TAMPA, Fla. — Michigan’s defense sacked Jalen Milroe five times and forced three turnovers by the Alabama quarterback to lead the Wolverines to a 19-13 victory over the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Tuesday.

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

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.

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.

Takeaway

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

Up Next

Michigan: Opens next season Aug. 30 at home vs. New Mexico following a highly anticipated battle 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 will also include Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene.

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

MIDLAND, MI – The year 2024 was a stalemate of sorts for the folks on the Four Lakes Task Force.

The entity in charge of restoring the dams destroyed in the 2020 mid-Michigan flood celebrated a handful of milestones but was unable to continue some plans due to a bevy of court cases delaying proceedings.

“This year we made significant progress in construction, but unfortunately by mid-year we lost momentum in our mission to restore the Four Lakes because the pending litigation over the lake level assessment rolls has impeded our ability to obtain financing,” Four Lakes Task Force Chair and President Dave Kepler wrote in a year-end statement.

“We know how disappointing it is to end the year with work suspended on three of the four dams and suspension looming on the fourth.”

The dams were formerly owned by Boyce Hydro, an insolvent company that lost them through condemnation after the May 2020 Edenville Dam collapse and flood that caused $200 million in property damage and forced 10,000 people to evacuate.

The organization began taking steps to acquire the former Boyce Hydro dams in 2018 after federal energy regulators revoked the Edenville Dam’s power generation license.

The Four Lakes Task Force received delegated taxing authority in 2019 after legal levels were established for Tittabawassee River impoundments Wixom, Sanford, Smallwood and Secord lakes.

The group was negotiating with former Boyce Hydro owner Lee Mueller to buy the damns and perform long-deferred upgrades when a May 2020 rainstorm overwhelmed the Edenville Dam, which collapsed and unleashed the combined waters of the Tittabawassee and Tobacco rivers in a 500-year flood that inundated downtown Midland.

The flood drained the Wixom and Sanford lake impoundments. The task force later acquired all four Boyce dams through bankruptcy for $1.5 million and has since been working to rebuild the damaged Edenville and Sanford dams, and upgrade spillways and embankments at Secord and Smallwood.

The Smallwood Dam auxiliary spillway construction was completed in March. Construction on the auxiliary spillway and chute at Secord Dam wrapped up in June. In July, the Edenville Dam embankment was completed.

But then work on the dams was halted due to ongoing legal challenges over whether residents living in a special assessment district should be required to help pay for the dam repairs.

On Dec. 11, the Four Lakes Task Force as well as the Heron Cove Association, the group representing residents living in the special assessment district, argued before a panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals in connection with the challenge. The following day, attorneys for Gladwin and Midland counties and the task force appeared in federal district court in Detroit requesting dismissal of two HCA lawsuits.

Neither court has issued a ruling.

“We have legal and contractual obligations to restore the lakes and the financial capacity and permits to do so,” Kepler wrote. “The FLTF board and staff are committed to getting the project restarted as soon as we can in 2025 to fulfill our mission of restoring the lakes so property owners can enjoy them long into the future.”

Want more Bay City- and Saginaw-area news? Bookmark the local Bay City and Saginaw news page or sign up for the free “3@3″ daily newsletter for Bay City and Saginaw.

(WXYZ) — The deadline to apply for the Michigan Reconnect program is tomorrow night, December 31, at midnight.

The Reconnect program provides eligible students with a chance to work toward an associate degree or Pell-eligible skills certificate at in-district community colleges, tuition-free.

To be eligible, you just need to:

• Be at least 21 years of age.
• Apply and enroll in a community or tribal college no later than summer semester 2025.
• Complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
• Have lived in Michigan since July 1 of the previous calendar year.
• Have a high school diploma or equivalent or certificate of completion.
• Have not yet completed a college degree.

Click here for more information and to apply.