The Michigan football team ended 2024 the same way they started it: with a win over Alabama. The Wolverines took down the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal on January 1st, and they beat them again in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Tuesday. Alabama came into Tuesday's game favored by 16.5 points, and yet Michigan was the team that came out on top as they won 19-13.

Michigan is now getting used to getting wins as massive underdogs as they ended the regular season with a win on the road against Ohio State as 20-point underdogs. The difference against Alabama, however, was that the Wolverines were incredibly shorthanded due to opt-outs.

This game got off to a crazy start that led to a dominant first quarter for the Michigan football team. The Wolverines turned Alabama over on downs on the first drive of the game, and that led to a Michigan field goal. Then, Alabama turned the football over on three of their next four plays. They had a one-play drive resulting in a lost fumble, a two-play drive resulting in an interception and another one-play drive resulting in a lost fumble.

When all of that was said and done, Michigan was up 16-0. Remember, the Wolverines have one of the worst offenses in college football. Without these turnovers and the great field position, it would've been tough for Michigan to score points. The barrage of turnovers was something that is not often seen in football.

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“That was awesome,” Michigan fullback Max Bredeson said of the sequence, according to a post from Clayton Sayfie. “That doesn’t even feel like a real thing. We just kept on having the ball back. Yeah, that was wild. It just kept happening, and we just kept popping back up and were ready to go.”

Without those turnovers, Michigan very well could've lost this game. Alabama didn't turn it over after those three, and the Wolverines were only able score three points in quarters two, three and four. The defense continued to dominate, however, and the Crimson Tide only came away with 13 points.

This Michigan defense played at an incredibly elite level during the final few games of the season. This was without their four best defensive players, too. If this unit can replicate performances like this next year, this Wolverines team could be scary good with a revamped quarterback room.

Michigan's 2024 season is now over, and they might've had the best 8-5 season that college football has ever seen. The Wolverines beat all of their rivals, which included a fourth straight win over #2 Ohio State, and finished things off with a win over #11 Alabama. Not bad for a down year.