Preview of select pages of Unstoppable Tide

The inside story of Alabama’s roll to glory in 2020!

Tide UNSTOPPABLE

Tide_book.indb 1

1/20/2021 8:00:04 PM

THE ROSTER Editor ◆ Gene Myers

Designer ◆ Ryan Ford

Copy editors ◆ Owen Davis ◆ Beth Myers

THE COVER

PAGE 1

THE BACK

MARK J. REBILAS/ USA TODAY SPORTS

DALE ZANINE/ USA TODAY SPORTS

GARY COSBY JR./ TUSCALOOSA NEWS

Alabama coach Nick Saban and offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, a captain and winner of the Outland Trophy, showed off the 2020 season’s grand prize as the Crimson Tide captured its 18th national championship.

Senior Najee Harris celebrated another touchdown in his record-setting collection. He scored 30 of ’em — 26 rushing, four receiving — to break the SEC record for TDs in a season and tie the record for a career.

Writers PART OF

◆ Cecil Hurt ◆ Brett Hudson ◆ Gene Myers

ORK TODAY NETW

M

SANEWS.CO

| TUSCALOO

VE TITLE WA

12, 2021 JANUARY TUESDAY,

Cover designer

THE USA

Senior DeVonta Smith pointed the way to victory against Ohio State in the championship game.

Smith, Alabama’s third winner of the Heisman Trophy, caught 12 passes for 215 yards and three TDs. (Full image on Page 3.).

◆ Ryan Ford

Photo imaging ◆ Ryan Ford

Project coordinator ◆ Chris Thomas

Special thanks ◆ Michael Anastasi, Peter Bhatia, Jim Bohannon, Kirkland Crawford, Tommy Deas, Chris Fenison, Nick Gray, Erik Hall, Megan Holt, Bro Krift, Anthony Miller, Morgan Myers, Brooke Thomas, Eros & Schrodinger “Tide Unstoppable” condenses a year’s worth of the world’s best coverage of Alabama football from the Tuscaloosa News. The book also includes coverage from the USA TODAY Network, which includes the News.

2 Tide_0_intro_1-5.indd 2

Alabama

offensive

lineman Alex

ronged pursue two-p Democrats 7A e Trump. to remov

d holds up

Leatherwoo

ionship trophy

attempt

ay in Miami

on Mond

Gardens,

the champ

loose’ ‘All hell broke

ts the man recoun riot. 3A to a Montgomery a rally turned moments

PUBLISHED BY PEDIMENT PUBLISHING

Weather

| Low 33° High 45° st, 12A Cold. Foreca

Fla. GARY

COSBY/USA

TODAY SPORTS

| No. 12 Volume 202 pricing inside Home delivery 205-752-3701 $1.50 Subscribe ©2021

QJAJJE-32001x

©Copyright 2021 The Tuscaloosa News/USA TODAY Network. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage system, without the permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. Printed in Canada.

GARY COSBY JR./ TUSCALOOSA NEWS

About the book

IO STATE ELMS OH A OVERWH BALL ALABAM EGE FOOT URE COLL TO CAPT NSHIP. 1B PIO AM CH PLAYOFF

Tide Unstoppable 1/21/2021 6:32:27 PM

Tide UNSTOPPABLE

6

THE DREAM

26

THE SPRINT

94

HONOR ROLL

116

WON AND DONE

154

GET THE DIGITS

What the 2020 season meant.

How the Tide rolled through the SEC.

The best and brightest on a gifted team.

It all came down to three games for all the glory.

Inside the stats and standings of an amazing year.

Tide Unstoppable u Tide_book.indb 3

3 1/20/2021 8:00:08 PM

FOREWORD

No one had the sheet music, but somehow, everyone hit all the right notes.

Playing it by ear T

BY CECIL HURT

he great seasons of Alabama football, whether coached by Wallace Wade or Frank Thomas, Paul (Bear) Bryant or Gene Stallings, or, with repeated encores, by Nick Saban, have been masterpieces. Seasons unique in their way, but with a pattern or a script or a score. The performances could be impeccable, the technical skill breathtaking, the conductor’s command of the orchestra marvelous. The thrill was in watching the orchestra perform a piece impeccably even though the music might be familiar. The curtain would rise on time, the crescendo would rise and at the end, the ovation.

Seasons like 1934 or 1961, 1992, or 2009 or 2017 were Beethoven, Mozart, Ravel.

