The Rose Bowl will be played between Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Alabama Crimson Tide on January 1, 2021. The game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It will be a game in the College Football Playoff semifinal with the winner going to the national championship to face the winner of the other semifinal between Ohio State and Clemson.
It is the first time since World War II that the game is being played in a different state than California. The game was moved from Pasadena, California to Arlington, Texas, due to coronavirus restrictions that prevented fans, and specifically parents, from the location. Coaches Brian Kelly, Dabo Swinney and Ryan Day were among those who talked about having parents in the stands.
Notre Dame is the number 4 seed in this game. They have a defeat – against Clemson in the ACC championship. Ian Book set up a solid season with 2,601 yards and 15 touchdown passes. Kyren Williams has 1,061 running yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Javon McKinley leads the recipients with 40 receptions for 679 yards and three touchdowns.
Notre Dame’s focus will be on defense as they battle a three-headed monster in Mac Jones, Najee Harris and Devonta Smith. Adetokunbo Ogundeji has 6.5 bags and will be tasked with keeping Harris away. The team has only seven interceptions in total. Kyle Hamilton leads the Irish secondary and will have to find a way to do a good job covering Smith.
Alabama has one of the best attacks in football. The team scored at least 41 points in 10 straight games and at least 52 points in three straight games. Jones has 3,739 yards and 32 touchdown passes this season. Harris has 1,262 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground. Smith has 98 receptions for 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Notre Dame is 2-1 in its last three bowl games. The team played against Alabama in the BCS Championship game in 2013 and lost 42-14.
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Alabama has won two national college football championships since the start of the playoff. They didn’t make the playoff last season, but they won the Citrus Bowl.
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ROSE BOWL INFO
Sponsor: Capital One
Meeting: January, 1st
Time (EST): 4 pm
TV: ESPN
Location: Arlington, Texas
Stadium: AT&T Stadium
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RECENT WINNERS OF ROSE BOWL
2020: Oregon
2019: State of Ohio
2018: Georgia
2017: USC
2016: Stanford