Trailing Michigan 27-20 in overtime, Alabama needed to convert on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line to extend the Rose Bowl.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe fielded a low snap, plunged into the line and was stopped well short of the end zone. It initially appeared that Milroe was stonewalled by a host of Wolverines defenders, but upon closer inspection, sophomore edge rusher Derrick Moore got to Milroe first.
Moore, a Baltimore native and St. Frances Academy graduate, gave credit to junior edge rusher Josaiah Stewart, who beat Alabama right tackle JC Latham to force Milroe back inside.
“If he didn’t blow up the tackle and trip up the quarterback, I would’ve never made the play,” Moore said on Glenn Clark Radio Jan. 3. “I feel like it wasn’t just me. It was a whole defense thing. If he wouldn’t have blown up the tackle, I would’ve never made the play. I don’t know, it probably would’ve been a 50-50 or I would have maybe won that, but he kind of helped me right there. I just feel great about it. It’s just a dream. Right now, we’re going to the natty, that’s the good thing about it.”
Indeed, No. 1 Michigan will face No. 2 Washington in the College Football Playoff championship in Houston on Jan. 8. The Huskies earned their way to the title game by outlasting Texas, 37-31. Washington is led by Heisman Trophy finalist Michael Penix Jr., a veteran gunslinger who has thrown for 4,648 yards and 35 touchdowns this season.
Moore will be tasked with making life difficult for Penix. Moore has collected 34 tackles, five sacks and two passes defensed for Michigan this season, but the 6-foot-3, 258-pound edge rusher was nearly never a Wolverine. He committed to Oklahoma ahead of his senior season at St. Frances in 2021, but former Sooners coach Lincoln Riley had moved on to USC in November. Thus, Moore backed off his commitment and reopened his recruitment.
Moore was recruited by USC but thought the school was too far from home. Former Michigan linebacker and St. Frances graduate Nikhai Hill-Green called Moore to suggest giving the Wolverines a look. Then-Michigan associate head coach Biff Poggi — Moore’s former coach at St. Frances — called an hour later and told him to visit Ann Arbor.
Moore felt comfortable right away, much like he did at Oklahoma. He believed that Michigan offered him a path to the NFL and made note of the quality of the university and alumni network. That made it an easy pivot.
“So I was like, ‘Shoot, I can’t throw this away. If I do everything right, I’m going to make it,'” Moore said. “After having a talk with my family, a talk with my coaches and Coach Biff, I ended up making the right decision and said it on the spot. I committed on the weekend [visit] up here to [Jim] Harbaugh’s face. Coach Harbaugh is a great guy. You meet him, the only thing he talks about is football. The only thing that he loves is Michigan football. He loves his players. I like that about him.”
At Michigan, Moore has reconnected with fellow St. Frances graduate Blake Corum, who has put together one of the finest careers ever for a Wolverines running back. Corum enters the championship game having rushed for 3,603 yards and 56 touchdowns throughout a four-year career in Ann Arbor.
Corum’s 2022 season ended due to a knee injury, thus the running back could not play against TCU in the CFP semifinal a year ago. Moore and Corum entered the 2023 season with a singular vision.
“During the whole entire offseason, we already had this talk. We were like, ‘Man, this is the year. If it ain’t no other year, this has got to be the year,'” Moore said. “We’ve got everybody here, everybody coming back, everybody’s healthy. He’s healthy. I’m healthy. Now we’ve just got to go and put on for the DMV and right now that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to continue to do it.”
Corum is among the veteran Wolverines likely on their last ride at Michigan before moving on. The message they sent to the team prior to the CFP semifinal against Alabama resonated with Moore, who wants to win the national championship for them.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who have been here four, five, six years,” Moore said. “As I’m listening and hearing them talk about how much everything meant to them and how much they cared about it and how they talked about how they may not ever get this opportunity again, that just made me want to go harder for my brothers. They’re never going to get this opportunity again, so I’m like, ‘All right, I’m going to lay it all on the field for these guys. I’m not even worrying about anybody else outside of the team.”
For more from Derrick Moore, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: U-M Photography