The 2020 season was jazz. The transcendent, improvisational kind, the Charlie Parker, the John Coltrane kind. The arguments that have come up about whether this Crimson Tide team is “the best” — the best under Saban, the best ever at Alabama, the best in

4 Tide_book.indb 4

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:00:08 PM

TIDE UNSTOPPABLE

MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS

Nobody knew how to point the way to the end zone better than senior Najee Harris. He scored the season’s first touchdown against Missouri and the last touchdown against Ohio State. He rushed for 1,466 yards and 26 TDs. He caught 43 passes for 425 yards and four TDs. Harris’ 30 TDs set an SEC record and his 57 career TDs tied Tim Tebow’s SEC record.

college football history — are entertaining but miss an essential element, a level that doesn’t fit into comparative analysis. This team was unique.

To extend the metaphor, think of it this way. For months, no one knew whether there would be a performance. The band rehearsed, sometimes together, sometimes apart, depending on what the COVID-19 pandemic would allow. But through the summer, no one really knew for sure whether the show would go on. There was speculation of cancellation, then a decision that it wouldn’t start on time but it would start. Every week had a hint, at least, that there might be a delay or cancellation.

Even the championship game itself was subject to negotiation.

But the band played on, brilliantly. The offense was like nothing anyone ever had seen at Alabama, not just fertile but prolific in almost perfect balance between running and passing and receiving. Again, it wasn’t just that Mac Jones shattered records. He did it with humility. It wasn’t just that Najee Harris ran like few Alabama backs ever have. He did it with flair. DeVonta Smith didn’t just have an incredible year.

He literally redefined the possibilities of the wide receiver in college football.

Even the kicker was perfect.

The defense had ups and downs but always did enough, and the ups were more frequent as the season went on.

Then there was Saban, the driving force. He seemed to hold things together by sheer strength of will, which he had done before. But with a team whose buy-in was total, his philosophy of the process was fully revealed.

In the end, it wasn’t just another great year to enter into the catalog of great years. This was the one that you only see once, the comet with the 10,000-year orbit, the one that won’t be repeated note-for-note no matter how many championships or great players are yet to come.

The best way to describe it was as it happened, day by day, step by step, the off-field frustrations and the on-field excitement. Future generations will see highlights and documentaries but will ask a grandfather or grandmother about it and will be told, “You had to be there.”

So this book will try to chronicle what “being there” was like.

Tide Unstoppable u Tide_book.indb 5

5 1/20/2021 8:00:10 PM

Red and white confetti at Hard Rock Stadium signaled the conclusion of a pandemic-plagued season unlike all others. But the 2020 season ended like 17 others — with the Alabama Crimson Tide as the champion of college football.

“There’s quite a bit to write about when it comes to the legacy of the team,” coach Nick Saban said.

KIM KLEMENT/ USA TODAY SPORTS

6 Tide_book.indb 6

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:00:12 PM

How do you put it all in perspective? Start with the raw number: 18 — as in championships. (That’s good.) And then there are the feelings — even in a year seemingly designed to break you, there was always a bit of joy. And then there’s the coach, chasing all that’s left: History.

THE DREAM1 The Season u

Tide_book.indb 7

7

1/20/2021 8:00:13 PM

Four days after winning the 75th Outland Trophy as the country’s top interior lineman, senior offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood closed his eyes and kissed an even bigger prize. “I love everybody on this team,” he declared after the 52-24 victory over Ohio State in the national championship game.

MARK J. REBILAS/ USA TODAY SPORTS

8 Tide_book.indb 8

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:00:15 PM

THE BIG PICTURE

Winning a title was nothing new. Winning hearts at the same time, though ...

ALABAMA 52 OHIO STATE 24

True love conquers all H

BY CECIL HURT

eroes can fly in from the sky or rise out of the ocean or dash to the rescue running 100 miles an hour.

Alabama has seen that so many times, its amazing array of offensive talent combining the engineering genius of Mac Jones, the lithe, panther-like grace of DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris wielding the hammer of Thor out of the backfield.

All were on display as No. 1 Alabama trounced No. 3 Ohio State, 52-24, in the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 11, 2021, at Hard Rock Stadium

in Miami Gardens, Florida.

No opponent, not even a super team, could stand in the Crimson Tide’s way.

But what if the opponent was not merely another football team, even a strong team like Ohio State was in Alabama’s final test of its season. What if it was more than just a virus? What if it was something undefinable, some malevolent force that seemed determined to suck the joy out of whatever the virus couldn’t stop?

