Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins Highlighting Key Rivalry Games
The fourth installment of the series looking back at football games between Michigan and Alabama takes to the Cowboys Classic on Sept. 1, 2012 at Cowboys Stadium (now AT&T Stadium) in Arlington, Texas. The national economy was stable in 2012, and overall, things were looking pretty good, particularly if you were dressed in maize and blue. Brady Hoke was now the Michigan coach, and in 2011 his Wolverines produced an 11-2 record that included wins over Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. It’s always great to be a Michigan Wolverine, but suddenly, it felt great, too.
So Michigan entered the 2012 campaign with a renewed vigor. The Wolverines chose to embrace greater challenges by playing the defending national champions at a neutral site in the south.
It was certainly an ambitious goal, but it also provided a sobering assessment of the Wolverines’ skill level. In the simplest of terms, Alabama was the better team.
As far as the competitive portion of the game, Alabama scored 31 points before Michigan scored at all.
Will Campbell sacked Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron 16 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Denard Robinson ran for a touchdown and threw a 44-yard scoring pass to Devin Gardner. The Michigan uniforms looked excellent. The Wolverines wore their old school black shoes and traditional maize pants.
Honestly, there were few positives about this game. Michigan played with courage, but needed better players and better coaches to compete with the best.
Thanks to YouTube and ESPN for the broadcast of this game. As always, we own nothing, and this blog post is provided strictly for the enjoyment of readers.
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