Alabama beats Michigan State, 38-0 in Cotton Bowl

It is the third time this season Michigan State has been in a scoreless game after the first quarter. The Crimson Tide haven’t lost to an out-of-SEC opponent at home since a 77-74 setback against Xavier in 2013.

“All I know is”, he said, invoking a new nickname for the title game, “we’re going to the Natty”.

The Crimson Tide (13-1) will face No. 1 Clemson (14-0) for the national title on January 11 in Glendale, Ariz. Here are five takes from the Tide’s semifinal victory.

It didn’t take long for Saban to get asked about Clemson. Granted there are fewer games played, but those also are franchises that live by the championship-or-else philosophy, and all of those teams have won at least one championship since 2010. Heading into another game as a big favorite against the Big Ten champions, the Tide players said all week that the focus was better and their attitude more serious. What stood out the most is Alabama actually opened the game passing the ball as Henry didn’t touch the ball on its first series. In the College Football Playoff for the second straight year.

Alabama quarterbacks Jake Coker (14) and wide receiver Richard Mullaney (16) during the media day for the NCAA Cotton Bowl college football game Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. “And he did a fantastic job of making some big plays”.

But Clemson’s defense was the star of the Tigers’ 37-17 win, holding the Sooners to 67 yards rushing, a mere 28% of their usual output for a game. He connected with Ridley for two touchdowns on gains of six and 50 yards.

“You respect people for what they do and you respect great competitors”, he said.

Bama entered the fourth quarter with a 31-0 lead. Scoring grabs of 50 and 6 yards by Ridley were sandwiched around cornerback Cyrus Jones’ 57-yard, punt-return touchdown. And the last thing I want to do is look at the down side and say our last game as Spartans, we lost.

No. 2 Alabama (13-1) beat No. 3 Michigan State 38-0, Cotton Bowl. He completed 25 of 30 passes for 286 yards. But he wilted under the pressure of Alabama’s 11-deep defensive line, getting sacked four times and finishing 19 of 39 for 210 yards with two interceptions in just his fifth career loss.

“They know the offense just as good as me”, Cook said. “The pass rush was there”.

Aside from Cook, several other seniors will also be moving on. He said his sore shoulder was fully healed and that he doesn’t need offseason surgery. Michigan State was 5-of-19 on third and fourth down. “No… comment. That’s the first time I ever did that in the media”.

“Our players learned a lot from what happened in the game a year ago”, Saban said.

Alabama defeated Norfolk State 68-49 on Saturday, and Obasohan finished the game leading all scorers with 23 points to tie his career-high as he found a rhythm he’s appeared to lack lately.

With Alabama up 10-0 at the start of the second half, Calvin Ridley added on seven more points when he caught a controversial touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Coker. The drive was nine plays and 75 yards.

The first quarter was nothing but punts. An All-Big Ten pick and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award victor as the top senior quarterback in the nation, Cook has passed for 2,921 yards and 24 touchdowns this season.

With a 10-0 halftime lead that Coker provided, Alabama went on to dominate the second half. And Henry has a chance to become the 15th player to win the Heisman and the national championship in the same season.

And this year’s Alabama is better than last year’s Alabama.