NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Brandon Miller scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama smothered No. 18 Texas A&AM 82-63 on Sunday for the Crimson Tide's second Southeastern Conference tournament championship in three seasons.
The Crimson Tide also capped their second SEC double dip in three seasons after picking up their regular-season trophy before Friday's quarterfinals. The Tide (29-5) extended the program record for wins while adding its eighth tournament title in its 15th appearance; both are second only to Kentucky in the SEC.
Miller, the tournament MVP and AP All-SEC player and newcomer of the year, posted his ninth double-double of the season. Jahvon Quinerly, who was 0-of-9 shooting with one point in the semifinal, made his first three 3s and scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half. Charles Bediako had 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The second-seeded Aggies (25-9) dropped to 0-3 in the tournament finale, losing for a second straight year. Dexter Dennis led Texas A&M with 14 points, Wade Taylor IV had 13 and Tyrece Radford 12.
Alabama snapped a five-game skid to Texas A&M, which included a 67-61 loss in College Station on March 4 in the regular season.
Mark Sears opened with a 3-pointer, and Alabama never trailed, making four of its first six 3s. The Tide led by as many as 33-17 with 4:10 left on a pair of free throws by Miller and 34-23 at halftime.
The Aggies could not knock down shots, shooting a season-low 29.7% (19-of-64) from the floor, and never got closer than nine in the second half.
The Tide padded their lead to as much as 25 before coach Nate Oats pulled his starters.
Alabama is chasing a top seeding in the NCAA tournament despite a season that has been challenging. Former Tide player Darius Miles and another man were indicted earlier this week on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
In February, an investigator testified that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun. Police also said that Jaden Bradley also was at the scene. Neither Miller nor Bradley have been charged, and both have been playing -- Miller, especially.
NEW ORLEANS - The No. 5/5/5 Alabama football team secured a 45-20 win over No. 9/11/9 Kansas State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Crimson Tide's victory at the Caesars Superdome helped UA finish 11-2 on the season.
Alabama fell behind early with Kansas State gaining a 10-0 lead in the first 12 minutes. The Tide countered with 35 unanswered points to make it a 35-10 game before the Wildcats narrowed the gap on a field goal late in the third. Alabama then put the game well out of reach thanks to a touchdown to close out the third quarter and a field goal from Will Reichard early in the fourth.
Quarterback Bryce Young was named the game's Most Valuable Player with an impressive five-touchdown effort. The junior finished an efficient 15-of-21 for 321 yards to go with the five scores. He connected with seven different receivers overall, five of which scored a touchdown. Tight end Cameron Latu led in receptions with five for 54 yards and a score while Jermaine Burton paced UA in yards at 87 on his three catches, adding a touchdown of his own.
Jahmyr Gibbs highlighted the Tide running backs with 15 carries for 76 yards followed by Jase McClellan who rushed seven times for 42 yards and a score. Gibbs also added two receptions for 66 yards and a pair of kickoff returns for 31 yards to total a game-high 173 all-purpose yards.
The Crimson Tide defense intercepted two passes while limiting the Wildcats to only 210 yards through the air. Jordan Battle picked off the first pass and finished with nine total tackles, including half a stop for loss (-2 yards). Brian Branch recorded UA's second pick and paired the turnover with 12 tackles, including a sack (-9 yards) and a game-high four tackles for loss (-22 yards). DeMarcco Hellams led all defenders with 13 stops.
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Said
"There was a team out there today that cared – cared about how they played; cared about the pride they had in their performance; cared about each other – and they prevailed because of that. I think that (mentality) started way back when we started practice. There are a lot of guys on this team, including these two guys that are sitting next to me (Will Anderson Jr. and Bryce Young) that have given a lot to this program. The way the team performed out there together as a group, they had something to prove."
Notes
Alabama's matchup with Kansas State marked the Crimson Tide's 17th in the Sugar Bowl – the most by UA in any bowl and eight better than the Cotton, which holds second place at nine. Alabama owns a 10-7 all-time mark in the Sugar Bowl.
Since head coach Nick Saban's arrival in 2007, Alabama has played in 26 games that kicked off at 11:30 a.m. CT or earlier. The Crimson Tide is a perfect 26-0 in those matchups, including a 3-0 mark this season. Alabama first secured a 20-19 win at then-No. 22 Texas on Sept. 10 before defeating Austin Peay, 34-0, on Nov. 19 in the Tide's final non-conference matchup of the regular season.
The win over K-State was Saban's 23rd career victory by 25-plus points against a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and his 25th win by 20-plus points against a top-15 opponent in the AP Poll. He is the NCAA's all-time record holder in both categories.
With his five touchdown passes, Bryce Young now has 80 career passing touchdowns to move past AJ McCarron (77) into second on the school's all-time list. Young trails only Tua Tagovailoa's 87.
After starting the game 1-for-4, Young finished his day 14-of-17 for 315 yards and five touchdowns.
Young's five touchdown passes in the contest set an Alabama bowl record. It also matched Mac Jones' five touchdown throws against Ohio State in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Game for the most by a Crimson Tide quarterback in a postseason game (bowl and College Football Playoff).
Young's five touchdown passes matched his career-high total for a single game. The junior has thrown for five scores on four previous occasions, including most recently against Utah State in the 2022 season opener.
With his first touchdown pass in the second quarter, Young has thrown for at least one touchdown across all 27 games that he has started for the Crimson Tide
With his two receptions, Jahmyr Gibbs finished second for catches by a Crimson Tide running back in a single season at 44. The program record is 48 by Kevin Turner with Gibbs moving past Najee Harris (43) in today's game.
How It Happened
First Quarter
06:17 – KS | Kansas State took its second drive of the game 38 yards on 11 plays for the first points of the contest, a 41-yard field goal off the foot of Ty Zentner
03:26 – KS | Deuce Vaughn ran it 88 yards on the first play of Kansas State's ensuing drive to stake his team to a 10-0 lead
00:32 – UA | Helped by a 60-yard pass play from Bryce Young to Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama finished off a six-play, 69-yard drive that took 2:46 off the clock and was capped by a six-yard touchdown by Isaiah Bond
Second Quarter
11:33 – UA | Another big play – this time a 47-yard pass-and-catch from Young to Jermaine Burton – set up a one-yard touchdown reception for Cameron Latu to cap a six-play, 63-yard drive that lasted 3:09
00:10 – UA | The Tide finished the half with a 98-yard drive that took just seven plays and 58 seconds when it was capped by a 12-yard touchdown catch by Jermaine Burton to put Alabama ahead 21-10 at intermission
Third Quarter
13:54 – UA | After recovering an onside kick attempt, Alabama took advantage of the short field by moving 46 yards on six plays in 1:05 when Young found Ja'Corey Brooks for a 32-yard touchdown reception
13:00 – UA | A Brian Branch interception set up the Tide at Kansas State's 17-yard line when Jase McClellan scored the ensuing play which resulted in UA's fifth consecutive touchdown drive
06:33 – KS | The Wildcats went 54 yards in eight plays and 2:17, capped by a 28-yard field goal from Zentner
00:00 – UA | Alabama ended the quarter with Kobe Prentice scoring on a 47-yard catch-and-run to the house, finishing off a three-play, 51-yard drive that took only 1:33 off the clock
Fourth Quarter
11:10 – UA | Will Reichard converted a 49-yard field goal to finish off a six-play, 14-yard drive in 2:31
03:06 – KS | Jordan Schippers plunged into the end zone from one-yard out to cap a 10-play drive that lasted 4:27 and spanned 71 yards.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Have no pity for Cincinnati. The Bearcats wanted to be in the big room with the big boys of college football, and on a big afternoon in Big D they were there, in a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with the biggest program of them all.
