No. 1 Alabama asserted its physical dominance in a 27-6 victory over No. 4 Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The defending champs will have the chance to go back-to-back with a victory over No. 3 Georgia on Jan. 10 in Indianapolis.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
1. The Georgia narrative, once again, will be “Can we finally get over the hump against the Crimson Tide?” Alabama’s viewpoint: Can we continue our dominance over Georgia? The Tide blew out the Bulldogs 41-24 in the SEC Championship game Dec. 4, a game in which Georgia was favored. Coach Nick Saban hasn’t lost to protégé Kirby Smart, as about every football fan in the South knows.
The Bulldogs are favored by 2-1/2 this time, too – some positive rat poison for Alabama, as Saban would say. The Tide certainly looked ready for a rematch Friday when it simply outmuscled the Bearcats. Alabama was bigger and stronger, and it showed immediately. Alabama opened the game with 10 consecutive rushes before Heisman Trophy-winner Bryce Young’s first pass was a touchdown.
It was a throwback game for the Tide, one that didn’t feature Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones or Young flinging the ball to a myriad of first-round receivers. Instead, Alabama obliterated the Bearcats on the ground. Alabama ran for 301 yards in outgaining Cincinnati 482-218.
“I think we just showed a lot of physicality,” running back Brian Robinson said. “We knew they were going to come out fired up. We knew they were going to come out and try to be physical. And we just proved that we were the most physical team, with the run game, the defensive front. Just the whole defense overall and the whole offense overall, we just proved that we were the more physical team.”
2. Robinson was the offensive MVP, running for 204 yards on 26 carries. The rushing yards set an Alabama bowl record. The performance also showed the Tide’s versatility. Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was pass heavy in the SEC title game, with Young throwing all over Georgia’s vaunted defense.
This time, Alabama knew Cincinnati couldn’t equal it in the trenches. So it imposed its will.
“I didn’t think I was going to be a spotlight,” Robinson said. “We just game-planned. It was just, whatever they throw at us, we got to adjust to it. If the running game works for us, we got to stay with it. Coach O’Brien trusted me, just put the ball in my hand in critical situations. And just carrying this team means a lot to me.”
3. Man-for-man, Cincinnati couldn’t match Alabama. It required some good breaks: a big kick return, a fumble recovery, a tipped interception. The Bearcats needed a play or two that shifted the contest. One never came.
The script to a Bearcats upset included avoiding an early deficit. They were behind 17-3 at half. They won the turnover battle 1-0, but it meant little. When down 10-3, they failed to recover a muffed punt just before halftime that almost certainly would’ve resulted in points. Alabama scored a touchdown on the possession.
Cincinnati intercepted Young at midfield in the second half, only to go backward and punt. It had two red-zone trips that resulted in field goals rather than touchdowns. It went 0-for-3 on fourth down. Prized quarterback Desmond Ridder struggled, going 17-for-32 for 144 yards. He was sacked six times.
“That’s one of our biggest goals as a defense is holding people to a certain amount of points,” Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson said. “What we did (Friday) is unbelievable. We still have more work to do. But for us to meet that goal, that’s one of our biggest goals on our goal sheet. And to meet that goal, it means a lot to us. And we just have to keep going.”
4. Not that it’s any revelation, but Anderson, from Dutchtown High School, is as good as it gets. The game’s defensive MVP recorded two sacks. He has 17-1/2 sacks and 31 tackles for loss this season. While Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson was a Heisman finalist, Anderson has a strong case as the best defender in the country.
Georgia’s offensive line silenced Hutchinson and Michigan’s lauded pass rush. It will again face the challenge of Anderson, who had a sack and two tackles for loss in the SEC Championship game, in Indianapolis. Alabama’s defense will try to fluster Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett again in January.
5. There’s no denying, after watching two more blowouts Friday, the College Football Playoff largely has been underwhelming from a competitive standpoint. Friday wasn’t an indictment on Cincinnati or the Group of Five, however. The Bearcats were just the latest victim of Saban’s unmatched run.
The Bearcats lost by 21. They joined a lengthy list of schools that were smacked around by Alabama in the semifinals, including Michigan State, Washington, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that (Cincinnati) belonged in the playoff,” Saban said postgame. “I think the way they gave us all we could handle, you know, in this game tonight. If we don’t stop them on fourth down a couple times and stop it in the red zone, this game could have been a lot closer. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what (coach Luke Fickell) has done and their program and their players in terms of the way they bought in.”
Indeed, just because Cincinnati lost doesn’t mean it didn’t earn its playoff berth, especially in a “down” year on the landscape. It does make one wonder, when the playoff field is expanded, are they just inviting more blowouts to reach the same conclusion?
Alabama and Georgia clearly were the best teams from start to finish this season. After watching them Friday, it’s understandable to feel an expanded playoff isn’t so appetizing, even though it’d create more meaningful contests. There are arguments for all perspectives, but the totality of that debate is for another day.