One by one, it took its toll on players who were not just talented but beloved: Dylan Moses, who played through knee pain all season long, might have been the first. Then Jaylen Waddle, the Flash, saw his year end at Tennessee, or so everyone thought. Next, Landon Dickerson, the best center in America and

The Season u Tide_book.indb 9

9 1/20/2021 8:00:15 PM

ALABAMA 52 OHIO STATE 24

Alabama fans had no shortage of moments to stand and cheer against Ohio State.

Only 14,926 fans were allowed in Hard Rock Stadium, a site for COVID-19 vaccinations only hours before kickoff.

KIM KLEMENT/ USA TODAY SPORTS

the heart of the offensive line. At the end, even Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner on track for the greatest finale a Heisman winner ever had, ended his year on the sidelines, his hand heavily wrapped, his moment of personal glory shortened if not exactly taken away.

And yet, Alabama fought. Alabama stood its ground.

Alabama finished.

That will be the 2020 Crimson Tide’s place in history. Possibly the best team. Inarguably the best offense. But in the hearts of those who followed the team through the journey, which was tremendous fun at some points

10 Tide_book.indb 10

and no fun at all at others — including those August days when it seemed there might not even be a season — there was one unshakable feeling about this Crimson Tide team.

It was the best-loved.

For much of the Nick Saban Era, teams have been viewed differently. Not to say fans didn’t rally around those teams or love Alabama as an alma mater or adopted family, often adopted generations ago. But the verbiage itself often gave away another perspective. Saban was building “a machine” or “a Death Star.” “Joyless Murderball” became a byword. Having a choice of any pet, many bypassed the puppy and chose the python.

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:00:22 PM

Thrust into a starter’s role after Jaylen Waddle’s ankle injury in October, Slade Bolden blew kisses after scoring Alabama’s sixth touchdown. ESPN tweeted a clip of his five-yard dash and dive to the pylon with these words: “Special moment to get your first career TD in the #NationalChampionship.” Bolden retweeted with: “Couldn’t agree more!” Remembering he threw a TD pass as a wildcat quarterback in 2019, Bolden retweeted again: “2nd Td. First TD was a pass last year but still thankful.” Within days, the clip had been viewed more than 300,000 times.

KYLE ROBERTSON/USA TODAY SPORTS

The Season u

Tide_book.indb 11

11 1/20/2021 8:00:25 PM

One of the four captains — all from the offense — tackle Alex Leatherwood showed his teammates the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. The other captains were DeVonta Smith, Mac Jones and Landon Dickerson. The trophy, first awarded after the 2014 season, features an ascending virtual football made of 24-karat gold, bronze and stainless steel, stands 26½ inches tall and weighs 30 pounds. The black base is another 12 inches high and weighs 35 pounds.

DOUGLAS DEFELICE/USA TODAY SPORTS

No one is making the “scrappy overachiever” argument. Alabama’s rare depth was a factor. Watch Brian Robinson Jr.’s second-half running against the Buckeyes in the title game for an example. But there was also every chance to take a week off, to let another team close, to let the occasional error, like Mac Jones’ first-quarter fumble, grow into something bigger.

Instead, Alabama displayed maturity and singleness of purpose every single time. You can rest assured that this is the team Saban loves the most, because it came the closest to perfect focus.

Like Alabama, Ohio State had a hard year and was missing players. Instead of a barrage of snark about the Buckeyes or the Big Ten, acknowledge them as the second-best team in this bizarre season.

Alabama, though, was the best. And, for years and years to come, it will remain the best-loved.

12 Tide_book.indb 12

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:00:26 PM

FOR THE RECORD

ALABAMA 52 OHIO STATE 24

Alabama rewrote the record book for a CFP national championship game in its 52-24 victory over Ohio State: u MOST POINTS SCORED by a team in the title game (52). u MOST POINTS SCORED in first half of the title game (35). u MOST PASSING YARDS in one half (Mac Jones, 343). u MOST PASSING YARDS in the title game (Jones, 464). u TIED MOST PASSING TOUCHDOWNS in the title game (Jones, 5). u MOST RECEPTIONS in the title game (DeVonta Smith, 12) u MOST RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS in the title game (Smith, 3).

MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS

Wide receiver DeVonta Smith, after 251 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and coach Nick Saban, after winning his seventh national championship, caught up on the latest news on the stage at Hard Rock Stadium. “I heard somebody say he set some kind of record in the first half,” Saban said. “Heavens knows what he would have done if he played the whole game.”

The Season u Tide_book.indb 13

13 1/20/2021 8:00:31 PM

Banner years The Crimson Tide has conquered the college football world 18 times. These are the stories.

1925 1926 1930 u RECORD: 10-0. u COACH: Wallace Wade. u CAPTAIN: Bruce Jones. u ROSE BOWL: Alabama 20, Washington 19.

