Ending the season undefeated and defeating Ohio State 52-24 to win the National College Football Championship presented by AT&T on Monday night, some Alabama players felt like they were making history.
“I think we’re the best team to ever play,” said Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.
Jones, who threw for more than 4,000 yards this season and won the Davey O’Brien Award for the nation’s top QB, cited the team’s 10-game regular season schedule, complete SEC.
The league adopted the conference list only in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is no team that has ever played an SEC program like this before,” Jones said. “At the same time, we’re so happy we won this game and kind of put the icing on the cake.”
Alabama defensive leader Christian Barmore, who was named defensive MVP after finishing the championship game with a sack and two loss approaches, agreed with his defender’s assessment.
“Yeah, we’re really the best team because we worked hard,” Barmore said. “We didn’t hear the noise outside. We ignored COVID things. We worked hard together. We really tried to do that, camp, scrimmage, everything.”
Alabama started the season in third place in the Associated Press Preseason poll, but quickly claimed to be the best team in college football, beating Georgia and Texas A&M in the top 10 in the first four weeks of the season.
The Crimson Sea then led the table, finishing 22nd at Auburn in late November and No. 7 in the Florida SEC championship game to take first place in the playoffs.
In the PCP semifinals, Alabama defeated Notre Dame by 17 points.
In the national title game, Alabama handed Ohio the only loss of the season.
Tide’s defense had ups and downs, but the offensive was prolific.
Najee Harris rushed for 1,466 meters and won the Doak Walker Award, which is given to the nation’s top running back.
DeVonta Smith caught 117 passes for 23 touchdowns and became the first recipient to win the Heisman Trophy in 29 years.
That said, Alabama averaged 48.5 points and 541.6 yards per game.
And while Alabama coach Nick Saban avoided any direct comparison to other programs, he didn’t hesitate to place this Alabama team in the context of the other five Alabama teams he led to national championships.
“No disrespect to other teams we had or other championship teams, but this team won 11 SEC games,” Saban said. “No other team has done that. They won the SEC, went undefeated in the SEC, then defeated two big teams in the playoffs without a break between them.
“This is the fifth game in a row, from LSU from Arkansas to Florida to Notre Dame so far. I’ve played 13 games, I went undefeated with all the interruptions I’ve had this season. I think there’s a lot about what to write when it comes to the team’s legacy. “