And what happened to the fourth-ranked Bearcats, the first non-Power 5 participant in the eight-year CFP era, was the same fate that has befallen nearly all those who came before them, a roster of brokenhearted teams not from the upstart AAC but hailing from the biggest brand-name, high-dollar conferences.
Yeah, UC, don't feel too bad. Alabama drubbed all of them too.
There will be those who will try to use Cincy's 27-6 loss in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic as a platform for their "No one but Power 5 teams from here on out!" arguments. But anyone who watched Friday's game without that preset attitude saw that Cincinnati, which will be a Big 12 member in the near future, laid enough hard licks and came within a few inches on enough close plays (that near recovery of a muffed Bama punt return late in the second quarter of an 11-point game, argh!) to show that the Bearcats deserved to be in Dallas this New Year's Eve.
"So many of those plays were just inches away," Cincinnati linebacker Joel Dublanko bemoaned after the game. "A couple of missed tackles here and there that really cost us. I think we absolutely belong in this game."
If the current and future members of the CFP selection committee were really watching, then they certainly saw cause to be more open-minded about other outlier teams in the future ... well, at least until the playoff finally expands to include them anyway. Then again, who knows? Before including the Bearcats this year, they seemed to work pretty hard to keep the outsiders, well, outside.
"We weren't carrying the flag for anyone but ourselves," Cincy quarterback Desmond Ridder said after being held to 144 yards passing and minus-6 yards rushing. "We wanted it to end differently, wish it could've ended differently. So I'm hoping there are other so-called Group of 5 teams or teams from any conference that can make it in the playoff and show they can compete with the best of the best."
To be clear, the best of the best is still Alabama, aka the defending national champion. Cincinnati competed with the Tide as well as anyone has, which is to say not so much at all.
This was the sixth time that Bama had opened the CFP as the No. 1 team and faced the No. 4 squad. The Tide are now 5-1 in those games, with the only loss coming to eventual national champ Ohio State in the inaugural 2014 CFP. The next four wins came by double digits, over Michigan State (38-0), Washington (24-7), Oklahoma (45-34) and Notre Dame (31-14). On Friday, Cincinnati became the fifth member of that college football blue-blooded but red-faced club.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban came to the 2021 Cotton Bowl with a 5-0 record at AT&T Stadium at the helm of the Tide, with an 8-3 overall CFP mark, a 64-7 record against non-SEC opponents and a 74-8 tally in nonconference plus postseason games. On Friday, Cincinnati added one more Bama win to each of those records.
So, no, Cincinnati, there is nothing fun about one's bandwagon blowing out all four tires and lurching into a ditch. But perhaps it won't sting so badly when you look around that ditch and realize that your fellow residents of the wreckage also include the likes of Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson.
What might hurt is when the Bearcats go back and look at the film of the biggest bowl appearance in the program's nearly 140-year history. They will see in high definition that Alabama's playbook for Cincy was right out of the Tide's typical nonconference playbook: pounding and punching early and often to wear down the legs and psyches of their opponent's thinner roster by the second half.
The Tide opened the game with 10 consecutive run plays. They ran it 47 times in all, nearly twice the number of pass attempts, and monster trucked their way to an Alabama bowl-record 301 yards rushing. By the second half, some wondered why Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young wasn't a larger part of the Bama game plan. His 17 completions, 28 attempts and 181 yards were his lowest outputs of the season. He also threw only his second interception of the year. But he also threw a trio of touchdown passes, the only three times Alabama reached the end zone all night.
Bama implemented its sleeper-hold offense, slowly choking out Cincinnati by methodically and physically moving the ball and letting Will Anderson Jr. take a highlighter pen to his "Why wasn't I on y'all's Heisman ballots?!" essay. The Tide's defense allowed only six points and 218 yards, only 74 of which came on the ground.
Those who will try to argue that Cincinnati didn't belong in the four-team CFP field will point to Bama's approach as the same one the Tide use to routinely drag down the likes of Southern Miss and Mercer. But it's also how they routinely wear down a lot of big-box SEC opponents, as well as every single one of those previous CFP semifinal foes.
An embarrassing night for Cincinnati? Not a chance. That 2015 Michigan State team would take the Bearcats' loss over its own anytime. For that matter, Georgia might even take it over its collapse against Bama in the SEC championship game one month ago.
The Dawgs will have plenty more chances for revenge against the Tide. So might the Spartans. Let's hope that Cincinnati's Cotton Bowl showing earns the Bearcats another shot somewhere down the road, and if not for them, for the next would-be CFP party-crasher.
"I told them I do not want to see them hang their heads," Cincy coach Luke Fickell said. "Because when you get beat like that, there's times you start to wonder why. We never pointed a finger and won't start to point a finger. Those guys deserve the very best."
On Friday they got it. The best team playing in the middle of the best era ever in the 152-year annals of the sport. No one worth their gridiron salt believes in moral victories. But they damn sure believe in losses that can be used to build toward more actual wins on the scoreboard.
"The only thing we can do is learn," preached Ridder, who in all likelihood has played his last game with the Bearcats. "These guys are going to take it in, watch the film and continue to get better and continue and grow and continue to be a greater Cincinnati team in years to come."
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- — Skip calling Alabama simply a football school anymore. The Crimson Tide have courted a new moniker they think fits so much better.
Just call them a Championship School.
Herbert Jones drove for a go-ahead layup with 19.5 seconds and No. 6 Alabama won the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 1991, holding off a late flurry to edge LSU 80-79 Sunday.
Coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide added to their regular-season title with a victory that helped Alabama match its highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament. The Tide, which was No. 2 in both 1987 and 2002, is seeded second and will play Iona on Saturday.
Alabama, the reigning national champions in football, won its seventh tournament title overall, second in the SEC only to Kentucky's 31. The Crimson Tide (24-6) hadn't even reached this game since 2002.
Now they've joined Florida (2006-07) as the only SEC schools with both the league football and basketball titles in the same year. Alabama did it by adding two more SEC titles in basketball after Nick Saban's squad won both the SEC and national championships a couple months ago.
Oats noted Alabama football set the new name Saturday, referring to the Tide on Twitter as a " CHAMPIONSHIP SCHOOL."
"So we don't have to be a football school or a basketball school," Oats said. "We just win championships. We're a championship school."
The basketball team now has its sights set on another title.
"I have full faith that we can take this thing, take the NCAA tournament by storm and win the whole thing," Alabama guard and tournament MVP Jahvon Quinerly said.
Alabama still needed its defense after Jones went a long way down the lane for his shot.
Keon Ellis blocked a shot by LSU's Javonte Smart and the Tigers took a timeout with just over seven seconds left to set up the final attempt.
After the inbounds pass went astray and nearly to midcourt, Trendon Watford's 3 was well short of the rim. Aundre Hyatt's putback hit the back of the rim and bounced out and LSU couldn't get another good shot off in the scramble before the buzzer.
That set off yet another Alabama celebration — this time on the basketball court.
"I just know we had to stop them from scoring that last seven seconds, no matter what we had to do, who did it, somebody just had to get them stop," Alabama senior guard John Petty Jr. said. "And we did. And we champs."
Hyatt, meanwhile, was on the floor with his head in his hands. Watford was on his knees and slammed the court with a hand. Smart said he thought Hyatt's shot went in, calling it "crazy" it rimmed out.
"This is a hard one to take, losing by one with that many opportunities to win the game," Smart said. "We gave it all we got. We really wanted this win."
Jones, both the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Jaden Shackelford led Alabama with 21 points, and Ellis and Quinerly each had 14.
LSU (18-9) hadn't won this tournament since 1980, and this was the Tigers' first time in the final since 1993. LSU coach Will Wade said the final sequence wound up starting too far out but liked that they had the shot from 3 and two more up close.
"We just missed, a little bit short there at the end," Wade said.
Watford finished with a career-high 30 points for LSU. Smart added 21 and Cameron Thomas had 18.
