Josaiah Stewart tripped up Jalen Milroe to win the Rose Bowl: The Michigan EDGE reflects on his biggest moment
Josaiah Stewart didn’t know he had made one of the biggest plays of the Michigan football season.
The final moment of Michigan vs. Alabama, which you have surely rewatched a dozen times: On 4th-and-goal from the three-yard line, Jalen Milroe fielded a low snap and ran straight ahead into a mass of humanity at the line of scrimmage. He was stuffed — not even close to the end zone — and the Wolverines were off to the national championship game.
But why was Milroe stopped? Speaking to TMI in the moments after the final whistle, even Kenneth Grant wasn’t sure who had made the play. He was in there somewhere, but he hadn’t tackled Milroe. He guessed maybe it was Kris Jenkins, but he wasn’t even on the field. Maybe it also took Grant until the bus ride home to see Josaiah Stewart, the guy many people thought would be too small to hack it in the Big Ten, shoving the Alabama right tackle so far off the line of scrimmage that he tripped Milroe and sent the QB tumbling toward the Rose Bowl turf.
“At that point, you know he’s gonna run that ball right up the middle, especially with that back flaring out,” Stewart told TMI. “That was kind of their main thing: That QB draw. So he ran right up the middle. I’m just thinking the tackle hinges, so run right through him and close that gap down.
“I didn’t know who made the tackle till I got on the bus and I seen him get tripped up. That’s me, Derrick [Moore], the two D-tackles playing strong, physical. … It was stuffed.”
The right tackle in question was JC Latham, a former five-star prospect who is widely projected as a first-round NFL Draft pick. Stewart, for his part, was a composite three-star who transferred to Michigan after two seasons at Coastal Carolina.
Stewart was the type of player who excelled in the Sun Belt, but whose size — 6-foot-1, 245 pounds — raised questions about his potential in the Big Ten and beyond. He quieted the naysayers against Alabama, as he did throughout the back half of Michigan’s undefeated season.
“It was really just prove it to myself that I could do it. And I always knew that I could; it was a matter of actually doing it. I did that, and we got that win, and that’s what matters,” Stewart said.
“… Don’t be denied. This is a mindset as a defensive player: Only beat the man in front of you. That’s what my mindset was going into that play.”
Stewart appeared in all 15 games for the Wolverines in 2023, totaling 38 tackles — including 8.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks. He was also credited with 25 quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus, and two pass breakups.
Mike Sainristil — his former teammate at Everett (Mass.) High School — helped recruit Stewart out of the Transfer Portal to Ann Arbor.
“I was just letting him know that Josaiah, if you come here, you have the opportunity to change your life,” Sainristil recalled telling Stewart. “If you had 12 sacks in the Sun Belt, think about having seven plus in the Big Ten against the competition we play. Your ceiling is really high. Your future is right here your hands. Come here, come win a championship, come be a part of a legacy.”
After the Rose Bowl, Stewart remembered the messages he had heard from Sainristil and Michigan: “He told me that I have a chance to play in a national championship. And what do you know? We’re here now. I took his word for it. He gave me a good pitch.”
And though Sainristil is off to the NFL, Stewart will return for another year with the Wolverines. He explained that he loves U-M’s winning culture “and how serious they are about it,” and he hopes to build off a dream season.
“I can’t put it into words,” he said. “I remember my freshman year, my first year ever playing football in high school, I’m watching Alabama play Georgia and Bama wins on that final drive to DeVonta Smith. That’s a crazy experience — and now I’m actually in that. … I took every second I could to soak it in.”
Webblog: Michigan will have a hard time holding on to Jesse Minter even if Harbaugh stays
Conversations with several program sources have led me to believe the odds of keeping Jesse Minter in Ann Arbor even with a pay hike hover somewhere between slim and none.
There wasn’t a single source I spoke to who expects Minter back at Michigan next year. And the consensus among them also was he’s still far from a lock to return if Harbaugh does. About the only “lock” they see is that Harbaugh will ask Minter to be his defensive coordinator with whatever pro team goes to should he get one of those jobs. Simply put, Minter is in heavy demand in the pros. Heavy! And that’s because the prevalent sentiment among coaches I talk to is that Minter is elite.
Case in point is one of the coaching opinions I respect most, that of Vance Bedford. Vance’s extensive coaching experience in college and the pros, combined with his comprehensive breakdowns of every Michigan game the last three years give him one of the most informed opinions of Minter’s coaching acumen that you’ll find. Vance was very complimentary of Minter, and he’s not quick to pass out compliments. He said Minter is “head and shoulders” above other coordinators in college football. He said Minter is “way out front… he was out front of even Nick Saban.”
College football’s mystery teams: Alabama, Michigan among programs with unclear 2024 expectations
This offseason has already been one for the books. Transfer portal theatrics dominated the early portion of the offseason before Nick Saban’s retirement at Alabama rocked the college football world to its core. His retirement sparked an avalanche of major coaching changes, and several programs directly linked to the fallout made our list of mystery teams for the 2024 season.
