Alabama had No Equal in College Football This Season

Last night's college football playoff championship game was pretty telling about the 2020 season.

First off, Alabama was the class of the 2020 season. There was no team even close to how good, prepared and well coached they are. They clearly had the best players, and if they lost players to injury or COVID, they had more than capable replacements. Hell, last night a safety was ejected for targeting in the first half, the commentators made a big deal about it, but even after he was gone, Alabama seemed just fine in the secondary. They more than deserve their rings.

Second, the University of Ohio State proved last week that they may be the second best team in all of college football this past season, but they were clearly not at Alabama's level. I have seen people say they were missing too many important players to COVID, or that losing Trey Sermon on the first drive killed them, but honestly, even at full strength, I do not think they would have kept it that close. I thought prior to the game they would be able to keep it close. I had personally predicted it to be a close game. I think I had Alabama winning by a TD, something like 42-35. I thought that the university of Ohio State would have been able to score with Alabama for a while. That was not the case. They answered the first two scores for Bama, but after that it was a wrap. Alabama had a historic first half. Heisman winner Devonta Smith set three different records in the first half. I think Mac Jones only had three incompletions on twenty plus pass attempts. Najee Harris was ripping off four plus yards a carry, and he had a rushing score and receiving score before halftime. They bulldozed Ohio State in the second quarter. I believe Alabama outscored them 28-10 in the quarter, and took a commanding 35-17 lead into halftime. And while Bama looked unstoppable, after the two TD drives, Ohio State looked kind of lost. It makes sense. They did have key guys out with COVID. They only played eight total games counting last night. Justin Fields did not look like the top 10 pick he has looked like in the past. The offensive line couldn't open holes for the run game. The receivers, when the game was still kind of up for grabs, were being locked down. The University of Ohio State looked like a mess. But, is it because of the shortened season, or because of Alabama? I think it is a little bit of both, but something like 20 percent the shortened season, and 80 percent Alabama. Or maybe more like 95 percent Alabama.

I cannot stress how good Alabama was all year, and how well they played, and were coached last night. LSU's offense last year was seen as this otherworldly, never before seen type thing. Well, Alabama's season stats were almost identical, and Mac Jones beat some of Joe Burrow's records last night. Najee Harris, while not putting up the same rushing numbers as Edwards-Helaire did for LSU, he still had three scores, and could not be tackled by one player. He was also a bigger threat in the pass game. And while I heaped endless praise on Devonta Smith yesterday, he is going to get more right now. He had 12 catches for 215 yards and 3 scores, all in the first half. Alabama schemed ways for him to get open, got him the ball in open space, got him in position to be guarded by linebackers, and he showed why he was the definitive Heisman winner last night. He did all of this in only two quarters by the way. He did play in the third, but he broke his finger, and they pulled him for the rest of the game. That was the correct choice for him, and for Alabama. I also want to point out the coaching last night. Nick Saban is a true prick, but the dude can coach college football. The NFL did not work for him, but he has found a home in Tuscaloosa, and he, I am shocked to be saying this, is the greatest college football coach of all time. I have felt this way for a while now, and last night just hammered that home for me. He had his kids ready to play, he surrounds himself with very good assistants, and his players play for him. They get excited to play for him and they love to play for him. They also go out on the field with a workman's ethic. They, and this truly surprised me, do not do too much celebrating. They act like they've been there before. I respect that. The closest Devonta Smith got to celebrating was when he caught a seam route TD, and pointed at Mac Jones to give him credit. This is what I, and many other people do, when we get a good pass in basketball for an easy bucket. I don't really consider that a "celebration". Alabama's defense was well prepared too. This is supposed to be their "weaker" unit, but they looked awesome last night. Dylan Moses was flying all over the field. The D line was stout. Patrick Surtain shut down whatever side of the field he was on. Even their special teams unit was better because they were barely on the field. I think they punted twice, and kicked one field goal.

On the other side of the field, the university of Ohio State may have been short handed, but they got flat out out coached. Ryan Day had zero answers for what Nick Saban did to him. Day is a great offensive mind, but it felt like he used all of that up on Clemson. He coached scared last night. He punted in plus territory on fourth and nine, down three scores. He ran the ball twice to get off the field before halftime. His defense made zero adjustments. The run game was nonexistent. Justin Fields played timidly. The University of Ohio State is a really, really good team, probably the second best team in the country, but they did belong on the same field with Alabama last night. The game was a blowout, and I probably should have expected that. I would've liked to see the Big Ten win a title, but it was pretty clear early on that Bama was going to run away with this game. And I want to give one more shoutout to Devonta Smith. He is an all time great, and boy was he fun to watch last night.

Congrats Alabama, you guys are still the best, and it clearly isn't very close at the moment.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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