College Football Playoff National Championship Game Preview

With 0:42 seconds on the clock, Connor Cook looked to pass inside the ten and it was intercepted by Dillon Lee, sealing the deal for the Tide shutting out the Michigan State Spartans 38-0. While this was a defensive performance, Coker completed 25 of his passes for 286 yards and threw two TD’s to Ridley.

“Just got to keep the focus we had in preparation for this game”, Coker said.

That was evident when the team’s leadership council voted to send home sophomore defensive back Tony Brown.

Saban, moving on to his fourth national championship game in seven years, is now 9-0 against former assistants with every win coming by at least 14 points.

“I think our defensive front probably affected the quarterback a little bit”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said. The SEC Champs also proved what we’ve said all along “The Big 10 is mediocre”…

“Of course other teams talk, but that’s not how we do things at Alabama”.

The book on Alabama for much of the season was to find a way to limit Henry’s touches, force Coker to beat you throwing the ball and stretch the field on offense while throwing over the Tide’s heads.

Standing 6-6 and weighing 242 pounds, it’s hard to imagine O.J. Howard becoming a forgotten man. But the Alabama tight end did towards the end of the season. They’ve held the top two spots ever since, leaving no doubt they’re the best teams in the country.

“Michigan State’s winningest quarterback missed badly several times while starting 4 of 11”. He had a 50-yard pass to Calvin Ridley that set up a touchdown and another 50-yarder to Ridley for a touchdown.

Alabama polished off the Spartans in the third quarter, effectively ending the game on Cyrus Jones’ 57-yard punt return. He completed 16 of his 31 throws for 187 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown to Hunter Renfrow that gave Clemson some breathing room late in the third quarter.

Alabama has now prevented four of its last six opponents from scoring 60 points or more, but the Crimson Tide has struggled to score as well.

Michigan State got their butts bruised tonight in a nationally televised spanking administered over the collective knee of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Now, their season is not over and in fact, it has really only started.

“That’s the thing about this team”.

“It felt like they were playing some good defense out there”, Cook said. “Nobody is really keeping count on this team. We have athletes all over the field, and when we get everybody involved, we can be special”. 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. Saban said he thought big plays were the difference in the game. “That’s just the kind of guy he is”. “You’ve got to pick up the pieces and move forward”. “It just resonates with everybody”.

“He’s a great quarterback, he’s a great leader, and he can make things happen when we need them”, receiver ArDarius Stewart said. “We knew we had to go 1-0”.

Ezekiel Elliott punctuated his final college game with a record-tying four touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl, adding another chapter to Ohio State’s rich running back tradition.

“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”.