About 20 minutes before tip-off, Alabama and LSU players had to be separated at midcourt. That was just a preview of the taut battle to follow.
Alabama scored the first eight points of the game only to see LSU answer with a 15-5 run of its own to take a 15-13 lead on Thomas' third 3 of the game. Alabama scored the final seven of the half and took a 40-37 lead into halftime.
Neither team led by more than four in the second half. Alabama was up 56-52 on a free throw by Jones. Smart hit back-to-back 3s with Thomas scoring on a layup, giving LSU a 60-56 lead midway through the half.
Shackelford answered with his own back-to-back 3s before Gary's layup made it 64-60 with 8:20 left.
Shackelford hit his fifth 3 with 6:54 to go giving Alabama its biggest lead since the opening minutes at 69-63. But LSU, especially Watford or Smart, kept answering to set up the thrilling finish.
BIG PICTURE
LSU: This was the Tigers' third loss this season to Alabama, but easily the tightest. The Tigers took very good care of the ball with only five turnovers that Alabama turned into six points. But the second-highest scoring team in the SEC couldn't make the shot at the end to win.
Alabama: The Tide's starters had plenty of help, outscoring LSU 28-0 in bench points. The Tide also outrebounded LSU 50-43.
UP NEXT
LSU, ready to make to make consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2005 and 2006, planned to stay in Nashville and travel Monday to Indiana.
Alabama will make the 21st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Tide planned to travel to Indiana after the bracket announcement.
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Follow Teresa M. Walker at https://twitter.com/TeresaMWalker
No. 1 Alabama has returned to the top of the college football mountain, rolling to the 18th national title in program history with a dominant 52-24 win over No. 3 Ohio State in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship. Undefeated at 13-0 and unchallenged through much of the season, the Crimson Tide put themselves in a special light even among the program's six national championship-winning teams to play for Nick Saban.
The departures of multiple stars put the spotlight on an offense that had plenty to replace, but quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris and especially Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver Devonta Smith more than answered the call as they led one of the best offenses in Alabama history and showed out for the biggest game of the year with 621 yards of total offense. Their 52 points are the most ever scored by Alabama in a national title game and the most in a Crimson Tide bowl game since 1953.
Smith was nearly unstoppable, pulling in 12 catches on his first 13 targets for 215 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game with a hand injury. Jones got banged up a little bit as well but still finished with 464 yards and five touchdowns on 36-of-45 passing.
Harris, who like Smith was one of the few current Alabama players to be on the team during its last national title run, was an all-purpose machine with 178 yards from scrimmage (79 rushing, 79 receiving) and three total touchdowns.
Ohio State entered the game with a chip on its shoulder fermented through weeks of doubt regarding its status as one of the best teams in the country. Playing less games than those in the ACC and SEC brought out plenty of criticism and nitpicking from the Buckeyes' body of work, but most of those questions were silenced in a dominant win against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl semifinal to book a spot in Monday night's title game. There were notable setbacks, like starting running back Trey Sermon leaving the game after one drive with an injury and having numerous players unavailable (some a result of COVID-19 protocol), but the lopsided result was more a reflection of Alabama's distance from the rest of the sport int his 2020 season.
Keep on reading for takeaways from the 2021 CFP National Championship.
1. Ohio State's absences were notable, not game-changing
Even prior to Sermon's injury, the Buckeyes had starting nose tackle Tommy Togiai, starting defensive end Tyreke Smith and starting kicker Blake Haubeil among the 13 players listed as out on their availability report. Having two starting defensive linemen wouldn't have helped the mismatches Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian drew up for Smith in the first half, but those are key pieces to what has been an elite run defense and important bodies in a rotation that was needed as Alabama's play count continued to tick up in the second half.
Sermon, who had set a school record with more than 500 rushing yards across two outings in the Big Ten Championship Game and the Sugar Bowl, suffering an injury in the first quarter and was unable to reenter the game. His replacement, Master Teague, was strong enough though, scoring two touchdowns.
The final total may not reflect it, but this was a two-score game midway through the third quarter and could have been a terrific comeback if the Buckeyes could get some stops. A couple Tide touchdowns later, the rout was back on and the result was not in doubt.
2. The 2020 Tide join the debate for best team ever
One year after Joe Burrow and LSU made all of college football wonder where the Tigers ranked among the best offenses and best teams in college football history, Alabama has immediately added an entry into that debate. The season totals won't match the Tigers with three less games, but the averages and accolades are comparable.
Smith has been unique in ways that may exceed a team-wide comparison, but so was Burrow during his similarly transcendent season. The two teams will be debated and compared for years to come, but what follows will be a tiebreaker for fans in the SEC West. Alabama may see an NFL Draft exodus on par with LSU's a year ago -- it is similarly losing a top offensive coach with Sarkisian off to Texas -- but it would be out of character to see a significant step back following this return to the top of the sport. Saban has embraced modern offense and winning by overwhelming your opponent with skill position talent. When the greatest coach in college football history has gone all in on innovation, that's a wrap for pretty much everyone else in the sport for a few years.
3. Ohio State leaving points on the board may have cost it
Of the many "what-ifs" for Ohio State fans will be a few situational decisions by the Buckeyes during the Alabama onslaught that was the first half. Ohio State punted from the Alabama 44-yard line down 14-7 early in the second quarter, but it was bailed out by Jones' subsequent fumble, giving the Buckeyes an opportunity to score anyway. Later, they settled for a field goal from the 6-yard line at the end of a nine-play drive instead of going for a game-tying touchdown. Following that, Ohio State had back-to-back three-and-outs before finishing the half by running out the clock.
The lack of stops by the Buckeyes defense combined with Smith's incredible first-half stat line dominated the conversation, but there were points where it seemed like Ohio State could have taken a few more risks offensively and been in a better position when it mounted a comeback effort in the third quarter.
4. A record-setting evening
Alabama finished out the season averaging 48.5 points per game, the most in SEC history, and Smith rounded out SEC records for the most receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a single season along with the SEC career receiving yards record. Jones not only holds several Alabama records already but after the game he solidified a new FBS record for completion percentage (77.4%) and his 464 passing yards are the most in a championship game in the BCS/CFP era. Adding to the ridiculous records to either be extended or fall tonight was Najee Harris tying the SEC record for most career touchdowns (57) and setting the new single-season touchdowns mark (30).
Perhaps even more impressive is that Nick Saban now holds the solo record for most national championships in the poll era, and the fact that of those seven title-winning teams only two were undefeated at the end of the year. The first was 2009, his first title with the Tide, and the other is the 2020 team that re-claimed the crown Monday night. This was a special team and its mark will be left on Alabama, and college football, forever.
DeVonta Smith became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991. The 6-1, 175-pounder is the first non-quarterback-or-running back to win the Heisman since cornerback Charles Woodson won in 1997.
Smith, a fourth-year senior, was named the 2020 SEC Offensive Player of the Year while joining teammate Mac Jones in leading Alabama to the SEC title and the top seed in the College Football Playoff.
Smith led the country with 98 receptions and 1,511 receiving yards while his 17 TD catches and 137.4 receiving yards per game were both second-best. His 8.9 receptions per game tied for second best. He posted four games with 11 or more receptions, including a career-best and SEC title-game record 15 against Florida, 13 at Mississippi and 11 each against Georgia and Mississippi State. He recorded seven games with over 100 yards receiving (all with at least 144 yards), including 231 yards on eight catches at LSU, 203 against the Bulldogs (which included a season-high four TDs) and 184 yards against the Gators. He had six games with at least two TD receptions, three coming at LSU and two in the SEC title game. Smith also returned a punt for a TD for the first time in his career, going 84 yards at Arkansas in the regular-season finale. He holds the SEC and Alabama career record for receiving touchdowns with 40 and has the most 200-plus yard receiving performances in Alabama history with four.
