Jim Harbaugh and Michigan exorcised a lot of demons with Monday’s 27-20 overtime victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal.

It was the Wolverines’ first-ever playoff win, coming after embarrassing semifinal losses to TCU and Georgia in the previous two seasons. It was also Michigan’s first postseason victory over an SEC school since beating Florida 41-7 in the Citrus Bowl at the end of the 2015 season.

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“It’s indescribable just because the last two years being able to watch the opposing team celebrate, it’s just different when I see the maize and blue confetti on the field,” said Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the Rose Bowl’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. “I’m nothing without this head coach, nothing without my teammates, nothing without that defense. Everything was so amazing. It’s just really, really amazing.”

Prior to Monday, the Big Ten had won just three games in the CFP since the 4-team format came into being in 2014, with all three wins by Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat Alabama and Oregon to win the national title that first playoff season, then beat Clemson in a semifinal in 2020 before losing to the Crimson Tide in the title game.

The Rose Bowl victory was Michigan’s first since the 1997 team closed out a national championship run by beating Washington State 21-16 on Jan. 1, 1998. The Wolverines lost Rose Bowl games at the end of the 2003, 2004 and 2006 seasons, and had not been back to Pasadena since.

“Glorious,” Harbaugh said, when asked what the win meant to him. “It was glorious. It was a tremendous football game. Congratulate Alabama on a terrific game and their great players and coaching staff and their fans. It was an epic game. Glorious is how I feel. That was a tremendous win.”

It has been said that teams generally fail when they try to “out-Alabama” Alabama — that is, play a power game and win by controlling the line of scrimmage. But it appears the Wolverines did just that on Monday, sacking Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe six times — five times in the first half — and stuffing Milroe on a final play of overtime that will surely be dissected from now until next season.

After defensive tackle (and Rose Bowl Defensive MVP) Mason Graham stopped Alabama running back Jase McClellan for a five-yard loss on second-and-goal from the 9, Milroe hit Jermaine Burton for an 11-yard gain to the 3. That left the Crimson Tide with one play to either tie the game (or potentially go for two and the win) or hand the Wolverines the victory.

Milroe fielded a low snap and lunged up the middle, appearing to dive into a pile of bodies. He was stopped for just a 1-yard gain, ending the game and years of frustration for the Wolverines and many of their Big Ten brethren.

“We just had everybody in there,” Harbaugh said. “It was everybody. We call it ‘Twister,’ and everybody there, everybody to the ball. Similar to Alabama, every time you get inside the 5-yard line, they’re in ‘zero’ (no running backs) every down.”

Said linebacker Junior Colson, “Coach was telling us all the time, ‘This is the moment we were built for. This is the moment we come out here to play for.’ We knew exactly what was going to happen. When the moment gets tough, you go to your best player, and they went to their best player, and we were right there to stop it. We said ‘It’s 4th down, one last play,’ Everybody strained, everybody strained to the ball.”

Michigan’s offense also got off the deck after struggling most of the second half. The Wolverines drove 75 yards in eight plays to tie the game at 20 with 1:34 left, converting on fourth-and-2 with a 27-yard pass from McCarthy to Blake Corum, then overcoming a 15-yard illegal block penalty with a 16-yard run by McCarthy and a 29-yard pass from McCarthy to Roman Wilson.

McCarthy finished 17-for-27 for 227 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 4-yarder to Wilson that tied the game and forced overtime. The Wolverines took the lead for good on Corum’s 17-yard touchdown run on the second play of the extra period.

“It was a team effort, team effort,” said Corum, who rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 35 yards and another score. “We’re going to deal with adversity here. We had some adversity today, a little sloppy, but we came together as one. I’m my brothers’ keeper, and I know my brothers had my back, and I told them, ‘If we score this thing and go to overtime, we’re going to win.’ We came out on top, and I’ll see you in Houston.”

Michigan meets the Texas-Washington winner for the national title on Monday, Jan. 8, at NRG Stadium in Houston.