Alabama wins the Rose Bowl over Notre Dame 31-14. Five thoughts and analysis of the game, and what it all means.
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Alabama wins the Rose Bowl
Final Score: Alabama 31, Notre Dame 14
CFN Prediction: Alabama 44, Notre Dame 23
Line: Alabama -19.5, o/u: 65.5
5. It was just so … obvious
SOMEONE had to get the No. 4 seed.
The College Football Playoff is supposed to be about the four best teams, and who deserves to be in, and who would make this mini-tournament as strong as possible, and there were three obvious teams and a questionable fourth.
Texas A&M, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame each had a bit of an argument, but there was no right answer. The problem is that A&M, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma finished the regular season with wins and playing well.
Notre Dame was boatraced by Clemson 34-10.
It was the first time a team had ever lost a conference championship and then got into the College Football Playoff, but it was more than that. Notre Dame looked totally outclassed against the Tigers.
But again, there wasn’t an obvious No. 4 team, and based on overall resumé the Irish were the choice to get the shot.
One quick Alabama defensive stop, seven offensive plays, and a Mac Jones to DeVonta Smith pass later all but ended it. Certainly Alabama didn’t stop trying, and it was only 14-point lead at halftime, but it sure seemed like there was no real worry about any drama.
So now Notre Dame will get dogged for not being able to hang in yet another massive game with national championship implications, but that’s not fair.
The Irish earned their shot to be in this – at least as much as any other option. It just ran into a powerhouse. However …
NEXT: It was a tough performance by Notre Dame
4. It was a tough performance by Notre Dame
It was a strange game for an Irish team that had the lines and the team to potentially make it more interesting.
It’s as if Notre Dame played exactly the way everyone thought it would.
They actually had chances to change the narrative and get right back in it, but there was no tempo, no rhythm, and there wasn’t that one big play to make it seem like the early storm was weathered.
The idea was obviously to bleed the clock as much as possible to keep the Alabama offense on the sidelines – the second quarter touchdown drive went 15 plays in over eight minutes – but that was about it.
Ian Book threw an interception early in the second half, he wasn’t able to connect on enough big throws, Alabama kicked a field goal to go up 31-7, and that was about it.
It was almost like – all this coming from watching on TV and not being in the stadium – Notre Dame never really had a plan for when Alabama was going to do what Alabama was supposed to do. When there was no real way of making this a grind, there wasn’t any ability to pivot.
The Irish were fine on third downs, there was only the one turnover, and it did the job controlling the clock, but they played the game, got down, and it was over.
It’s a rambling way of saying Notre Dame wasn’t able to play its game.
And then there were the other oddities, like not operating with a quick enough pace at times in the second half, and not going for two to try making it a 16-point game after a late score. Kicking the extra point was fine to be down 17 – there was only a minute to play – but then the Irish went win an onside kick.
It was a rough performance, but there’s a reason. Alabama is just that good.
NEXT: Mac Jones, Najee Harris, and the Alabama stars showed up
3. Mac Jones, Najee Harris, and the Alabama stars showed up
The headliners came through with everything Bama fans could’ve wanted.
Mac Jones didn’t throw any picks, he did a great job of not forcing anything, he never gave Notre Dame anything to work off of, and he came up with a nearly perfect performance.
Jones connected on 25-of-30 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns averaging close to ten yards per pass – the Heisman-caliber quarterback played like it.
His completion percentage would’ve been even better if a check down throw wasn’t dropped by a certain running back who looked up the field too quickly.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞@ohthatsNajee22's signature move 💯 pic.twitter.com/ky4NUcFJCQ
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 2, 2021
Najee Harris might not be a Heisman finalist, but he’s the one who’s the real foundation and rock for this offense that comes up with so many high-flying plays. He had the game’s signature moment on the 53-yard run and big hurdle, running 15 times for 125 yards and catching four passes for 30 yards.
Jones spread it around – even to himself, catching his own batted pass – and he was able to find some other guy who’s pretty good …
NEXT: DeVonta Smith had a Heisman-winning performance
2. DeVonta Smith had a Heisman-winning performance
The Heisman voting was done before the College Football Playoff – and there’s still one game to go – but DeVonta Smith sure looked and played like a guy who’s about to get a 45-pound bronze trophy.
He caught seven passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns, scored on the opening Bama drive of the game, and put it away on a gorgeous toe-tap at the pylon for a 28-7 lead.
THAT'S THREE FOR DEVONTA SMITH 😤 pic.twitter.com/Ugnf9D6xe5
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2021
While he appeared to bang up his back a bit on a hard landing, he was able to keep on playing and producing. The offense didn’t keep bombing away to him – it didn’t need to – but the one guy Notre Dame had to take out of the game dominated from the word go.
The Bama offense geared down in the fourth quarter, it didn’t rely on Najee Harris all that much late, and the defense took care of the rest, but it all came because No. 6 played like the best player in college football.
NEXT: Alabama is making its fifth College Football Playoff National Championship appearance
1. Alabama is making its fifth College Football Playoff National Championship appearance
It really is unbelievable.
How consistently amazing has Alabama been? It won the BCS Championship in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, was a miraculous kick-six by Auburn from almost certainly getting to the 2013 title game, and then came the College Football Playoff era.
The Tide lost to the eventual national champion Ohio State team, won in 2015, was a play away from winning in 2016, won in 2017, got there and got rocked in 2018, missed out on the College Football Playoff last year, and now they’re back in the championship game.
That makes it seven national championship appearances in ten years, eight in the last 12 years, and a fifth trip in seven seasons of the College Football Playoff.
It might have been run over and through by Ezekiel Elliott and the Buckeyes in the first CFP season, but since then, Alabama is 5-0 in semifinal games by a combined score of 162-54 and average of 32-11.
The machine isn’t slowing down.