Born on Smith hails from Amite City, Louisiana, where he starred at Amite High Magnet School .
Number of electors: 927 - Announced: January 5, 2021.
PlayerClassPositionSchool1st2nd3rdTotal Points
1DeVonta SmithSRWRAlabama447221731,856
2Trevor LawrenceJRQBClemson2221761691,187
3Mac JonesJRQBAlabama1382482201,130
4Kyle TraskSRQBFlorida61164226737
5Najee HarrisJRRBAlabama164774216
6Breece HallSORBIowa State6102664
7Justin FieldsJRQBOhio State562148
8Zach WilsonJRQBBrigham Young362142
9Ian BookSRQBNotre Dame551338
10Kyle PittsJRTEFlorida071024
Three points are awarded for first place on a ballot, with two points for second place and one point for third place. Finalists in bold.
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HEISMAN VOTING BY REGION
Heisman voters are spread out across six regions, with roughly 145 per region.
No. 1 Alabama is back in the College Football Playoff National Championship for the fifth time in six seasons after thoroughly dominating No. 4 Notre Dame 31-14 in the 2021 Rose Bowl semifinal on Friday. The Crimson Tide led by as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter before the Fighting Irish scored inside the game's final minute.
All season, the Tide have fielded one of the top offenses in the country with quarterback Mac Jones and wide receiver DeVonta Smith finishing the year as Heisman Trophy finalists and three more players (running back Najee Harris, tackle Alex Leatherwood and injured center Landon Dickerson) earning first-team AP All-America honors. That unit lived up to the hype even against one of the best defenses in the country, totaling 437 yards at 7.9 yards per play.
Jones was efficient in guiding the group completing 25 of 30 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns, while Smith showed why the betting markets have him as the favorite to win the Heisman with his 130 yards and three touchdowns on seven receptions. Smith, named the Offensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, is a craftsman as a route runner and consistently won one-on-one battles against Notre Dame defenders. Even when the play did not require anything special down the field, Smith makes an impact with yards after the catch, like on this 26-yard touchdown off a screen pass.
Smith's entire touchdown reel could entertain us for hours, but the play we'll be talking about for years is Najee Harris' hurdle on a 53-yard run in the first quarter. Harris finished the game with 125 yards on 15 carries.
The play is incredible from the elevation reached by the 230-pound back to the way he maintains stride when his feet return to the turf. But what's even better is how the hurdle delivers on a request from soccer star Megan Rapinoe. Harris discussed his admiration of Rapinoe during a game week press conference and she responded with appreciation and a request for a hurdle. Less than 15 minutes in to the game, Harris delivered on the hurdle.
Notre Dame appeared to have a great answer to an early 14-0 hole with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took up 8:03 of game clock and ended with a score on fourth-and-goal. The Irish were methodical and efficient, but it all seemed for naught when Alabama took the ball 84 yards the other way for a touchdown on a drive that lasted less than three minutes. In fact, the first three Alabama drives all ended in touchdowns and combined took less time off the clock than Notre Dame's sole touchdown drive until the end of the fourth quarter.
The Irish also threatened to score once more on the game's final play after recovering an onside kick, but the Tide held off a pass from QB Ian Book in the end zone. Book completed 27 of 39 passes for 229 yards with an interception but also compiled 55 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground.
Though the post-game statistics did not monstrously favor Alabama, which only led Notre Dame 437-375 in total yardage, the Tide were in firm control throughout the game and never in danger of defeat.
They will play for the CFP National Championship for the fifth time in the seven-year history of the event, while the Irish fall to 0-7 in BCS or New Year's Six bowl games since 1998 and have been outscored by an average of 23 points in those games.
Alabama will be looking to win its third national title in six seasons and sixth since 2009 under coach Nick Saban. The Tide will be playing in their eighth title game in 14 seasons under Saban.
2021 Rose Bowl semifinal takeaways
1. This says more about Alabama than Notre Dame: Much will be made about how the Irish are winless in big-time bowl games since the start of the BCS era ("big-time" being defined as one of the BCS rotation bowls or the New Year's Six in the College Football Playoff era) with each of those losses coming by at least two scores. While that trend has gone on long enough to be a valid talking point in the debate around where the Irish stack up against the best teams in the sport, this specific result might be way more about how Alabama has separated itself from the rest of college football in 2020.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has addressed the perceived gap between his team and others at the top of the sport before by pointing out that Clemson dominating the Irish in the 2018 Cotton Bowl should be viewed through the lens of acknowledging that the Tigers did the same thing to Alabama in the national title game. We might have a similar situation here where Alabama is not only a noticeable tier above Notre Dame but whoever they end up playing on Jan. 11 in Miami.
2. Alabama's defense is overshadowed as a championship-level unit: The Tide were diced up by Ole Miss, and Florida QB Kyle Trask was able to rack up the yards after a couple of early turnovers in the SEC Championship Game, but this is a top-10 defense that has answered the call more often than not and was excellent when challenged by Notre Dame's physical rushing attack. Alabama has gotten a little bit more versatile over the years on defense to adapt to the up-tempo, no-huddle offenses in the modern game, and the Irish presented a bit of a throwback for that group. Kyren Williams, the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year, was held to just 64 rushing yards on 16 attempts, and as a team, Notre Dame was limited to just 3.7 yards per attempt on the ground.
Most importantly, the Tide came up with stops on two of the four times Notre Dame got into the red zone, and Kelly believes that was one of the places where Alabama was able to create some separation. That red zone touchdown percentage defense (which ranks No. 1 in the SEC and No. 12 nationally) is a big deal to an Alabama defense that is comfortable with "bend but don't break" as long as it comes up with stops in scoring position.
3. There's still plenty to improve as Alabama moves forward: This was the perfect result for Saban and an Alabama coaching staff that will have plenty of film to break down in preparation for the CFP National Championship. The Tide didn't run the ball particularly well in the second half, and the defense lost some third downs that allowed Notre Dame to hold the ball for long stretches after halftime. The hope, according to Saban, was to run the ball effectively in the second half to "take the air out of the ball." He did not feel as though the offense was able to execute as expected. As a team, Alabama totaled 140 yards on 25 attempts (5.6 yards per attempt), but if you take out Harris' electric hurdle and 53-yard gain the Crimson Tide had just 87 yards on 24 attempts, and that 3.6 yards per attempt clip is probably why Saban was frustrated with how they ran the ball late in the game.
When Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh five years ago, it had visions of competing against the likes of Alabama in the College Football Playoff. The 2020 Citrus Bowl between the No. 13 Crimson Tide and No. 14 Wolverines may not have been for a national title, but it certainly did not lack in drama. In the end, Alabama pulled away in the second half to beat Michigan, 35-16.
The biggest difference was Alabama's passing attack. Even without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the Tide found plenty of downfield shots to take the top of the Wolverines' defense. Quarterback Mac Jones finished the day 16-of-25 passing for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Jerry Jeudy had the best game of his career, statistically speaking, with six receptions on eight targets for 204 yards and a touchdown. Devonta Smith and Miller Forristall also had a receiving touchdown each. That allowed running back Najee Harris to have a big day on the ground with 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Michigan had a solid game plan of its own as well -- at least in the first half. The Wolverines found success in the ground game with Zach Charbonnet, Hassan Haskins and quarterback Shea Patterson. Charbonnet and Haskins ended the day with a combined 145 yards rushing, but most of those came in the first half. By the final 30 minutes, the Tide's defense won in a lot of first-and-second down situations, forcing Michigan out of its comfort zone.
The loss drops Michigan to 9-4 and is Harbaugh's fourth straight bowl loss. Alabama ends the year at 11-2. Here's what else we learned from Wednesday's Citrus Bowl ...
