The Great Crimson drowned the rival and were proclaimed champions in college football
MIAMI GARDENS, Florida – DeVonta Smith was unforgettable, Najee Harris unstoppable and Mac Jones impeccable. With a yield that was both surgical and explosive, sowing Nr. 1 Alabama won the 52-24 national championship game against No. 3 Ohio State Monday night
The last game of the collegiate season in the middle of the pandemic, a campaign that was not known if it will be played and full of victims in the fall, ended in the most predictable way: Alabama (13-0) as champion for the sixth time in 12 years under Nick Saban.
For Saban, it was the seventh championship, breaking the tie with Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and becoming the head coach with the most collegiate championships.
Ohio State (7-1) simply could not keep up. Justin Fields played what would be his last game before going to the NFL, passed for 194 meters and a touchdown. If Fields was 100% after a brutal blow in the semifinals against Clemson, it’s hard to know for sure.
In the first offensive race, the Buckeyes lost because of Trey Sermon’s run, in a game in which they had to run at full speed, as they faced one of the best offenses in recent history. Ohio State has never allowed so many points in a bowl game.
Fans will be able to debate the best team of the Saban era, but none will be more memorable than this. The sea ended perfectly during a season marked by COVID-19 which forced teams to go into quarantine and continue endless trials and insecurities every week, with mostly empty stadium matches.
DeVonta Smith, the winner of the Heisman Trophy, caught 12 balls for 215 meters and three touchdowns, all in the first half in which the Crimson Sea defeated the opponent 35-17.
Jones, who finished third in the vote for Heisman, completed 36 of 45 for a record 464 meters in a national championship game. and five touchdowns, which operated behind an offensive line that rarely made him feel pressured. Harris finished 158 yards out of 29 innings, scoring three times to give the SEC 30 touchdowns this season.
Smith did not play in the second half due to injury. He returned to his team’s line of contact in the fourth period, with his left hand bandaged.
Smith and Harris caught everyone back in college football for the senior season.
Boy, it was worth it! Together with Jones, another class member in 2017, they will leave Alabama as leaders of a team that managed to make a difficult pandemic march seem easy.