The buildup all week to Thursday’s 38-0 win over Michigan State at the second College Football Playoff semifinal in the Cotton Bowl had been how the Michigan State defense would try to slow Henry. Although he didn’t post impressive numbers during the regular season (2,775 yards and 19 touchdowns), he completed 25-of-30 passes for 286 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the semifinal.
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Defensively, both teams have excellent units and plenty of good individual playmakers. Ryan Anderson and Tim Williams don’t draw the headlines like A’Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed, but they can train wreck an offense as evidence of their play Thursday.
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The national championship might come down to this: Whether Clemson can find weak spots in Alabama’s defensive armor with its quick-strike offense, or whether the extra time to prepare will give the Tide time to develop a scheme capable of stopping Watson and the Tigers.
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After all, Superman is not supposed to bleed, much less get knocked out in front of a sold-out crowd that was maybe 30% Canadian. Just when Team Canada thought they had one up, the goal was reviewed and it seemed inconclusive so it was waved off.
Few doubted how stout Alabama was in its defensive front.
The Crimson Tide have nine non-offensive touchdowns this season after collecting just one a year ago, yet another difference in how this season’s team is going about its business.
No. 2 Alabama 38, No. 3 Michigan State 0.
“Any time you have a team from your league in the national championship game, it’s a great thing”, ACC Commissioner John Swofford said. “But we lean on each other”.
And that’s a full credit share to Saban and his coaching staff for supremely motivating the Tide – prohibitive pregame favorites against the Spartans – by constantly reminding the players of their most recent postseason flameouts: A 2014 Sugar Bowl loss to Oklahoma (perhaps the night pop-music superstar Katy Perry fell hard for Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight) and last year’s Sugar Bowl defeat to Ohio State in the inaugural Playoff semifinals (blowing an early 21-6 lead).
Some might have been surprised that Kiffin would put so much on Coker’s shoulders.
One positive Michigan State could take from the game is that it stopped Heisman victor Derrick Henry, holding him to just 75 yards on 20 carries.
The Alabama men’s basketball team started the new year off right, and finished their non-conference schedule with a 68-49 victory over the Norfolk State Spartans. “You know, I told them, ‘You ain’t favored to win the damn game, but we ain’t no underdog.’ Everybody out there, nobody believes in this team except these guys”. Howard out of the mothballs.
Ridley had eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns and now has 1,031 yards for the season.
The Tide players talked about how some players were too concerned about where they would be drafted or partying on Bourbon Street last season.
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Can the top-ranked team in the nation really be disrespected? “We’ve got four quarters left, or however many it takes, so we’ll be ready”. Coker, the promising Florida State transfer who sat on the bench most of last season, was almost flawless. But the way he hung in there and kept improving, especially with his penchant for taking on defenders, won over his teammates. This is because Alabama does those things better, and it does these things with better athletes, a bevy of five-star recruits who wind up dotting National Football League rosters year after year. “It just resonates with everybody”. “Last year, when we got to this point, I think we were just happy to take part”. “That’s been a weakness that I thought we overcame tonight”. “If we have trouble making plays on the deep ball, there it is”. We had some tough away games and some tough opponents and always found a way to win. “We had 13 assists [and] 13 turnovers, some careless turnovers, we’ll continue to get better, but another stellar defensive effort from our team”.