Alabama's 2020 quarterback situation will be fascinating
Jones isn't Tagovailoa, but he really doesn't need to be. He showed to be perfectly capable running Bama's offense both against the Wolverines and in his previous three starts against Auburn, Arkansas and Western Carolina. For the year, he threw for 1,503 yards at about a 69% completion rate and 14 touchdowns to three interceptions. That's more than good enough, and if Tagovailoa were to declare for the NFL Draft, it would put him in position to legitimately challenge Tua's younger brother, Taulia, in an offseason quarterback battle.
However, it's not 100% determined that Tua will go pro. It would make tons of business sense because any rookie contract is better than not being paid a salary at all, but there's a growing sense around the program that he may return in 2020. Would Jones, a redshirt sophomore, transfer from the program? He would have options, especially after what he showed this season. Jones may not be the singular talent that Tagovailoa is, but he's a step above what the Crimson Tide had for many years.
Jerry Jeudy reminded everyone that he's WR1
It's not so much that Jeudy slipped off of anyone's radar, it's more that the radar is filled with other talented wideouts. By now, it's clear the Crimson Tide have four pass catchers -- Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III and Jaylen Waddle -- who could the first option on just about any team in college football. Jeudy and Ruggs are first-round talents for the NFL draft and Smith isn't far behind. When there's such an embarrassment of riches like that, even the best can get overshadowed from time to time. Jeudy still led the Tide in receptions in 2019, but was passed by Smith in yards and touchdowns. Some of that is probably due to the attention Jeudy received from opposing defenses. Against Michigan, though, he showed why he's still in contention for WR1 in the spring. His 204 yards were a career best and he was a nightmare for the Wolverines all day, starting with the first play from scrimmage.
Shea Patterson did not help his draft stock
Speaking of draft takes, Patterson didn't exactly do himself any favors against the Tide. Yes, the full body of work is bigger than one game, but this was not the game Patterson wants to put on his highlight reel. The senior went 17-of-37 passing for 233 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Beyond the numbers, though, he overthrew his wide receivers on seven different occasions -- including a couple of likely touchdowns.
Patterson has always been a guy who's better when he's using his legs. That doesn't mean he's strictly a running quarterback; rather, he's more comfortable in the pocket when he's on the move. He also does better when Michigan has a running game, which is why he seemed more settled in the first half than the second. But when Alabama forced Patterson to make plays with his arm, he didn't fare all that well. Patterson has had his ups and downs in his career, but without the use of his legs, he just didn't show enough as a passer to prove he's a top NFL prospect.
This is going to be a long offseason for Harbaugh's narrative
It's always going to be something with Harbaugh. That's part of being the coach at Michigan. But Wednesday's loss was another blow to the narrative that the Wolverines' favorite son can't win the big games. Of course, that's not entirely true. The blowout over Notre Dame earlier in the season looks better now than it did at the time. But Harbaugh has now lost four straight bowls (and is 2-5 all time) and has not been competitive lately against the best teams on the schedule.
Looking at the totality of Harbaugh's time in Ann Arbor, it's fair to surmise that he's overall been a good coach. He's won 72% of his games and hit 10 wins three times. That's objectively good. However, without a Big Ten East title or a statement bowl win to hang his hat on, his time at Michigan is incomplete. Some of this has to do with Ohio State's current success; it's hard for two blue-blood programs in the same division to be amazing at the same time. There are ways to fix Michigan's struggles, namely in recruiting, but right now Harbaugh's taking it in the teeth for coming up short yet again.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- This season's Alabama juggernaut has yet to be stopped, and Oklahoma's shaky defense sure wasn't going to get in the way.
Maybe Clemson can.
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns and No. 1-ranked Alabama beat No. 4 Oklahoma 45-34 on Saturday night in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl .
The high-scoring Sooners reached the semifinal despite a porous defense that was no match for Alabama's diverse attack, and the defending champion Crimson Tide led 28-0 after only 17 minutes.
Alabama (14-0) advanced to the national championship game for the fourth consecutive season and will play Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, California against familiar foe Clemson, which beat Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers, ranked No. 2, and Alabama will face off in the playoffs for the fourth year in a row, and have split two title games.
"They've got a great program and a great team," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "I'm sure it'll be a great challenge for us, and I'm sure we'll need to play better than we did today."
Saban spiked his headset during one of his several sideline tirades. He lobbed oranges during the postgame celebration.
"It was more fun throwing the oranges," he said.
Tagovailoa's performance argued for a Florida recount in the Heisman Trophy vote. He finished as the runner-up to Oklahoma's Kyler Murray but won sweet consolation by completing 24 of 27 passes, with scores to four receivers.
"It's always good to see your hard work pay off," said Tagovailoa, who played on a sore left ankle. His completion percentage was an Orange Bowl record.
While Tagovailoa connected on his first nine passes for 184 yards, Murray was sacked twice before he threw a pass, and his first completion came with his team already down 21-0.
"The slow start got us beat," Murray said. "It's tough to come back from that."
Murray had one brilliant moment, a perfect deep throw on the move to Charleston Rambo in the end zone for a 49-yard score. He passed for 308 yards and ran for 109 but took several jarring hits, including when All-America nose guard Quinnen Williams dislodged his helmet and forced him from the game for one play in the fourth quarter.
The Sooners (12-2) came up short in a bid for their first national title since the 2000 season.
"Agonizingly close," coach Lincoln Riley said.
His team was bowled over, on one play in particular. When Robert Barnes tried to stop Josh Jacobs in the open field, the Alabama running back lowered his head for the collision and continued to the end zone for a 27-yard score while the Sooners safety spun to the turf, dazed and briefly unable to get up.
"When I saw an opportunity to score, I just tried my best to score," Jacobs said with a chuckle.
Alabama had the ball for more than 36 minutes and totaled 528 yards.
"Our offense really controlled the tempo of the game," Saban said. "The only time we really got stopped in the game is when we stopped ourselves."
In a matchup between the two highest-scoring offenses in the country, Oklahoma fell too far behind early.
On the first snap, DeVonta Smith turned Tagovailoa's short pass into a 50-yard gain. The Crimson Tide went on to score an Orange Bowl-record 21 points in the opening quarter.
"It's not the result we wanted or expected," Riley said. "We had a hard time breaking their string of momentum. We dug ourselves too big a hole."
At one point the disparity in yards was 191-0. The most noise the Sooners mustered in the early going was when linebacker Kenneth Murray talked trash with the Alabama bench -- with his team trailing by three touchdowns.
The Sooners rallied and closed to within 11 points three times in the final 18 minutes. But two onside kicks failed, and Alabama ran the final 4:23 off the clock after Oklahoma's last score.
QUICK START
Alabama took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards for a touchdown. Oklahoma was awarded a fumble recovery at the 1, but officials overturned the ruling following a replay review, and Damien Harris scored on the next play.
The Sooners' first three plays lost 6 yards, forcing a punt, and eight plays later Tagovailoa hit Henry Ruggs III with a 10-yard touchdown pass.
Tagovailoa threw deep to Jerry Jeudy for 40 yards to set up the Crimson Tide's third score, and Jacobs' catch and run for a touchdown made it 28-0.
INJURY REPORT
Tide linebacker Christian Miller limped to the locker room in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury. An MRI was planned, and his availability for the title game was uncertain, Saban said.
TAKEAWAYS
The Crimson Tide need one more win for their sixth national title in the past decade. They have a chance to finish 15-0, which hasn't been done at the top level of college football since Penn went 15-0 in 1897.
Saban moved closer to his seventh national title, which would break the record he shares with the Crimson Tide's Bear Bryant.
UP NEXT
Alabama seeks its second consecutive title when it plays Clemson for the fourth postseason in a row. The Crimson Tide won 24-6 in the semifinal a year ago, and 45-40 in the title game for the 2016 season. Clemson beat Alabama for the championship 35-31 two years ago.