This was the first unbeaten team to play a full schedule at Alabama, which started football in 1892 with a 56-0 victory over Birmingham High. The Crimson Tide outscored its opponents, 297-26, with eight shutouts.

The first Southern school in the Rose Bowl, the Tide stunned the 10-0-1 Huskies. Halfback Johnny Mack Brown scored on a 58yard pass from Grant Gillis and a 62-yard pass from Pooley Hubert, Alabama’s second All-America. Brown and Hubert are in the College Football Hall of Fame.

18 Tide_book.indb 18

u RECORD: 9-0-1. u COACH: Wallace Wade. u CAPTAIN: Emile (Red) Barnes. u ROSE BOWL: Alabama 7, Stanford 7.

Alabama, Stanford (coached by Pop Warner), Navy and Lafayette were declared national champions by various outfits before the Rose Bowl. The Tide, led by its All-Americas, tackle Fred Pickhard and end Wu Winslett, outscored its rivals, 249-27, with six shutouts. The United Press said the Rose Bowl was for the “football championship of America,” called it the “most colorful gridiron battle in the history of the New Year’s Day classic” and referred to Alabama as the “Tuscaloosa terrors.” Alabama tied it in the final minute after blocking a punt. Pickhard was player of the game.

u RECORD: 10-0. u COACH: Wallace Wade. u CAPTAIN: Charles B. Clement. u ROSE BOWL: Alabama 24, Washington State 0.

In his last game after eight seasons, coach Wallace Wade started his second unit because he thought the Tide was far superior to Washington State. Quarterback Monk Campbell earned player of the game honors.

Led by a pair of All-Americas, tackle Fred Sington and halfback John Henry Suther, the Tide outscored its opponents, 271-13, with eight shutouts. Notre Dame, coached by Knute Rockne, also stakes claim to the 1930 national title.

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:00:36 PM

1934 1941 1961 u RECORD: 10-0. u COACH: Frank Thomas. u CAPTAIN: Bill Lee. u ROSE BOWL: Alabama 29, Stanford 13.

Frank Thomas called this his best team. A huge reason was legendary end Don Hutson, later named to the all-time college football team. Other All-Americas were halfback Dixie Howell and tackle Bill Lee. The end opposite Hutson was Bear Bryant. The Tide outscored its rivals, 316-45, with five shutouts. Howell, the player of the game, scored two TDs in the Rose Bowl, including a 67yard run. He also threw a 59-yard TD pass to Hutson. At 9-0-1, Stanford had yielded only 14 points all season; Alabama scored 22 points in the second quarter. In those 15 minutes, according to its media guide, the Crimson Tide completed 8 of 9 passes for 150 yards, plus gained 106 yards on the ground. Bryant caught three of the passes.

All that led the Los Angeles Times to write: “Add New Year’s resolutions, one made by the Stanford Indians just about 15 hours too late, a noble resolve to ask some good authority what to do when a lot of crazy guys from Alabama come out and, with complete disregard for the established procedure of running with the ball, begin throwing the darn thing all over the place.” Howell’s stats: 111 rushing yards, 160 passing yards and a 43.8-yard average on punts. Minnesota also claims the 1934 national title.

u RECORD: 9-2. u COACH: Frank Thomas. u CAPTAIN: John Wyhonic. u COTTON BOWL: No. 20 Alabama 29, No. 9 Texas A&M 21.

With its two losses and low AP ranking, Alabama has its weakest case for claiming a championship with the 1941 team, which ended its season soon after the U.S. entered World War II. Starting in 1936, the Associated Press started its poll of sportswriters, and it became the gold standard. Then the United Press International coaches poll started in 1950 and drew a share of the spotlight. In 1941, the AP and nearly every outfit crowned Minnesota (8-0). Texas (8-1-1) was selected by the Williamson System and Berryman, a pair of mathematic rating systems, among more than two dozen “major selectors” recognized in NCAA publications over the years.

Alabama was the choice of the Houlgate System, another math-based method, which focused on the strength of a team’s opponents. The Tide was led by All-America end Holt Rast, selected one of the best 11 players of the first half-century of Alabama football.

In the Cotton Bowl, the Tide managed one first down, 59 rushing yards and 16 passing yards. It punted 16 times. But Alabama picked off seven passes and recovered five fumbles. One of four MVPs, Rast scored on an interception return. Alabama’s Paul Spencer enlisted in the Naval Air Corps at halftime.

u RECORD: 11-0. u COACH: Paul (Bear) Bryant. u CAPTAINS: Billy Neighbors, Pat Trammell. u SUGAR BOWL: No. 1 Alabama 10, No. 9 Arkansas 3.

