It’s not that the Spartans aren’t a good team – they’ve proved otherwise on multiple occasions this year against ranked opponents – but it wasn’t their night and Alabama was just that good.
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“And I think that was a momentum swing, and we also hit it several more times in the game”.
Cook completed 19 of 39 passes for 210 yards in his final collegiate game. The final score was 38-0, which is notable since you probably bailed halfway through the third quarter.
Nick Saban, defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and other Alabama coaches pointed out Michigan State’s offensive tendencies throughout the buildup to last Thursday, telling Alabama players what the Spartans like to do on offense and showing them some of Michigan State’s go-to plays. Alabama plays No. 1 Clemson (14-0), which handled Oklahoma 37-17 in the Orange Bowl earlier in the day.
Then Alabama QB Jake Coker, a senior playing in his first and only bowl game, played just the right track, jump starting the party with “50-yard Bomb to the Michigan State one-yard line” Feat. They can beat you any number of ways, which should come in handy on January 11, when they take on Clemson and seek their fourth national championship in the past seven years. Henry’s touchdown run was his 24th, breaking the Southeastern Conference record for rushing TDs in a season (previously held by Auburn’s Tre Mason in 2013 and Florida’s Tim Tebow in 2006).
“We knew that in order to win this game, it would come down to Jake making plays and pass protection and our wide receivers outside”, Kiffin said on the field after the win. “We just have to go out there and be the band of brothers that we have and work together and dominate”.
They talked about how some players were too concerned about where they would be drafted or partying on Bourbon Street last season. Alabama coach Nick Saban coached at Michigan State from 1995-99, with current Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio serving as one of his assistants….
Calvin Ridley makes a catch.
Can the top-ranked team in the nation really be disrespected?
Derrick Henry (2) runs for a touchdown against MI during the fourth quarter.
The opening line for the National Championship game is Alabama -7.
He had just watched his offense take apart one of the best defenses in the country in a 38-0 thrashing of Michigan State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, but it wasn’t the way anybody necessarily expected the Crimson Tide to roll on offense. Meanwhile, Tide cornerback Cyrus Jones produced game-changing plays with an interception to stop an MSU scoring threat and a punt return for a touchdown that sealed the verdict.
Coker hooked up with tight end O.J. Howard a couple of times to get back into Michigan State territory and set up Adam Griffith’s 47-yard field goal to make it 10-0. After the extra point, Alabama led 17-0 with 10:36 remaining in the third.
Alabama began the second half with a 15-5 run to push its lead to 48-33. “That’s been a weakness that I thought we overcame tonight”. First time all year that that’s happened to us. “We should have played harder”. They count on us to do their job covering and we count on them to get pressure on the quarterback.
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“But because of the result and the bad taste of losing a game when you had a chance to – in the playoff and maybe in the first playoff we weren’t quite ready to handle bowl game versus playoff game, whatever”.
