The Crimson Tide drowned the rival and were proclaimed champions in college football
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – DeVonta Smith was unstoppable, Najee Harris unstoppable and Mac Jones flawless. With a performance that was both surgical and explosive, the sowing No. 1 Alabama won the 52-24 National Championship Game against No. 3 Ohio State Monday night.
The final game of the school season in the middle of the pandemic, a campaign that was not known if it would be played and full of casualties in the fall, ended in the most predictable way: Alabama (13-0) as champions for the sixth time in the last 12 years under Nick Saban.
For Saban, it was his seventh championship, Breaking the tie with Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and becoming the head coach with more collegiate championships.
Ohio State (7-1) just couldn’t keep up. Justin Fields played what would be his last game before heading to the NFL, Went through 194 yards and one touchdown. Whether Fields was 100% after a brutal blow in the semifinals against Clemson is hard to know for sure.
In the first offensive series of the Buckeyes they lost to runner Trey Sermón due to injury, in a party in which they needed to run to maximum speed when facing one of the best offensives in recent history. Ohio State had never allowed so many points in a bowl game.
Fans will be able to debate the best team in the Saban era, but none will be more memorable than this one. The Tide finished perfect during a season marked by COVID-19 which forced teams to quarantine already endless trials and uncertainties every week with matches in mostly empty stadiums.
Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith caught 12 balls for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns, especially in the first half in which the Crimson Tide hit 35-17 in the rival.
Jones, who finished third in the Heisman vote, completed 36 of 45 for a record 464 yards in a National Championship Game -five annotations, operating behind an offensive line that rarely made him feel pressured. Harris finished with 158 yards from the hit line with 29 carries, scoring three times to give the SEC the 30-goal mark in the season.
Smith did not play in the second half due to injury. He returned to his team’s sideline in the fourth period with his left hand bandaged.
Smith and Harris were surprised to return to college football for their senior season.
Wow it was worth it! Along with Jones, another member of the 2017 generation, they will leave Alabama as leaders of a team that managed to make an arduous march through the pandemic seem easy.