Good morning from a still-dark hotel room where we’re still waiting to see if the sun will rise.

Alabama lost the Rose Bowl semifinal, 27-20 to Michigan in overtime so stay tuned.

As we wait on the possible dawn, a few postscripts from a last-of-its-kind week.

A lot’s been made of the immediate aftermath of the loss. A video I posted on the platform we once knew as Twitter’s drew a sharp reaction regarding Jalen Milroe’s response to the final play.

The Alabama quarterback was flat on his stomach for a second or two before walking briskly and emotionally the full length of the field to the Crimson Tide dressing room. He was despondent, flanked at first by offensive lineman Tyler Booker and then an Alabama staffer.

A Michigan coach found him for a quick hug followed by handshakes from two Wolverine players but the criticism came with calls of poor sportsmanship. That’s fair to some degree. He didn’t seek out Michigan starter JJ McCarthy as seems to be customary but it’s important to remember the moment and stakes.

It’s hard to fully understand the full scope of that moment without being on the field. This wasn’t the case of kneel-down, clock-rolling ending. Milroe’s season ended with the ball in his hands on fourth down in overtime. That’s the kind of adrenaline and emotion cocktail most social media users — myself included — can’t fully comprehend.

But standing in that heavy scene on the field with a stadium roaring, fight song playing, confetti falling, getting to the locker room ASAP didn’t feel unreasonable holding an iPhone a few feet away.

It’s hard to overstate the beauty of the Rose Bowl or how perfect Monday’s weather was.

No doubt the TV broadcast did its best, but there’s nothing like experiencing a New Year’s on an immaculate Rose Bowl afternoon. Even the most jaded of us writers were in awe of the moment pregame and as the sun set on the San Gabriel Mountains.

None of this is by accident. The Rose Bowl curates and cultivates its image on a level perhaps equaled only by The Masters and Augusta National. They’re iconic venues with classic branding that lives up to the hype. Keep in mind this classic stadium lacks some creature comforts of modern stadiums but the charm of it makes this game a bucket list must for the sports fan in your life.

One of the perks of the press credential is sideline access in the final five minutes of the game. In our case, it meant jogging down stadium steps just after Will Reichard’s 52-yard field goal gave Alabama a 20-13 lead with just under 5 to play. We had to cut through practically all Michigan fans and the spirits were low.

After thoroughly outplaying Alabama in the first half, the Wolverine offense had almost nothing to show for its second-half effort. It couldn’t take advantage of Milroe’s fourth-quarter fumble, missing a field goal that seemed to have Alabama primed to finish the job. The door was left open when that subsequent drive stalled and Reichard’s field goal made overtime the worst-case scenario.

The feel on the Alabama sideline in that moment didn’t put that ultimate reality high on the list of possibilities. The crimson corner of the Rose Bowl was a party, one defensive stop for sending the heavy-majority Michigan crowd home humbled again. A tipped pass on third down was nearly intercepted not Michigan had one final breathe — one that flipped the whole place on its head.

The second Blake Corum caught McCarthy’s quick pass in the clear, an air of inevitability swept from Alabama’s sideline to Michigan’s. The 27-yard gain sent the Wolverine fans into a frenzy that never really subsided. The place was loud — not quite Georgia playing in Atlanta, but not far terribly far from it. That end zone was particularly raucous so when the overtime coin toss sent the action back to that end of the field, Alabama’s fate felt sealed. Body language was poor, not as bad as the tackling, but it was hard to believe the Crimson Tide was going to finish the job after Corum’s fourth-down conversion set the dominos in motion.

— Quite a day for freshman Justice Haynes. The former five-star freshman hadn’t seen many meaningful snaps but he was impressive, running the ball four times for 31 yards in the second half. He figures to have a bright future moving forward.

— Also part of the immediate aftermath video was right tackle JC Latham down on the ground injured. In the locker room, he said it was his ankle but the likely first-round pick in this spring’s draft didn’t appear to be limping in the locker room and he didn’t mention an injury in a brief interview.

— Perhaps the player of the game for Alabama was punter James Burnip. The Aussie booted it seven times for an average of 50.3 yards. That included a long of 62 with five downed inside the 20. He too was on the turf injured in the first quarter but he told me in the locker room he was fine. A Michigan player clipped his punting leg on the way by attempting a block but it didn’t cause much damage ultimately.

Update: The sun rose.

Life continues and there’s a flight to catch so I better get moving. More to come. Thanks for reading. See you back in Alabama.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.