How will Alabama perform under Kalen DeBoer in year one, especially with the exodus of talent that’s left the program over the last week? Can Jedd Fisch pick up the pieces at Washington with the Huskies returning just two starters from a team that made an appearance in the College Football Playoff title game?
What about CFP champion Michigan, which lost stars J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corum to the NFL Draft and is also at risk of losing head coach Jim Harbaugh to the pros. Colorado made this list last year and, along with several other teams, will enter the 2024 season with more questions than answers.
Here are college football’s mystery teams for the 2024 season:
Colorado found itself on this last season after the biggest roster overhaul in college football history. The Buffaloes are on it again, thanks to another tumultuous offseason where 23 transfer additions have replaced 12 departures. Deion Sanders is rolling with Pat Shurmur at offensive coordinator after Sean Lewis left for San Diego State and has yet to hire a new defensive coordinator following Charles Kelly’s departure for Auburn. The team returns starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter, but it’s hard to tell how Sanders’ other pieces will mesh with new coordinators.
Michigan State dismissing Mel Tucker so early meant the Spartans could take their time with a search, and they managed to land Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith. The hire has been tabbed a “home run” by CBS Sports, but don’t expect the Spartans to instantly contend in the Big Ten. Landing quarterback Aidan Chiles in the transfer portal should help Smith and Co. hit the ground running in East Lansing, but there are still question marks all over the roster after a 4-8 finish in 2023.
The national spotlight has been centered on Alabama’s exodus of talent following Nick Saban’s retirement, but Washington has had it far worse. The College Football Playoff runner-up lost its coaching staff and 30 players from its two-deep. Only two starters are currently set to return next season. Hiring Jedd Fisch from Arizona was a move in the right direction, but he’s got a total rebuild on his hands, and it couldn’t come at a worse time as the program starts Big Ten play in 2024.
The Joe Milton experiment is over after a lackluster 2023 campaign that saw the Volunteers’ momentum slip after an impressive 2022 season. Tennessee hopes former five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava can transform the Volunteers’ offense back into the juggernaut it was under Hendon Hooker. Iamaleava looked the part during the team’s bowl win over Iowa. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown and ran in three more scores. 247Sports’ Brad Crawford wrote Tennessee “can finish anywhere from 8-4 to 11-1” with Iamaleava at quarterback.
Poor quarterback play plagued Nebraska in its first year under Matt Rhule as the Huskers went 5-7 and finished fourth in the Big Ten West. It looks like Rhule is gaining some traction on the recruiting trail. He flipped five-star quarterback and 2024’s No. 2 overall prospect Dylan Raiola from Georgia, instantly elevating the Huskers’ ceiling for the next two or three seasons. The team didn’t add nor lose much in the portal and rolls into 2024 with a fairly-intact coaching staff. It’s uncertain whether Raiola starts next season or if he can turn Nebraska into a contender if he does.
The Tar Heels mustered an 8-5 record this season despite fielding one of college football’s premier quarterbacks in Drake Maye. The team has questions under center for the first time since Mack Brown’s return. Redshirt freshman Conner Harrell didn’t inspire much confidence in the bowl loss to West Virginia, and Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson hasn’t played near the caliber of ball UNC’s fans have become accustomed to under Maye and Sam Howell. Tight end Jake Johnson was a strong addition in an otherwise underwhelming transfer class. There are also questions surrounding how the defense will perform under new DC Geoff Collins and without linebacker Cedric Gray.
Ann Arbor holds its collective breath as Jim Harbaugh flirts with multiple NFL gigs this offseason. Harbaugh’s future is unclear, and his departure could spur an exodus of talent to the portal a la Alabama and Washington. The Wolverines are also dealing with multiple investigations into the program, most notably the one stemming from the sign-stealing scandal that broke during the regular season. Toss losing starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy and star running back Blake Corum, and it becomes even harder to speculate what Michigan will look like next fall.
The Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher near the end of the regular season and nabbed Mike Elko after two strong seasons at Duke. Texas A&M has completely flipped its roster this offseason. The Aggies have lost 18 players to the portal but boast the No. 1 transfer class in the nation with 22 commits. New offensive coordinator Collin Klein was an intriguing hire but had just two years of play-calling experience at Kansas State. New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman fell out of favor at North Carolina before spending the last year as the inside linebackers coach at Florida.
The Crimson Tide lost its legendary head coach to retirement and suffered multiple major transfer portal departures in the aftermath. It’s a new era of Alabama football, but there are few reasons to suggest the program won’t contend in the SEC in Kaleb DeBoer’s first season at the helm. He still has plenty of talent to work with and many might be underestimating the potency of DeBoer’s pairing with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who follows him to Tuscaloosa. Will the 2024 Tide meet the program’s lofty standards under Nick Saban? Time will tell.
