Alabama Crimson Tide shuts out Michigan State, cruises to final

The No. 1 Clemson Tigers ran through the Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners 37-17 in the Capital One Orange Bowl to punch their ticket, while the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide completely destroyed the Big Ten champion Michigan State Spartans 38-0 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. 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.

“That’s the thing that has been most pleasing to me about this team, and it’s not just what we’ve done in any of the three phases of the game”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

“We had a really good game plan for this”, Humphrey said.

Alabama Crimson Tide advances to the College Football Playoff National Championship in Glendale, Arizona.

The Tide showed few weaknesses on offense or defese against Michigan State (12-2).

“So we knew that we would have to throw the bubbles and the smokes and the outside perimeter stuff and try to get them blocked on the perimeter to be able to move the ball effectively”.

Coker had several big plays, including a 50-yard pass to Ridley in the second quarter to set up Alabama’s first score – a 1-yard run by Derrick Henry.

Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry had two touchdowns and 75 yards rushing. The last made it 38-0 halfway through the fourth quarter.

Alabama finally broke through by going not to Henry but to Ridley, who has stepped into Amari Cooper’s role this season and played a lot like the former All-American. Oklahoma went to the locker room with a 17-16 lead after Mark Andrews hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield with 1:34 remaining, and the Sooners defense came up with a pick in the end zone on an ill-advised throw by Watson into triple-coverage. Hale returned to practice Monday for the Crimson Tide, but will need to work back to his normal amount of minutes. Days before the national semifinal at Jerry World, Jake Conklin, the Spartans’ All-America left tackle, said that Michigan State had the “best offensive line in the nation” and that the group could handle Alabama up front.

“This is a special team that I couldn’t be prouder of”, Coker said.

At Cotton Bowl Media Day on Tuesday, Cook raved about Michigan State quarterbacks coach Brad Salem and his preparation for the next step. So Jake (quarterback Jacob Coker) reads, ‘What’s the box?

“We just focus on us and our job and just really just focus on that one play, and if it’s a run play, we dominate the line of scrimmage, and if it’s a pass play, the receivers get open and make competitive plays”.

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.

The Tide came out trying to loosen up a Michigan State defense that typically sells out to stop the run. “I think they were scared”.

Guard Retin Obasohan matched a career high with 23 points and Alabama stretched its nonconference home winning streak to 15 games with a 68-49 victory over Norfolk State on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Michigan State’s chance to go into the half with something positive was snatched by Jones.

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. But it wasn’t like those guys were super talented, way faster and way bigger than all of us, just pushing us around.

“This is the first time in a while we’ve had this happen to us”, Dantonio said.