Alabama was again dominant in their win over Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide cruised by the Fighting Irish 31-14 in the College Football Playoff semifinal game on Friday.
Nick Saban’s squad is now one win away from their sixth National Championship under the historically successful head coach.
In Saban’s opening remarks of his post-game press conference, he said, “I would like to congratulate Notre Dame’s team on an outstanding year, and you know, a tough game for us. I would also like to congratulate our team who played really well all year long and earned the right to be here.”
Saban continued, “It’s always an honor to say you won a playoff game and won a Rose Bowl. Our players earned that and a right to play in the National Championship Game.”
Notre Dame without a doubt played well at times in the contest and even performed better overall than some people thought they would. However, the Crimson Tide proved to be too tall of an order for the Irish.
When asked if wide receiver DeVonta Smith solidified himself as the Heisman Trophy winner, Saban answered: “We love it when any of our players get recognized, and Smitty has done as much for our team as any player could do for any team… I don’t get the opportunity to see all players play and really know exactly what they have done for their team, but I would love to see another one of our players win the Heisman Trophy.”
Smith was once again the star of the game, with seven catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns. This is nothing new for the Tide this season. The Bama wideout has been burning opposing defenses all year long.
Mac Jones, as usual, was the key to getting the ball efficiently into Smith’s hands. Jones threw 30 passes, completing 25 of them. He had 297 yards through the air and also carried the ball for 12 yards — which was somehow the second most on the team.
Najee Harris was the leading rusher with 125 yards on the ground. Tonight was the sixth 100-plus yard game for the Tide running back so far this season. This included a long run to move Alabama down the field that featured a video game-like hurdle over a Notre Dame defender.
On how he instructs Harris on jumping over players, Saban remarked, “I actually try to teach him not to do it, but it doesn’t work… When he sees that head go down, man, he’ll go over them in a heartbeat, and it’s been very effective for him.”
Bama was never in trouble in the game, and had their hands less than full with the Fighting Irish. In the first quarter Alabama had already pulled ahead 14-0 and pretty much never looked back.
Saban discussed how his team handled the Irish’s offensive scheme, advising, “They did a lot of shifting and motion and shifting in and out of unbalanced formations… I think they had a good plan against us and did a good job.”
Alabama’s defense showed fans everything they wanted to see. Defensively, the Tide didn’t give Notre Dame room to breathe for most of the game; this included pressuring the quarterback often and an interception by linebacker Christian Harris that seemed to seal the result of the game.
“When you play in games like this you know that the other team practices too. So, they are going to something different, and try to take advantage of something you maybe didn’t do so well on at other points in the season. I think our players did a good job of adjusting to that,” said Saban when discussing how the Notre Dame offense prepared to attack the Bama defense.
Quarterback Ian Book played a decent game, throwing for 229 yards and running for 55 yards and a touchdown. However, when it really mattered the Alabama pass rush kept him at bay.
Part of the defensive success for Alabama has to be credited to Patrick Surtain II, who had an electric defensive performance. Surtain rightfully received defensive Player of the Game honors; Smith earned this honor on offense.
Saban thought this was much deserved, commenting, “Patrick has great size and great speed. He is very instinctive and is a very good athlete that can change direction… he is really smart and does a great job of preparing for a game. We ask our corners to do a lot of bump and run… it is really good to see him recognized tonight as a defensive player.”
Alabama will have to wait a few hours to see who they will face off against in the National Championship Game. Clemson and Ohio State are currently playing as of this writing.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: [email protected] or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
