MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – DeVonta Smith was uncovered, Najee Harris unstoppable and Mac Jones impeccable. With a performance that was both surgical and explosive, No. 1 Alabama won the College Football Playoff National Championship game 52-24 against no. Won in Ohio State.
The final game of a college football season in a pandemic, a season that was uncertain to play in the summer and filled with interruptions in the fall, ended in the most predictable way: Alabama (13-0) as national champion for the sixth time in the last 12 years under coach Nick Saban.
For Saban, it was an overall title 7 in his career, which had a draw with the great Paul Alberda Paul “Bear” Bryant by a great coach of the university.
The state of Ohio (7-1) just could not keep up. Justin Fields, who could be his last game before leaving for the NFL, passed for 194 yards and gave up an attack. Whether Fields was 100% after hitting a cruel hit on the sidelines during his brilliant semifinal against Clemson was hard to know.
On the first ride of the Buckeyes, they lost Trey Sermon’s star career due to injury and in a game they had to run at top speed, they splashed too much in recent history. The state of Ohio has never allowed more points in a ball game.
Fans can debate which team in the Saban dynasty is the best, but no one will be more memorable than this group. The Tide ended perfectly during a season that could not be further, as COVID-19 forced teams to quarantines and endless testing and uncertainty every week with matches played in mostly empty stadiums.
Only about 15,000 fans were in Hard Rock Stadium, capacity 65,326, to see the last amazing performance of Smith’s college career.
The Heisman Trophy winner had 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half as the Crimson Tide took a 35-17 lead.
Steve Sarkisian, outgoing offensive coordinator, using a variety of motions and incorrect directions turned the heads of the state of Ohio to track down Smith.
Sometimes it was simpler than that. With Smith’s third attack, he stands in the slot, closest to the line of three receivers on the left. Smith quickly cut to the middle of the field and suddenly he was tied to a lineout ball, which he left in the dust for a score of 42 yards with 41 seconds left in the second quarter.
Smith, who ended his freshman season by winning the 2017 national championship winning pass from Tua Tagovailoa, ended his career in Alabama as the leading career receiver in Southeastern Conference history. He was the attacking player of Monday night’s game.
As for Sarkisian, he’s on his way to Texas as head coach. Longhorns fans must have liked what they saw of their new player. If only he could bring Smith and his fellow Heisman candidates to Austin.
Jones, who finished third in the Heisman poll, was 36 for 45 for a CFP championship record of 464 yards and five touchdowns, and works behind a line that rarely feels rushed. Harris hit 158 yards from shot at 29, and scored three times to give him an SEC record of 30 times this season.
Smith barely played in the second half, and he left with an injury. He returned to the sidelines in the fourth quarter with his left hand wrapped around his wrist, two fingers tied together and with a Heisman mask.
Alabama barely missed him and cracked 50 early in the fourth quarter when Harris entered unharmed from a yard.
Smith and Harris surprised some by returning to their college after last season.
Boy, did it turn out to be worth it? Together with Jones, another member of the 2017 recruiting class, they will leave Alabama as the leaders of a team that managed to make a difficult march through the pandemic seem easy.