The Sooners will begin another bid for their first national title since 2000 when they open the 2019 season at home against Houston on Aug. 31.
ATLANTA -- Tua Tagovailoa threw a 41-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith to give No. 4 Alabama a 26-23 overtime victory against No. 3 Georgia to win the College Football Playoff national championship Monday night.
Tagovailoa entered the game at halftime, replacing a struggling Jalen Hurts, and threw three touchdown passes, including the game-ender to give the Crimson Tide its fifth national championship since 2009 under coach Nick Saban.
After Alabama kicker Andy Pappanastos missed a 36-yard field goal that would have won it for the Tide (13-1) in the final seconds of regulation, Georgia (13-2) took the lead with a 51-yard field goal from Rodrigo Blankenship in overtime.
Tagovailoa took a terrible sack on Alabama's first play of overtime, losing 16 yards. On the next play he found Smith, another freshman, streaking down the sideline and hit him in stride for the national championship.
This game will be remembered for Saban's decision to change quarterbacks trailing 13-0.
"I just thought we had to throw the ball, and I felt he could do it better, and he did," Saban said. "He did a good job, made some plays in the passing game. Just a great win. I'm so happy for Alabama fans. Great for our players. Unbelievable."
What was he thinking as the winning pass soared?
"I could not believe it," Saban said. "There's lots of highs and lows. Last year we lost on the last play of the game and this year we won on the last play of the game. These kids really responded the right way. We said last year, `Don't waste the feeling.' They sure didn't, the way they played tonight."
Saban now has six major poll national championships, including one at LSU, matching the record set by the man who led Alabama's last dynasty, coach Paul Bear Bryant.
This one was nothing like the others.
The all-Southeastern Conference matchup was all Georgia in the first half before Saban pulled Hurts and went with the five-star recruit from Hawaii to start the second half.
The Tide trailed 13-0 at halftime and 20-7 in the third quarter after Georgia's freshman quarterback, Jake Fromm, hit Mecole Hardman for an 80-yard touchdown pass that had the Georgia fans feeling good about ending a national title drought that dates back to 1980.
A little less than a year after the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead and lost in overtime to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, there was more pain for many of the local fans. With the title game being held 70 miles from Georgia's campus in Athens, Dawg fans packed Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but it turned out to be sweet home for Alabama.
It was not without angst.
Alabama drove into the red zone in the final minute and Saban started playing for a field goal that would end the game and win it for the Tide. A nervous quiet gripped the crowd of 77,430 as `Bama burned the clock. With the ball centered in the middle of the field, Pappanastos lined up for a kick to win the national championship. The snap and hold looked fine, but the kicked missed badly to the left.
For the second straight week, Georgia was going to overtime. The Bulldogs beat Oklahoma in a wild Rose Bowl in double overtime to get here, and after Jonathan Ledbetter and Davin Bellamy sacked Tagovailoa for a big loss on the first play, Alabama was in trouble -- second-and-26.
Not for long. Tagovailoa looked off the safety threw the biggest touchdown pass in the history of Alabama football.
NEW ORLEANS -- Nick Saban is back in his comfort zone.
Let others run up the points. He'll take a defensive slugfest every time.
Especially when it gives Alabama another shot at a national title.
In a game where every yard was a struggle, the Crimson Tide defenders took matters into their own hands. They accounted for a pair of touchdowns just 13 seconds apart in the third quarter to turn an offensive slog into a 24-6 rout of defending national champion Clemson in the Sugar Bowl semifinal game Monday night.
"This game was about our identity as a team," Saban said. "I don't think anybody would doubt our relentless attitude out there. We had a warrior-like mentality."
He was clearly pleased.
Sure, it was quite a contrast to the first two meetings in the Alabama-Clemson trilogy, both high-scoring classics with the national title on the line , not to mention the Rose Bowl semifinal that preceded it. Georgia knocked off Oklahoma 54-48 in a double-overtime thriller that wasn't decided until the Alabama was on its second possession in the Big Easy.
There would be no drama in the nightcap. With Deshaun Watson off to the NFL, top-ranked Clemson (12-2) simply had no answer for the Tide's latest group of defensive standouts, setting up an all-Southeastern Conference showdown for the national title -- with Saban matched against his former defensive coordinator, Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
"I'm proud of the job he's done," Saban said. "I'm sure it will be a great football game."
Leading only 10-6 after a turnover to start the second half handed Clemson a field goal, the fourth-ranked Tide (12-1) quickly snuffed out any thoughts of a repeat title for the Tigers.
It began with 308-pound defensive tackle Da'Ron Payne picking off a wobbly pass after besieged Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant was hit as he threw. Payne rumbled 21 yards on the return, shedding one would-be tackler with a deft open-field move and drawing a 15-yard personal foul penalty when he was finally dragged down with a horse collar tackle.
After Alabama drove to a first down at the Clemson 1, Payne re-entered the game -- presumably to add another big body for blocking purposes. Instead, he slipped open near the right pylon on a play fake and hauled in a touchdown pass, even managing to get both feet down before the celebration commenced beyond the sideline.
"I've got gold hands," quipped Payne, who was picked as the game's defensive MVP.
A bit shell-shocked by that turn of events, Clemson was thoroughly demoralized after its next offensive play. Bryant's pass deflected off the hands of Deon Cain and was intercepted by linebacker Mack Wilson, who returned it 18 yards for another TD.
They could've called it right then.
"Just incredibly disappointed in our performance," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "But congratulations to Alabama. They were the better team today. No doubt about it."
The Tide, which began the season in Atlanta beating Florida State , will return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium next Monday night to face No. 3 Georgia and give Saban a shot at his sixth title, which would match Bear Bryant.
Saban has four championships in the last eight years at Alabama, along with a BCS title at LSU during the 2003 season.
This is eerily reminiscent of Alabama's run to the 2011 championship, another season when the Tide didn't even win its own division or play for the SEC title. That year, Saban's team lost at home to LSU during the regular season but got a second chance against the top-ranked Tigers with the biggest prize on the line -- in the Sugar Bowl, no less.
On that night in the Big Easy, Alabama defense didn't allow LSU to cross midfield until the closing minutes of a suffocating 21-0 victory. This defensive performance was nearly as impressive.
Clemson was held to 188 yards -- 260 yards below its season average -- and never reached the end zone. Bryant was sacked five times and the Tigers were held to 64 yards on the ground.
Alabama played it tough right to the end, denying Clemson on a fourth-down pass into the end zone with just over a minute remaining.
Clearly, the Tide was still ticked off about the way last season ended, giving up a TD pass with 1 second remaining to hand Clemson the national title.
"This," Saban said, "was a little bit personal for us."
SILENT RENFROW
Clemson receiver Hunter Renfrow was known as the Tide Killer.
Not this time.
After hauling in four TD passes in the last two national championship games -- including, of course, the title winner a year ago -- Renfrow was held to just 31 yards on five receptions. All of his catches came in fourth quarter with Alabama comfortably ahead.
"From the opening kickoff, they hit us in the mouth," Renfrow said.
THE TAKEAWAY
Alabama: The Tide's defense against Georgia's offense will be an especially intriguing matchup given the way the semifinal games played out. One thing to keep an eye on: Anfernee Jennings was helped off with a sprained knee late in the game after recording a sack and three tackles for losses, another potential blow to the Tide's already beleaguered linebacker corps.
Clemson: The Tigers looked at this game as a chance to show they had surpassed Alabama as college football's most dominant program. Sorry, the Tide is still king.
"We'll be back," Swinney vowed.
UP NEXT
Alabama: A national championship game to end the season for the third year in a row and sixth time in the last nine seasons.
Clemson: Opens the 2018 season Sept. 1 by hosting FCS school Furman.
ATLANTA -- Alabama is heading back to the national championship game.
