Tide, Spartans in a familiar spot for semifinal

Unlike the Orange Bowl this game will be controlled by which team plays the best defense.

New Year’s Eve with 82,812 in attendance at the building affectionately known as Jerry World.

Alabama and Michigan State will meet for the second time in the storied history of the two programs.

A nice catch in the end zone for Alabama, and a reversal on replay for the touchdown. Wayne Gallman rushed for 1,332 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Aaron Burbridge is a favorite target of Cook with 80 receptions for 1,219 yards and seven touchdowns. Alabama also has receivers like Calvin Ridley, ArDarius Stewart and O.J. Howard who are matchup problems.

After the play, the referee picked up the flag and said there was no roughing the passer since McDowell hit Coker in the chest. Henry has also run for 23 touchdowns, matching an SEC record, and had 18 straight games scoring a touchdown. He was out there for the second drive, and Oklahoma got nothing going.

Michigan State punter Jake Hartbarger didn’t get the same kind of bounce on this kick after Michigan State faced fourth-and-15 from the Tide 47. The way Derrick Henry has been running the ball this year and the stifling defense the Crimson Tide rolls out is remarkable (I feel we can say this every year though…).

Austin Seibert’s 22-yard field goal has gotten Oklahoma within 13-10 with 4:41 left in the first half at the Orange Bowl.

Oklahoma has had arguably the easiest path of the four teams, but that doesn’t take away from the unbelievable season they’ve had. Cook doesn’t have the mobility to be a threat in the running game, and simply handing the ball to the tailback and running power have not been an effective way to attack the Tide, which allows 2.38 yards per rush. He is the 19th FBS player to break that plateau.

If Michigan State can keep Henry from breaking off chunks of yards and Coker has to convert first downs with throws and make plays down field to loosen up the Spartans, it’s uncertain if he can deliver.

Michigan State has posted at least 11 wins five times in the last six seasons (11 in 2010, 11 in 2011, 13 in 2013, 11 in 2014, 12 in 2015).

Wednesday’s walkthrough put the final touches on the gameplan for Michigan State.

Alabama is scoreless after the first quarter for the fourth time. So this matchup against mighty Alabama feeds right into Michigan State’s state of mind.

That was ugly, and still a break for Alabama even though the Tide lost 13 yards. The Crimson Tide give up 74 yards per game on the ground. The Oklahoma Sooners finished the season 11-1, lead by quarterback Baker Mayfield and a high powered Sooners’ offense. The victor of the Cotton Bowl will take on the victor of that game.

A trip to Arizona to play for the national championship on January 11.

In the end, Henry will be too tough to stop and the inconsistent Michigan State offense will falter against the stingy Alabama defense.

The two parted ways when Saban went to LSU, where he won the first of his four national titles. The Crimson Tide has won the last 12 games in the series, the last 34-10 in the 2008 regular-season opener in Atlanta.

It’s Michigan State-Alabama in a semifinal of the College Football Playoff.

Get pumped up for the MSU vs Alabama Cotton Bowl live tonight. They are longtime friends, as are Izzo and current Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio.

ESPN has exercised its option to push kickoff of the Cotton Bowl back 10 minutes.

While Michigan State has thrived in close games, Alabama has played few.

Check out a gallery of fans who made the trip to AT&T Stadium for the game.

Fans for both teams are familiar with the $1.2 billion stadium that is home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. They defeated Stanford 24-21 in the Rose Bowl two years ago and Beat Baylor 42-41 in a shoot out in last year’s Cotton Bowl.