Alabama football will be without a key piece of its defense in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan .
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer announced Wednesday that safety Malachi Moore will miss the bowl game with an injury that has been on-going throughout the season, one he's having surgery to repair.
"He's been going through an injury pretty much a lot of the season," DeBoer said. "And (it) just got to the point where he wasn't going to play. "
DeBoer said Moore "wanted to do everything he could to get out there" and was "trying to wait it out" to see if playing gaianst Michigan was possible.
"The biggest thing I'll say is he just grinded through the year with it," DeBoer said. "It's not something recent. It's been something that's been ongoing."
Moore was named to the Associated Press All-American second team along with guard Tyler Booker after recording 70 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions and eight pass deflections.
"Love that kid to death," DeBoer said. "He's got a bright future in everything he does. Poured a lot into this place. A lot of passion, lot of want to, lot of desire. You know, a lot of things that I know the rest of our team reallly took from him and learned along the way."
DeBoer said Alabama will "mix and match" young players at the safety spot next to Bray Hubbard at the ReliaQuest Bowl including Zavier Mincey, who moved to safety in midseason.
Alabama will take on Michigan Dec. 31 in Tampa, Florida.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Malachi Moore to miss Alabama football ReliaQuest Bowl vs Michigan
