Once again, the Alabama Crimson Tide are on top of the college football world. The Tide (ranked No. 1 in both the AP poll and the College Football Playoff rankings) beat the Ohio State Buckeyes (#3 in both) 52-24 in the CFP national title game Monday night. Alabama jumped out to a 35-17 halftime lead, fueled by 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns from Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith (who would later leave with a hand injury), and they never looked back. Here are two of Smith’s early touchdown catches:
Look at all of the pre-snap movement from DeVonta Smith, before he burns the Ohio State defense in space. He's unstoppable.
11 receptions, 173 yards (15.7 AVG), 2 touchdowns in the first half for the Heisman winner. pic.twitter.com/JQL8T9GSY9
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 12, 2021
DeVonta Smith… what more can you say?
12 receptions, 215 yards (17.9 AVG), 3 touchdowns.
IT'S STILL THE FIRST HALF. pic.twitter.com/afQeQBKkYH
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 12, 2021
On the night, Alabama quarterback Mac Jones completed 36 of 45 passes (80 percent) for 464 yards and five touchdowns, with Smith accounting for 215 of those yards and three of those touchdowns. Running back Najee Harris carried the ball 22 times for 79 yards and two touchdowns. And the Crimson Tide defense also shone, holding Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields to 17 completions on 33 attempts (51.5 percent) for 194 yards and one touchdown and six carries for 67 yards, while also limiting Buckeyes’ running back Master Teague to 65 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
Of course, Ohio State dealt with a lot of injuries and limitations here. They were missing several key players for this, including two starting defensive linemen, and they lost running back Trey Sermon early on and offensive lineman Wyatt Davis later. But Alabama had their own injury issues, including not having Smith for most of the second half. And in the end, the Tide came up with a dominant win, and claimed their sixth national championship in the last 11 years (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and now 2020).
That marked Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s seventh national title overall as a head coach (he also won at LSU in 2003). And that moved him past legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, who recorded six national titles (all with Alabama, where he coached from 1958-82). That’s a remarkable achievement, and it shows how special Saban’s run with the Crimson Tide (where he’s been coaching since 2007) has been.
[ESPN; photo by Douglas DeFelice/USA Today Sports]
