According to head coach Kalen DeBoer on Wednesday afternoon, Alabama Crimson Tide starting safety Malachi Moore will miss the ReliaQuest Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines due to an injury.
“Malachi Moore, he’s been going through an injury pretty much a lot of the season,” DeBoer said. “Just got to the point where he wasn’t going to be able to play, so just kind of putting that out there. He’s having surgery actually today. He wanted to do everything he could to get out there, was trying to wait it out to see if it could possibly be something he’s able to participate in. Probably the biggest thing I’ll say is he just grinded through the year with it. It’s not something recent, it’s been something that’s been ongoing. Maybe some kind of saw or felt something like that.”
A graduate student, the game vs. Michigan would have been Moore’s last of his lengthy Alabama career, meaning that the veteran safety’s time with the Crimson Tide has now officially come to an end.
Moore leaves Tuscaloosa as one of the more experienced Alabama safeties in recent program history, spending five seasons with the Crimson Tide dating back to his freshman year in 2020. Over those five years, Moore was a multi-year starter in Alabama’s secondary, and leaves Tuscaloosa with a combined stat line of 214 tackles, 16 TFL, 2.5 sacks, seven interceptions, 25 PD, two fumble recoveries, and three forced fumbles, as well as with one national championship in 2020.
This season, Moore had a career-year for the Crimson Tide where he started in 12 games, amassing a career-high 70 tackles with three TFL, one sack, two interceptions, eight PD, one fumble recovery, and two forced fumbles.
“Just hats off to how much he loves this place, how bad he wanted to be out there on the field each-and-every Saturday, and even how bad he wanted to be out there with these guys and finish off his career for the bowl game,” DeBoer said. “Unfortunately we’re not gonna have him. Love that kid to death. He has a bright future in everything he does. He poured a lot into this place, a lot of passion, a lot of want-to, a lot of desire. A lot of things that I know the rest of our team really took from him and learned along the way.”
Alabama will play Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31, with kickoff set for 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama starter to reportedly miss ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Michigan due to injury
