After memorable Rose Bowl score, Tyler Morris ready to ‘step up,’ ‘play a bigger role’ with Michigan in 2024
Michigan football’s Tyler Morris scored his first touchdown in the Rose Bowl against Alabama
In the Rose Bowl, wide receiver Tyler Morris of Michigan saved his first college score for the biggest moment by outpacing Alabama defenders to the pylon and scoring an important touchdown that gave the Wolverines the lead in the first half.
The play completed a 197-yard, 13-reception season for the sophomore wide receiver, which may not have been the best on paper, but it did show potential as Morris gets ready for more plays and greater responsibility in 2024.
Given that Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson, who led U-M in receptions, are heading to the NFL, Morris told TMI, “I’ve thought about it for sure,” regarding his role next year.
The former four-star prospect knows he should be hitting his stride. Morris missed his senior season at Nazareth (Ill.) Academy due to an ACL injury that also hampered the beginning of his Michigan career. Then he spent most of his sophomore year behind Wilson and Johnson in an offense that leaned heavily on its running game and tight ends.
He knows 2024 should be a bigger year.
“I’ve grown a lot, because the last time I played high school before college was spring of junior year. I missed a lot of football,” Morris said. “I didn’t get to play a lot junior year — we played three games, I think.
“Everything just with detail: routes, toughness, blocking and all that stuff, I think I’ve definitely grown in all that. Going into next year, I think it should be a big year for me with CJ and Roman being gone. I have to step up. I’ve got to play a bigger role and I’m ready for it.”
No moment raised expectations more than the touchdown against the Crimson Tide. Morris ran a shallow crossing route, and the pattern and Alabama’s defense matched him against Deontae Lawson, a linebacker. McCarthy hit Morris in stride, and the receiver knew he had an opportunity to keep running for a long time.
“Once I was coming across, I could see [Lawson] out of the corner of my eye,” Morris said. “… I seen him coming down. And I seen there was nobody in front of me. So I just kept running.”
The sophomore wideout easily beat Lawson to the sideline for the first down, and he turned upfield as he crossed the 30-yard line. Then, Morris showed off some of that Big Ten speed: Not only did he accelerate past Lawson, but he got a step on DB Jaylen Key, whose route and effort left him in bad position to make a play.
Key made contact with Morris inches from the sideline at the 10-yard line. Most times, the ball-carrier would’ve been knocked out of bounds — but not Tyler Morris, who stayed in the green and tumbled into the pylon.
The play was the first and only college touchdown between former high school teammates J.J. McCarthy and Morris.
“Honestly, I think it was perfect timing: The biggest game of the year, and arguably in Michigan history,” Morris
stated. “To review, we’ve known each other since he was 13 or 14 years old. It was particularly memorable because it was our first touchdown together as college students.
It was particularly noteworthy as it occurred in both the College Football Playoffs and the Rose Bowl, the Granddaddy of Them All. Approximately 27.2 million viewers witnessed Morris’ touchdown in the NCAA football season’s most watched game.
Sometimes, as when you play in the Rose Bowl, you have to step back and realize exactly what you’re doing. Millions of people will be watching, according to Morris. “When you step back and give it some thought, it’s kind of crazy.”
