of Fame was long overdue, and he sadly did not have the opportunity to enjoy the moment of seeing his name in the Hall of Fame as he died June 28. That left his speech in the hands of his son, Dave Parker II, who read a poem written by his dad. Parker spent the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he was an MVP winner, two-time batting champion and World Series champion with the 1979 "We Are Family" team. Dick Allen's wife remembers his kindness Allen was the other veterans committee inductee, and his widow, Willa Allen, spent the majority of her speech remember the kindness of Allen off the field as much as his ability on the field. Allen is going into the Hall of Fame as a Phillie but won the 1972 American League MVP with the Chicago White Sox. He led the league in OPS four times and was the 1964 National League Rookie of the Year. A reminder that Billy Wagner wasn't naturally left-handed Being left-handed is a huge advantage (and money-maker) for pitchers, and Wagner was one of the most dominant left-handed relief pitchers to ever step onto a mound in the big leagues. But he wasn't always left-handed. Wagner was a natural-born right-handed person but taught himself how to throw left-handed after fracturing his right arm twice as a kid. It led to quite a career. Wagner made a name for himself with the Houston Astros but also spent years with the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox. CC Sabathia takes playful dig at Ichiro Sabathia accomplished a ton in his 19-year big league career. He won 251 games, won the 2007 American League Cy Young Award, was the 2009 ALCS MVP and a World Series champion. He still has apparently not gotten over the one individual award he did not win — the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year Award, which went to fellow 2025 inductee Ichiro. Sabathia made sure to make a playful dig at that. Sabathia was the only American League rookie outside of Ichiro — who also won the American League MVP that year — to get a first-place vote. He received one. The others all went to Ichiro. Ichiro stole the show Ichiro stole 509 bases in his Hall of Fame career, and on Sunday, he added one more steal to his list of accomplishments by absolutely stealing the show at Cooperstown. He delivered two of the best lines of the day, first by calling out the one lone writer who did not vote for him, keeping him from being just the second unanimous Hall of Fame inductee ever (after Mariano Rivera). His best line of the day, however, might have been when he referenced his brief time as a member of the Miami Marlins toward the end of his career. Ichiro played 14 of his 19 seasons with the Seattle Mariners while also spending time with the Marlins and Yankees.