Cases for and problems with Alabama and Michigan State

By winning ten-games in a row after an early season loss to Ole Miss-a win streak that includes another SEC title- the Crimson Tide (12-1) will get their shot at redemption Thursday night against Michigan State (12-1) in the Good Year Cotton Bowl. Dantonio said with a nod to Saban and a playful jab at the media throng, who greeted the response with a collective guffaw. “And you have the same respect when you come out the other end regardless of what happens in a game”. “So it’s a lot of football games”. “No matter who we’re facing, if we are the underdog, if we are the favorite, no matter what, we go into each and every game trying to prove something”. “We’ll need to be at our best, play at our best, because our best is going to be needed here”.

Saban, 64 and five years Dantonio’s elder, is two wins shy of tying Bear Bryant for the most national championships in the sport’s history, two wins away from winning his fourth crown in nine years at Alabama. “And there were some pretty significant trips involved for families and fans and teams and players”. Oklahoma is very good and quarterback Baker Mayfield had a Heisman type season, though he didn’t make the final three in NY.

“He’s letting me answer all the questions, I guess”. “You’re going to be a better player three years from now than when you’re a freshman”.

It’s teacher versus student, with Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban bringing an 8-0 mark against those from his coaching tree into the Cotton Bowl matchup with Mark Dantonio (TV: 8 p.m. ESPN). Coker is not a bad player but he was 41st in the country in passer rating (139.41) and 52nd in yards per attempt (7.4).

Stylistic similarities Alabama and Michigan State adhere to the same basic approach to football, something the statistics make clear: Alabama ranks no lower than 16th in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense or passing defense, and Michigan State ranks in the top 26 in three of those categories. Alabama has sacked the opposing quarterback 46 times this season, which puts extra pressure on the Spartans offensive line. “And we’re looking forward to our moment”. “We left on an upswing, and it was a very positive end of the season for us and it sort of catapulted us into 2015”. But nobody felt like they were satisfied. Sparty is a far different team now than when they lost to the Tide in the Capital One Bowl after the 2010 regular season.

Alabama’s Derrick Henry will provide the ultimate challenge for a Michigan State defense known for shutting down its opponents’ running games. Left tackle Cam Robinson is playing his best football of the season, and the unit has limited its negative plays since the bye week.

That applies to cotton bolls and orange blossoms, to a coach like Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, now tied with Kirk Ferentz for the longest tenure of any FBS coach (17 seasons) and a coach like Saban, who kept uprooting himself until he found a home in Tuscaloosa.

On the other hand, Clemson and Michigan State fail to follow the pattern of past Champions. “Our guys played hard, but we needed to be better”. No fan base expects more from their program than Alabama.