Chris O’Meara / Associated Press
For the sixth time in the past 12 seasons, Alabama Crimson Tide is the national college football champion.
Alabama won a 52-24 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes on Monday night at the College Football Playoff National Championship, completing a perfect 13-0 season with one of the best attacks in history.
It was the DeVonta Smith show at the start of the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The winner of the Heisman Trophy set a game record for the title with 12 receptions and scored three touchdowns in victory:
A hand injury forced him to leave the field in the third quarter, but he did enough to give Alabama a 35-17 lead at halftime.
The offensive attack continued in the second half, with Mac Jones finishing with five touchdown passes despite bruising his leg, equaling a career record and marking his eighth game with at least four goals this season.
Alabama built a 28 point lead early in the fourth period on Najee Harris’ third touchdown and never looked back.
Head coach of Crimson Tide Nick Saban secured his seventh national championship, overtaking Bear Bryant as the best in history. This was their second unbeaten team after the 2009 Tide ended 14-0.
Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields was kept in a touchdown and Ohio State was unable to keep up with him after running back Trey Sermon was injured on the first play of the game. The Buckeyes were looking for their first championship since the 2014 season and finished 7-1.
Notable performances
Mac Jones, QB, ALA: 36 out of 45, 464 passing yards, 5 TDs
Najee Harris, RB, ALA: 22 loads, 79 running yards, 7 receptions, 79 receiving yards, 3 TDs
DeVonta Smith, WR, ALA: 12 receptions, 215 reception yards, 3 TDs
Justin Fields, QB, OSU: 17 of 33, 194 passing yards, 1 TD, 6 carries, 67 running yards
Mestre Teague III, RB, OSU: 15 loads, 65 running yards, 2 TDs
Chris Olave, WR, OSU: 8 receptions, 69 reception yards
DeVonta Smith and Alabama Stars Shine in Unstoppable Offense
If there were any doubts about Smith as the best college football player this season, those questions were answered early.
The receiver took over, gaining more yards than Ohio State in the first half (215-190).
His play gained a lot of attention from those who watched:
Smith suffered a finger injury in the third quarter and did not return, but left his mark.
Alabama also had a lot of production without it, as Harris offered impressive pieces on the ground and in the air:
ESPNUpstate @ESPNUpstate
If you are within all three, Najee Harris becomes a walking (running?) Touchdown. This guy is a bowling ball. He may be the most prepared player for the NFL on the pitch tonight, and he showed it there. Patience to find the track, let your lock be mounted, powered by contact.
Harris also passed Derrick Henry with a school record of 30 touchdowns in scrimmage matches in one season.
Skill players outscored Jones, but the quarterback also did his job with five touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Even when Smith left, the attack barely failed thanks to Jones’ strong play:
Crimson Tide started the day with an average of 48.2 points per game and did not slow down even against a difficult defense. The talent and production of this unit could match almost everyone in the history of college football.
Ohio State with short hand, unable to overcome losses
Ohio State had 13 players unavailable for the game, including nose tackle Tommy Togiai, defensive tip Tyreke Smith and kicker Blake Haubeil.
The situation got even worse when Sermon was injured in his first transport and taken to the hospital, according to ESPN’s Maria taylor. It was a significant loss, considering its impact:
Sermon was the Buckeyes’ biggest rusher this season and was up 524 yards in his last two games against Northwestern and Clemson.
And Fields played with a rib injury, so it was an uphill battle for the state of Ohio.
The Buckeyes still showed a lot of fighting, including a couple of touchdowns from the back running Master Teague III:
Former Buckeye Ezekiel Elliott was hoping Teague would break his own record:
Fields was quiet at first, but showed his skill set to help narrow the gap to 14 in the third quarter:
In the first half, Baron Browning produced a rare defensive highlight for the Buckeyes with a strip-sack:
The Buckeyes’ defense simply failed to keep up, allowing 621 yards while forcing only two punts.
We don’t know if the game would have been different with Ohio State at full strength, but the team on the field fell short in the game for the title.