Bama back where they belong
Tide throttles Notre Dame to punch ticket to National Championship Game
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Photo: Alabama Athletics/Getty Images
On his way to a possible touchdown on Friday night, Alabama All-American tailback Najee Harris decided to take a route less traveled...through the air. Najee, all 6’2’’, 230 pounds of him, took a handoff and headed right towards the sidelines. As he turned up the field, Notre Dame senior corner Nick McCloud approached and ducked slightly to deliver a hit on the Bama tailback. Najee simply hurdled over the 6-foot corner like it was a walk in the park and continued towards the end zone before finally being pushed out at the Irish 12. One play later, quarterback Mac “Daddy” Jones found tight end Jahleel Billingsley in the corner of the endzone, capping off a 5 play, 97-yard drive which stretched the Tide lead to 14-0 with 4:19 remaining in the first quarter. Sportscenter had a stellar Top 10 play and the Tide was off and running.
Behind a steady, methodic attack and a terrific effort from its defense, top-seeded Alabama downed feisty fourth-seeded Notre Dame 31-14 in the Rose Bowl Game to advance to the college football national championship game next Monday in Miami against the third-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. The Irish put up a valiant effort and played hard against the mighty Tide, yet this game had the feel like Alabama was never seriously threatened. Behind the power trio of Jones (25 of 30, 297 yards, 4 touchdowns), Harris (125 yards on 15 carries and 1 stunning previously mentioned hurdle) and DeVonta Smith (7 catches for 130 yards and three TD’s), the Tide rolled on, gaining 437 total yards. Jones continued his masterful season, showing the poise and confidence in the pocket that he has shown all year. Notre Dame did a nice job of taking away the long ball (a Jones to John Metchie completion of 40 yards was the longest on the day), yet Jones dished off to his check-downs like a pro and kept the chains moving to the tune of 24 first downs. The Irish held Bama to a season-low in points, yet Jones and company were able to score when they needed to and kept the Golden Domers at arm’s length the entire evening.
The Tide got out of the gate early, scoring on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead into the second quarter. Jones hit Smith on a screen pass on the sidelines and DeVonta did the rest, taking advantage of solid downfield blocking, weaving his way through traffic for a 26-yard touchdown that opened the scoring. After forcing the Irish to punt on their next possession, Harris’ hurdle set up Billingsley’s 12-yard touchdown haul. The Irish and it’s senior-laden team answered with an impressive 15 play, 75-yard drive engineered by quarterback Ian Book (27-39, 229 yards, 1 interception) that ate up 8:03. The Irish offense converted on 3/4 3rd down tries and would score after their only 3rd down fail on the drive as freshman future star Kyren Williams (16 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown) broke the goal line from a yard out to give the Irish faithful hope, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 11:16 remaining in the second quarter. As it has all season, Alabama answered the Irish score with a 6 play, 84 yard, 2:27 drive that ended with another Jones to Smith touchdown, this one covering 34 yards. The teams exchanged punts and the half would end with the Irish marching 56 yards on 8 plays in only 38 seconds, only to miss a 51-yard field goal and the Tide went into halftime leading 21-7. Although “only” up 14 points, the margin seemed a lot larger.
We absolutely are nit-picking here, however, in 2020, Alabama’s trend has been to start the third quarter slowly and that continued against the Irish. Bama received the second-half kickoff, picked up two first downs and punted back to Notre Dame, breathing life into the Irish faithful. What followed was a punch in the gut to the Golden Domers, and could be looked at as the play of the game. On 2nd and 7 from the Irish 37, Book was flushed from the pocket and underthrew a pass to tight end Michael Meyer that was picked off by Tide sophomore linebacker Christian Harris at the Alabama 38. The boys in Crimson and White would drive 62 yards in 5 plays that would culminate in a 7-yard Jones to Smith strike to open up a 28-7 lead at the 4:58 mark of the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter, Bama would add a Will Reichard 41-yard field goal and the Irish would counter with a Book 1-yard run to conclude the scoring.
Many thought this one would be decided in the trenches, and in many ways, it was. The Alabama offensive line, with senior Chris Owens taking over for injured all-American center Landon Dickerson, performed admirably and limited the Irish to one sack and only a handful of hurries on Mac Jones. Irish all-American linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was kept in check, registering 6 tackles on the evening while sophomore corner Demarcco Hellens led the way with 12 tackles and 1 sack. It’s never a good sign when your leading tackler comes from the secondary. In addition, the vaunted Irish offensive line had its hands full all night, as the Bama front seven had perhaps their best game of the season, limiting the potent Irish offense to 14 points. Linebackers Dylan Moses and freshman sensation Will Anderson both registered 6 tackles and led a defense that produced three sacks on Ian Book, who was hurried much of the evening. The Bama linebackers were far more effective in pass coverage than they were against the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship game. Bama’s secondary also did a nice job shutting down Irish receivers, and the group stayed away from the holding penalties that helped Florida stick around. All good news for the Tide faithful as they move forward to the national title contest against a dynamic and dangerous Ohio State offense.
Mac “Daddy” and Najee 3000 had the Tide feeling rosy like Outkast.
Notre Dame will continue to unfairly hear the narrative during the off-season that they cannot get over the “good to elite” hump, yet as attested by Coach Brian Kelly, the Irish were in this game for much of the evening as they played the Tide hard, held them to a season-low in points, holding the Tide under 35 points for the first time in 25 games. How long they were actually in the game is up for debate (my belief: until the 4:58 mark of the third quarter when the Tide went up 28-7), yet the Irish did show they are one of the top programs in the country. On this day, the Irish would rush for 139 yards (compared to Bama’s 140), passed for 236 (compared to the Tide’s 297) for 375 total yards, and matched Alabama’s 24 first downs. Their defense made some nice plays and forced the Tide offense to punt twice (which actually is a big deal), but couldn't get enough key stops when they needed to. The Irish offense also was unable to generate enough points to push the Tide and make the Bama faithful truly uncomfortable. Great effort, great season for the Irish, just not enough to get past the Tide and advance to the national championship game.
As for the Tide, it was a steady, gutsy performance that propelled Alabama back to the title game after a one-year absence. Next Monday, Alabama will attempt to grab its 6th national title in the last 12 years. On the way to that goal, the Tide has an SEC championship, a Rose Bowl win, and convincing victories over Georgia, LSU, Auburn, and now Notre Dame. Despite the brutal year that 2020 has been for our nation and the world, the bubble known as Crimson Tide Nation has enjoyed a respite from the worries of the world. The ‘20 Alabama football season, so far, will go down as one of the program’s finest, and the way the team and coaches have handled themselves throughout the season has been quite admirable, to say the least. Now, the only question left (besides who wins the Heisman and which assistant coaches will leave for other opportunities at season’s end...Sark should do well at Texas) is if the Crimson Tide can conquer the mighty Buckeyes of Ohio State. Could the Tide’s best game still be yet to come?
On to the National Championship!