Bo Scarbrough and another stifling performance by Nick Saban's defense made sure of that.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide scored 10 points off turnovers, including Ryan Anderson's interception return for a touchdown late in the first half, and Scarbrough's 68-yard TD run in the fourth quarter clinched a 24-7 victory over Washington in the Peach Bowl semifinal Saturday.
Scarbrough finished with 180 yards and two scores, garnering offensive MVP honors.
Alabama (14-0) moves on to Tampa for a shot at its second straight title and fifth in the last eight years under Saban. The Tide will face either Ohio State or Clemson -- who were meeting later Saturday at the Fiesta Bowl -- in the Jan. 9 championship game.
No. 4 Washington (12-2) reached the College Football Playoff with a remarkable turnaround season after struggling much of the last two decades -- including an 0-12 debacle in 2008.
But Jake Browning and the Huskies' balanced offense were no match for Alabama's top-ranked defense, even after an impressive drive gave them an early 7-0 edge.
"After we got into the flow of the game, I thought we did pretty well on defense," said Saban, who now has a chance to join Bear Bryant as the only coaches to win six national titles in the poll era.
The Tide began to exert its dominance late in the first quarter when John Ross caught a screen pass, only to have the ball stripped away by Anthony Averett. Jonathan Allen recovered, giving Alabama possession at the Washington 40 and setting up Adam Griffith's 41-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.
Anderson made an even bigger defensive play with just over a minute to go in the half. With blitzing linebacker Reuben Foster bearing down on him, Browning desperately heaved a pass into the flats for Lavon Coleman. Anderson stepped in to pick it off, knocked Coleman over in the process and was off to the end zone on a 26-yard return that made it 17-7 at the half.
For Alabama, it was the 11th defensive touchdown of the season.
Nothing could have been more fitting.
"We've studied every snap that they've had this year, and the tape doesn't lie when you watch that much tape," Washington coach Chris Petersen said. "I mean, that's as good a defense as there is out there in college football, and they played like it."
Any hopes of a Washington comeback were snuffed out by Scarbrough, a starter at most schools but a backup for the deep, talented Tide. On a simple running play to the left, he appeared to be stopped by two players just short of the line of scrimmage.
But Scarbrough somehow managed to stay on his feet and -- boom! -- he was gone. Streaking down the field in front of the Alabama bench, he avoided another defender with a subtle deke, cut back toward the middle of the field at the Washington 30 and outran everyone to the end zone.
Scarbrough also scored Alabama's first touchdown with a bruising, 18-yard run.
"Bo's been playing pretty well for us the last three or four games," Saban said. "We wanted to play him more. He's hard to tackle. He's big and powerful. He's playing with a lot of confidence."
STYMIED HUSKIES
Washington was held to a season-low for points and yards, even after an impressive 64-yard drive on its opening possession capped by Browning's 16-yard TD pass to Dante Pettis.
The Huskies finished with 194 yards, below their previous low of 276 in a 26-13 loss to Southern Cal. That was also their lowest-scoring game of the season until they ran up against the Tide.
Washington scored at least 31 points in every game except its two losses.
The final two offensive plays pretty much summed up the Huskies' frustration. Browning was sacked for a big loss, and then threw his second interception on a desperation heave into the end zone.
UGLY ENDING
A scuffle broke out after Minkah Fitzpatrick's pick in the closing seconds, leading to a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Alabama.
Several Washington players were shaken up while chasing down Fitzpatrick, but they all managed to walk off the field while the officials sorted things out.
UP NEXT
Alabama will face a familiar opponent in the national championship game.
A year ago, the Tide beat Clemson 45-40 in a classic title showdown at Glendale, Arizona. Two seasons ago, Alabama was upset by Ohio State 42-35 in the Sugar Bowl semifinal, and the Buckeyes went on to capture the national championship.
"Both those teams are great football teams," Saban said. "It's going to be a very challenging game for us either way.
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- What a game. Alabama and Clemson gave fans an entertaining back-and-forth show before the Crimson Tide eventually claimed a 45-40 victory over the Tigers in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T on Monday at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Tide are back atop the college football world. Let's review how it all unfolded.
What the win means for Alabama: It’s the Crimson Tide’s fourth national championship in seven seasons (the others came in 2009, 2011 and 2012) and their 16th overall in school history. It’s the fifth national title for head coach Nick Saban, further cementing his status in college football history. He trails only the late Paul “Bear” Bryant in national titles since 1936 (Bryant has six). It’s Alabama’s fourth consecutive win over a No.1-ranked team in the Associated Press poll, a streak that dates back to 2011. For running back Derrick Henry, he becomes only the fifth running back in Heisman Trophy history to add a national title to the honor in the same season. And the SEC is back on top for the first time since 2012. It’s the league’s eighth national title since 2006 (the SEC won seven straight from 2006-12). The Tide won while overcoming a brilliant performance by Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, who finished 30-of-47 passing for 405 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 73 yards.
What the loss means for Clemson: The Tigers were seeking their second overall national title and their first since 1981 but came up short. The loss breaks up a school-record 17-game winning streak, which is tied for the second-longest such streak in ACC history. They become the second team since major classification began in 1937 to start 14-0 and not win a national title (Boise State was the other, who went 14-0 in 2009). The Tigers are now 3-13 all-time against Alabama. It’s a disappointing end Dabo Swinney's team, one that accomplished a lot this season by putting together an impressive campaign to win the ACC title and be the last undefeated team standing before Monday.
The game turned when…: Saban had the guts to call for an onside kick with the game tied at 24 and the Crimson Tide recovered with 10:34 on the clock. Two plays later, tight end O.J. Howard was a wide open for a 51-yard touchdown catch from Jake Coker and it gave Alabama a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. It’s a call you wouldn’t necessarily expect from the typically risk-averse Saban, but it paid off by shifting the momentum in Alabama’s favor.
Player of the game: Throughout his career, Howard has sometimes been a forgotten man in the game plan, but not on Monday. The 6-foot-6, 242-pound junior found himself wide open several times -- sometimes on Clemson coverage busts -- and scored two critical touchdowns on two of those occasions. His 53-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter gave Alabama a 21-14 lead at the 12:53 mark and his biggest play of the night came on the 51-yard scoring reception after the onside kick in the fourth. For the night, Howard finished with five catches for 208 yards and averaged a whopping 41.6 yards per reception. He had 210 receiving yards in nine SEC games.
Top play: After Clemson trimmed Alabama’s seven-point fourth-quarter lead to four with a field goal, Crimson Tide running back Kenyan Drake delivered the knockout blow with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It was the third kick return touchdown in a national championship game (Florida State’s Kermit Whitfield had one in 2013, Ted Ginn had one in 2006 for Ohio State) and it gave Alabama a 38-27 lead, too much to overcome for the Tigers in the final 7:31.
Stats of the game:The 85 combined points by the Tigers and Crimson Tide are the most combined points in a national championship game, surpassing the 65 scored by Auburn and Florida State in the 2013 BCS national championship game…The Drake touchdown return was Alabama’s sixth special teams touchdown this season, tied with Tennessee for most in the FBS….Henry finished with 36 carries giving him 395 for the season, surpassing Herschel Walker's SEC record (385).
ARLINGTON, Texas — Breaking down No. 2 Alabama's 38-0 victory over No. 3 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl.
THE BIG PICTURE: Well, here they are again. After a two-year drought that produced questions about whether Alabama had slipped a notch from its dynasty days, Nick Saban has the Crimson Tide back in the national title game trying to win his fourth championship at Alabama and fifth overall. It was accomplished in pretty dominant fashion on Thursday, as Alabama held Michigan State to 239 yards of offense, got the lead in the second quarter and administered a death grip that has become all too familiar for SEC opponents. If you can't put scoreboard pressure on Alabama and force them to do things they're not comfortable doing, their natural advantages will eventually turn into an avalanche of points.
