MIAMI GARDENS, Florida (AP) – The celebration was both familiar and unique. The confetti cannons threw red and white rain into the air and Alabama players ran to the sideline to pick up their championship hats and T-shirts.
It’s a rite of passage if you played for Crimson Tide under coach Nick Saban.
This time, however, the band playing the fight song was a shrill recording, and when “Sweet Home Alabama” played, only a few thousand Tide fans were still at the stadium to sing along.
The final game of a college football season in a pandemic, a season that was uncertain to be played in the summer and full of interruptions in the fall, ended in the most predictable way: Alabama as national champion for the sixth time in the last 12 years under Saban .
DeVonta Smith was undisputed, Najee Harris unstoppable and Mac Jones impeccable while Tide won the National College Football Playoff Championship game 52-24 against No. 3 Ohio State on Monday night. They ended the year at 13-0 – an entire season in which many wondered if it was possible to play any.
“I think we are the best team that ever played,” said Jones.
For Saban, it was his 7th career title overall, breaking the tie with the great Alabama Paul “Bear” Bryant by a great college coach.
“For me, this is the best team,” said Saban. “There is more unity in this team than in almost any other we’ve ever had. They had to overcome and persevere a lot this season, and they did it in a magnificent way. “
Ohio State (7-1) just couldn’t keep up. Justin Fields, playing what could be his last game before going to the NFL, went through 194 yards and a touchdown. Whether Fields was 100% after taking a brutal blow to the side during his brilliant performance in the semifinal against Clemson, it was difficult to know for sure.
“I could be out there,” was all the junior quarterback said.
In the Buckeyes’ first race, they lost Trey Sermon due to an injury, and in a game that needed to run at high speed, facing one of the great offenses of recent history, they gasped too much. The state of Ohio never allowed more points in a game of bowling.
“I think there is a feeling that if you don’t score, you will be left behind and then the pressure builds up,” said Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, of Tide’s prolific attack.
Fans can debate which team in the Saban dynasty is the best, but none will be more memorable than this group.
“Everyone is so close,” said Smith. “People said last year that the dynasty was over. We don’t stop. We just keep reloading. “
After spending two entire seasons without winning a national title, Tide ended up perfect in a season that couldn’t have been more distant. COVID-19 forced teams to quarantine and endless tests and uncertainties every week with games played in mostly empty stadiums.
“For me, this team has achieved more than almost any team,” said Saban. “No disrespect to the other teams we had, but that team won 11 games from the SEC. No other team has done that. They won the SEC and went undefeated in the SEC and then defeated two great teams in the playoffs without a break. I think there is still a lot to write about this team’s legacy ”.
Only about 15,000 fans were at the Hard Rock Stadium, with a capacity of 65,326, to see the last magnificent performance of Smith’s college career. The Heisman Trophy winner had receptions for 12 receptions over 215 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half.
“God only knows what he would have done if he played the whole game,” said Saban.
Using a series of wrong moves and orientations, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian left Ohio state heads spinning around trying to locate Smith. At one point, he was suddenly confronted with a linebacker, whom he left in the dust by a 42-yard score to make 35-17 with 41 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Smith, who ended his freshman season by taking the Tua Tagovailoa 2017 national championship victory touchdown pass, ended his career in Alabama as the main career receiver in the history of the Southeast Conference and the most notable offensive player in his third game. by title.
As for Sarkisian, he is on his way to Texas as a head coach. Longhorn fans must have liked what they saw. If only I could bring Smith and his fellow Heisman contenders to Austin.
Jones, who finished third in the Heisman poll, had 36 to 45 for a CFP championship record of 464 yards and five touchdowns. In one of the perhaps most neglected seasons a defender has ever played, Jones set a single season record for passer efficiency rating at 203.
Harris, who took fifth place in the Heisman race, had 158 yards of scrimmage in 29 strokes, scoring three times to give him a SEC record of 30 touchdowns this season.
Smith barely played in the second half, leaving with an injury. He returned to the sideline in the fourth period with his right hand wrapped around his wrist, two fingers taped together and wearing a Heisman mask.
Alabama almost missed it and hit 50 at the start of the fourth period, when Harris came in untouched from the yard.
Smith and Harris surprised some by returning to college after the last season for their veteran years.
Dude, it ended up paying off. Together with Jones, another member of that 2017 recruiting class, they will leave Alabama as leaders of a team that has managed to make a hard march through the pandemic look easy.
“We all had a mission to try to get things done right,” said Smith. “We all started working and ended up the way we wanted to.”
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/
___
More college football AP: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25