CFB: Alabama Wins the National Title
The Alabama Crimson Tide (13-1, 7-1) have defeated the Georgia Bulldogs (13-2, 7-1) in the fourth annual College Football Playoff national championship game, 26-23, in overtime. This is the Crimson Tide's first national title since 2015, and their fifth in the last decade. It is also HC Nick Saban's sixth national title, tying him with the great Bear Bryant. It was a tight game for most of the second half, but before that, the Bulldogs got off to a 13-0 start at halftime. K Rodrigo Blankenship had a pair of field goals to break the tie and then late in the first half, Georgia added a touchdown to make it a 13-point lead at the halftime break.
QB Jalen Hurts struggled mightily in the first half, throwing for just 21 yards on 37.5 percent passing, as well as 47 yards on the ground. It was far from the best start for the QB who has helped lead Alabama to a 27-2 record over the last two seasons. Saban decided it was time for a new look in the backfield and coming out in the second half, he inserted true freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa. He helped lead Alabama down the field on the second drive of the third quarter, connecting for a touchdown pass with WR Henry Ruggs III, to cut the Georgia lead to 13-7. After a quick response from QB Jake Fromm, the Tide found themselves down 13 points again.
Fromm finished the game with 232 yards on 50.0 percent passing for one touchdown and two interceptions, although neither pick was really his fault. RB Sony Michel ran for 98 yards on 14 carries for the Bulldogs, and his counterpart, RB Nick Chubb only gained 25 yards in his final collegiate game. After a couple of field goals from Alabama, the score was 20-13 in the fourth quarter. Tagovailoa kept the uptempo style going, leading the Tide to a tie ball game, as he found WR Calvin Ridley coming across the middle of the end zone. All of a sudden, it was 20-20 with the seconds ticking away.
The Crimson Tide got the ball back on more time, but weren't able to end the season on a game-winning field goal, so we went to overtime. After Chubb couldn't pick up very much on two rushes, From rolled out on 3rd-and-seven, and was sacked at the 33-yard-line. A freshman mistake that he rarely makes. Blankenship seemed to have saved the day, at least for the time being, as he knocked through a 51-yard field goal, giving the Dawgs a 23-20 lead. Alabama got the ball next, though. Tagovailoa was sacked on 1st-and-10 for -16 yards, but the next play will live on forever. A 41-yard pass to DeVonta Smith to win the national championship!
It was an unbelievable way to finish another incredible year in college football. "I went back outside ... I took a shot down field and he caught it," Tagovailoa explained. "It's unbelievable. I dreamed about this," Hurts told ESPN after the game. Even though he compiled just 68 yards, he's a national champion. Saban said he knew they needed to throw the ball to win and he felt Tagovailoa could do it better. His halftime decision ended up making the difference in his national title game. LB Rashaan Evans may have summed it up perfectly in the postgame trophy presentation: "I feel amazing right now."
Photo Credit: Sporting News.