Ever since the Crimson Tide lost to Ole Miss back on Sept. 19, they've only had one close call — a 19-14 victory over Tennessee on Oct. 24 — and look to be focused and fresh heading to Arizona for a date with No. 1-ranked and undefeated Clemson. Alabama will be favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers. On the other hand, this was a disappointing end to Michigan State's incredible season and the Connor Cook era, which included a pair of Big Ten titles. . This was simply a bad matchup for the Spartans, who try to play the same style as Alabama only with less size and talent. That doesn't work out very well for SEC teams who try it, and it didn't here. Michigan State's best hope was to keep it close into the fourth quarter and maybe catch a break, but Alabama wouldn't allow it.
WHAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT: Michigan State's plan was clear. The Spartans wanted to take away the run and make Alabama quarterback Jake Coker beat them. And that's exactly what he did. Coker, who came into the game ranked 42nd nationally in passing efficiency, played his best game of the season and picked apart Michigan State despite operating under heavy pressure. It seemed like every time Coker got hit he was able to release the ball just in time to find an open receiver, finishing 25-of-30 for 286 yards and two touchdowns. Though a few of those completions were incredible catches by the receivers and some were simple screens, Coker still delivered a handful of good downfield throws and played a solid, mistake-free game. To step up and play this well on a big stage was both a credit to Coker and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, who has made a habit of developing quarterbacks out of guys who previously struggled.
THE DECIDING PLAY: Michigan State had an opportunity to go into halftime down 10-7 and perhaps get some momentum, putting together its best drive of the game in a two-minute offense. With 25 seconds left in the half, the Spartans had a first down at the Alabama 12-yard line after an 18-yard throw to Aaron Burbridge. At minimum, Michigan State should have gotten a field goal. But on the next play, Cook tried a fade to Burbridge in the end zone but didn't get any air under it, allowing cornerback Cyrus Jones to make a break on the ball for an interception. Given that the first half was generally pretty even aside from one big passing play, it was a pretty crushing development for Michigan State. Alabama came out in the third quarter and immediately marched down the field to make it 17-0, and that was pretty much the end for Michigan State.
KEY STAT: Alabama led the nation by a pretty wide margin this season, allowing a mere 74 rushing yards per game (Boston College was second at 82.8). So it's no surprise Michigan State also struggled to run the ball against a front seven that has frequently been called one of the best in recent memory. But the level of demolition Alabama wreaked on the Spartans' offensive line was even more massive than expected. Michigan State ran for a mere 29 yards on 26 carries. Even removing sacks, the Spartans finished with just 53 rushing yards.
NEW YORK -- Hand it to Derrick Henry. Alabama's
bulldozer of tailback with the super-sized workload won the 81st
Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, capping a junior campaign that saw him
rush for an SEC-record 1,986 yards -- previously held by 1982 Heisman
winner Herschel Walker -- on 339 carries and score a conference
record-tying 23 touchdowns.
"I'm just so thankful to have this trophy," Henry said. "It's just a blessing and an honor."
In voting, Henry finished with 1,832 points, followed by Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey (1,539), making it four second-place finishes for Cardinal players in seven seasons. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (1,165) finished third. Henry won five of six voting regions, with McCaffrey winning the Far West.
Henry was considered the favorite going in, though it didn't make it any easier for him.
"I
didn't know at all," he said. "Them two guys were great contenders for
the trophy. Deshaun, with how consistent and efficient he is at the
quarterback position, all the success he had, I was kind of worried.
Christian, breaking Barry Sanders' record, doing all the things he does,
he's just unbelievable."
The moment right before the winner was announced was the toughest for Henry.
"My heart was about to bust out my chest. I thought I was going to have a heart attack," he said. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, who some thought should have been among the finalists sent to New York, finished fourth with 334 points. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds finished fifth with 180 points, the highest service academy finisher in 52 years, since Roger Staubach.
Henry
is the first running back to claim the Heisman since 2009, when Crimson
Tide running back Mark Ingram became the first Alabama player to win
the award. In 2009, Ingram edged runner-up Toby Gerhart -- a Stanford
running back -- by a single percentage point, the narrowest margin of
victory in the history of the award.
"I
know that our entire organization is really happy, happy, happy for
Derrick Henry tonight, winning the Heisman Trophy," Alabama coach Nick
Saban said.
Since Ingram won the award in 2009, it had gone to five straight quarterbacks.
On
Thursday night, Henry also beat McCaffrey for the Doak Walker Award as
the country's top running back, and became the first running back since
2002 to win the Maxwell Award, which is given to college football's
player of the year. He is the first running back to win the Maxwell
Award and Heisman Trophy since Ron Dayne in 1999.
He choked up during his speech, thanking his family and coaches, and was effusive in his praise of his teammates.
"Coming
in to Alabama from Florida, they all accepted me, they all loved me and
all supported me," he said. "And this season, they've seen me as a
leader, taken me as a leader. [The offensive line] takes pride in
controlling the line of scrimmage, making sure I have success, and
through this year, looking at these guys, the courage they had in me,
the faith they had in me, I knew I couldn't let them down.
"Everybody
always asks me about carries, what I thought about it, how I felt, but
when you got teammates like that who love you and care for you, it don't
matter how you feel or how bad it hurts, you've got to make sure you're
making those guys happy by helping them win, getting a victory."
He also mentioned former Alabama teammate Altee Tenpenny, who was killed in a car crash two months ago.
The
6-foot-3, 242-pound junior led the country in carries, rushing yards,
rushing touchdowns and yards after contact. He was second among Power 5
backs in carries of 25 yards or more.
He's a key cog in the
Crimson Tide's offense, representing more than 36 percent of its total
yards and 42 percent of its total touchdowns.
Henry was born to
teenage parents and raised with the strong influence of his grandmother,
Gladys, in the small north Florida town of Yulee, which is just outside
of Jacksonville, but very much country living.
Gladys Henry has
been hospitalized for weeks in Florida with heart and respiratory
problems. Derrick Henry said his grandmother was with him in spirit as
his childhood dream of winning the Heisman came true.
"I love you so much," he said.
Henry
came to Alabama as a five-star recruit. Before the Heisman came a dose
of humility. For the first time football wasn't easy. Being bigger,
stronger and faster wasn't enough in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
"One day
I said something to him and he said, 'Coach, all this stuff is new to
me. All they did in high school was turn around and toss me the ball and
I ran with it,'" Saban said. "I really appreciate his hard work at
becoming a complete player."
He
was a backup on a crowded depth chart as a freshman and thought about
transferring, but with the encouragement of his family decided to stay
put.
As a sophomore he shared carries with T.J. Yeldon and ran for 990 yards and 11 touchdowns, showing signs of big things to come.
This
season as a junior, with Alabama breaking in a first-time starting
quarterback and inexperienced receivers, coach Nick Saban and the Tide
decided to hook the offense to Henry and let him lead the way.
The
Tide hammered away with Henry and he set a school record for carries
with 339, including an astounding 90 in Alabama's last two games against
Auburn and Florida. He had four 200-yard games in the second half of the season. He went for 210 against LSU to move to the front of the Heisman race, and had 271 yards in the Iron Bowl against Auburn.
Weary
defenses got plenty of looks at big No. 5 from behind, his long bundled
locks sticking out of the back of his helmet. The Crimson Tide's
Predator.
After Ingram won the Heisman in '09, he helped Alabama
win the national championship about a month later. Henry will try to do
the same. He will power No. 2 Alabama into the College Football Playoff
semifinals against No. 3 Michigan State.
They meet Dec. 31 in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, Texas, and the Tide will try
to earn a fourth national championship in nine seasons under Saban.
Henry has not announced his intentions yet, but a jump to the NFL seems likely after this season.
ESPN's Alex Scarborough, ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP) — Regional points breakdown of the top three finalists in balloting for the 2015 Heisman Trophy:
