ARLINGTON, Texas – Yes, Notre Dame has beaten another big whip. But do you know what? So does everyone else.
Everyone except maybe Clemson or Ohio State – and whoever wins the College Football Playoff semifinals will find it better on January 11, or they could be the next victim of Alabama. The 2020 Crimson Tide threshing machine can be so powerful that no one stands a chance against it.
The first three possessions of this transplanted playoff game were a dazzling display by the Alabama offense – it may have been a fake Rose Bowl, but the Tide really is. They scored 21 points on 18 plays, and they tore through the fighting Irish with deadly speed and precise execution. It was Najee Harris flying, DeVonta Smith running, Mac Jones spreading – and Notre Dame chasing. And never catch on.
Final score: Alabama 31, Notre Dame 14. What seemed inevitable before the game became inevitable shortly after the kick-off.
Najee Hariss’s big day was to crochet an Irish defender at some point.
Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports
Alabama needed seven plays to reach 79 yards for his first offense, never once down a third and only twice down a second. The next possession was a 97-yard stroke by the Irish in just five plays, highlighted by Notre Dame’s Harris hurdler Nick McCloud on 53 runs. “That’s what he does regularly,” Smith said of Harris.
The game was marked by the talent gap between the two teams – the Crimson Tide which rose to a higher level than the Irish. Before the match was 11 minutes old, it was 14–0 and it was essentially over.
After his second possession of the match, Notre Dame never had the ball with the chance to equalize or take the lead. Even after a long, slow drive to get their own attack, the Irish defense immediately surrenders another TD. It was a speed match on the outside and a talent match on quarter.
“They made the plays today,” said Irish coach Brian Kelly. “They made them on the perimeter. Their skill players showed up today, like all year. We simply did not make enough plays. ”
Kelly was just as fast as a needlework for the wire brush when the media questions referred to Notre Dame’s repeated shortcomings against the elite competition. He needed to know the questions were coming, and he was ready to push the first two of them back with force.
“The margin is not the problem,” Kelly said. To lose is to lose. I do not really know what the distraction is. This football team struggled. And they made a few more plays on the perimeter. I do not really know what the question is. If you lose football matches, you know, there are still some plays you need to do.
“We had the opportunity. You watched the match. I watched the match. … It was not a matter of hitting the ball or not having enough players to compete against Alabama. … And I’m sorry if you do not like it or if the national media does not like it, but we’m going back to work. We are going to keep recruiting and we are going to put ourselves in this position again. ”
We all watched the game. And it was more than just a few plays here or there. Alabama just has much better and faster players at play positions. Where Notre Dame barely tried to throw the ball to his pedestrian receivers, Jones was at his best wide spread in years and a whole bunch of other handy athletic freaks in the open.
“We thought we could unpack a little better,” Kelly said of the defense plan. “And it did not happen. … We were a little tentative. We close our feet. And you can not do that against highly skilled players. You have to be aggressive and attack those skill players in space. If you lock your feet for a moment, they are gone. ‘
This is what happens when the other team recruits at a higher level. Notre Dame’s players are good; Alabama’s players are better. That certainly includes the quarterback position, where Ian Book had a very good career but had no chance to fit the throw that Jones could do.
This result, coupled with the fact that Clemson was beaten 34–10 in the Atlantic Coastal Conference Championship game, definitely says that Notre Dame remains a reduction of the best. But while the deaths of the Irish may feel good for much of America, it looks at the whole picture – whoever was fourth on the College Football Playoff rankings would be smoked in this game.
Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports
The first team from this four-team field was Texas A&M, and the Aggies were also knocked out by Alabama. The score of that one: 52–24. Want to see a reunion of it?
Should Cincinnati feel resentful? Absolutely. The Bearcats earned far more respect and esteem than they received from the selection committee, and acquitted themselves well in the Peach Bowl, even though they were away from many of their most important players. But let’s be honest, does anyone think Cincinnati will not be downplayed by this Alabama team either?
Oklahoma? The Sooners improved a lot by the end of the season, but losing two games – one to a Kansas State team that ended 4-6 – removed them from serious consideration. And it had to.
The fact is that it is a three-team sport. This is a serious, chronic issue that has undermined some of the national interest – far too many programs have no legal hope of competing for a national title or even a playoff spot. The lack of diversity and depth creates boredom.
But by 2020, it could finally be a sports team. Alabama can simply be a cut above all. The tide is strongly favored in the national championship game on January 11th.
Every now and then, one of the players in Alabama can win the Heisman Trophy – Smith and Jones are two of the four finalists for the award that will be handed out next Tuesday. A reporter asked them if they would take time in the coming days to work on acceptance speeches, and Jones gave an answer that should warm Saban’s super-focused soul.
“It’s a question about rat poison,” Jones said, reflecting Saban’s term for praise in the media that can create complacency.
Jones went on to say that Alabama’s offensive goal is to “score one point more than the other team.” But honestly, it’s never been this close to this group. The SEC Championship was a six-point game against Florida, but the Gators never had a realistic chance of winning after trailing 18 at halftime. ‘Bama’s average win was 30 points in this game.
The Irish thus fared better than the average Alabama opponent, exceeding the expectations of the bettors. It was a 20-point spread, the largest in GVB history, and Notre Dame managed to get a late attack to cover it. Compared to many fighting Irish flops in recent years, it was a better show.
That does not mean, however, that it was a close, competitive game. It was not a play-here-play-there situation. It was Alabama that was far better than Notre Dame, and now the Tide is yet another victory of the role after an unbeaten national championship. Maybe they will eventually have to sweat out a close match in the final – but maybe not.