Alabama 7-point favorite over Clemson in title game

Grade: The New Years holiday is tied to a sense of newness, but after everything that has changed in college football over the last two years this Alabama team looks like a movie we’ve seen before – three times in four years, to be exact.

The defense was even more impressive, especially since star end Shaq Lawson was knocked out of the game in the opening minutes with a knee injury.

Don’t start the Michigan State-shouldn’t-have-been-here talk.

Things didn’t turn out well for Michigan State, however, as Alabama cruised to a 38-0 victory, ending the Spartans four-game bowl winning streak.

“I wasn’t surprised at all by the game he had tonight”, Alabama coach Nick Saban said. At the same time, I think it’s my responsibility to teach these guys the preparation that needs to happen to be successful in these bowl games. Maybe we were a little bit too complacent, and I take responsibility for all that.

Henry capped his month on college football’s awards circuit with 20 carries for 75 yards and his 24th and 25th rushing touchdowns of the season, a new school record.

The Cotton Bowl was won perhaps above all by quarterback Jake Coker, a redshirt senior, who exploited the one-on-one coverage that both teams knew talented pass-catchers such as receiver Calvin Ridley and tight end O.J. Howard would receive.

Tweet of the game: As Alabama squeezed the life out of Michigan State’s offense and title hopes in the first half, one fan stood out as a kind of anthropomorphic representation of the Tide defense.

When told two days before Thursday night’s game at AT&T Stadium that everyone expected the Tide to throw deep passes to him, Ridley said: “I’d rather that be quiet”. He caught eight passes for 138 yards. Connor Cook lobbed two errant passes for interceptions, completing just 19 passes on 39 attempts.

Ala – C.Jones 57 punt return (Griffith kick), 3:24.

Although Henry ran for two touchdowns, the offensive MVP was quarterback Jake Coker.

The Spartans trailed 10-0 late in the first half, but Cook pushed a drive into the red zone.

Alabama is playing for another title after being upset by Ohio State in the semifinals of the inaugural College Football Playoff. After being humbled by Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes last season, the coach of the Crimson Tide took some heat in the offseason by talking about possible distractions his team faced leading up to the loss to Ohio State. The ultimate score indicated dominance on each side of the street of scrimmage, a signature performance for a Crimson Tide team in that had been blamed for not having more of them. “It was just a matter of when”.

Clemson trailed by a point before outscoring Oklahoma 21-0 in the second half of a 37-17 rout of the fourth-ranked Sooners.

“For some reason, we were the underdog in the playoffs”, receiver Charone Peake said.

No. 1 Clemson has been praised for its balance, and for good reason.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson overcame a halftime deficit to run away with the game. He’s the best player in the country.

“It’s just been so fun”, he said. “People can have their own opinions or whatever, but there ain’t a better one than No. 4”. “We scored on special teams”. He entered Thursday night with 13 completions of 30 or more yards, but Tide players had seen Coker air it out enough in practice to know that, if necessary, Coker could move the offense primarily with the bazooka hanging from his right shoulder.

If Watson was flustered by that interception, he sure didn’t show it after the break. Wayne Gallman rushed for 150 yards and a pair of TDs. “And I said ’15 for 15, ‘ with the message being let’s make them print 15 tickets this year, somehow, some way”.