In 1958, Bear Bryant, after leaving Kentucky for Alabama, promised the Tide would win a national championship within four years.

Led by quarterback Pat Trammell, center/ linebacker Lee Roy Jordan and two-way All-America lineman Billy Neighbors, Alabama finished atop the AP and UPI polls.

(At 8-0-1, Ohio State was the pick of the Football Writers Association of America.)

The Tide outscored its opponents, 297-25, pitched six shutouts and surrendered six points in its last seven games. Fullback Mike Fracchia, whose 43-yard run on Alabama’s first drive set up the game’s lone TD, was the MVP in the school’s first victory in its third Sugar Bowl. Final score: 10-3. “I’m as proud of them as if the score had been 100-0,” Bryant said. “Our boys rose up real well and stopped them on the big plays. … Our boys did a good job stopping Lance Alworth.” Razorbacks coach Frank Broyles said: “We knew when we went into the game that we were going to have trouble grinding out yardage against this team. But we never thought it would be this hard.”

The Season u Tide_book.indb 19

19 1/20/2021 8:00:36 PM

OCT. 17, 2020

AT BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM, TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA

NO. 2 ALABAMA 41, NO. 3 GEORGIA 24

Dawg fight Nick Saban couldn’t stay away for this one: Just when it looked like the Crimson Tide would have to pound opponents into submission with the offense, the defense broke through with a second-half shutout that recalled the best from earlier seasons.

COMING UP COVID

Three days before the season’s most anticipated showdown, the season’s most dreaded news came down: COVID-19 had struck Alabama during a game week. And it was Nick Saban who had tested positive.

Although asymptomatic, he left the football facility to self-isolate at home. He addressed his team at 2 p.m. Wednesday via Zoom, ran practice (as best he could) remotely and put offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, a former head coach at Washington and Southern Cal, in charge of on-site preparations.

48 Tide_book.indb 48

COMEBACK KID

No Crimson Tide player had missed a game because of COVID-19 testing or other protocols. In the days before Alabama-Georgia, outbreaks scuttled that weekend’s Florida-LSU and Missouri-Vanderbilt games.

Around lunchtime before Saturday’s primetime game, Saban received word that for a third straight day he had tested negative, which meant his initial test was a false positive and he could coach from the sideline. “It was emotional for me coming back,” he said afterward.

A CASE FOR THE D

Alabama went into the locker room at halftime having allowed 24 points over Georgia’s last four possessions. The Tide trailed only 24-20 in large part because of an early 40-yard TD pass from Mac Jones to John Metchie III and a 52-yard field goal by Will Reichard at 0:00. Somehow, for the first time all season, a new defense emerged, a defense reminiscent of Saban’s past. In the second half, the Bulldogs’ five possessions, in order, resulted in two punts, two interceptions and a missed field-goal attempt.

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:01:30 PM

Alabama’s DeVonta Smith and Georgia’s Tyrique Stevenson exchanged pleasantries in the end zone after Smith burned the Bulldogs on a 17-yard wheel route.

It tied the game at 17 late in the first half.

GARY COSBY JR./TUSCALOOSA NEWS

The Season u Tide_book.indb 49

49 1/20/2021 8:01:32 PM

THE BIG PICTURE

An afternoon surprise resulted in an evening delight on D.

3-for-all T

BY CECIL HURT

hings came in threes, all day and all night, including Nick Saban’s third straight positive test against his former assistant Kirby Smart.

The night ended with a 41-24 Alabama victory as the Crimson Tide closed the game with 24 unanswered points.

First came the third of Saban’s negative COVID-19 tests in the morning, putting him on the Alabama sideline.

Then came the three dramatic Alabama touchdowns that turned the game in the second half, leaving Georgia, which entered as No. 3 in America, cursing the number although hopeful of another try in Atlanta come December.

Mac Jones was the hero, even more so than the SEC testing lab, throwing for 417 yards in a third consecutive 400-yard passing game.

The morning drama was the Saga of the Saban Swabs as Alabama waited to find out whether Saban’s third coronavirus test would be negative, liberating him from quarantine

50 Tide_book.indb 50

under the new SEC protocol.

There was still plenty of speculation after Saban appeared remotely on ESPN’s “College GameDay” in the morning in Tuscaloosa, but he clearly had the momentum with the previous two negative tests. Word came quickly and Saban was back.

The teams delivered drama more suited to the SEC than an all-day soap opera. The game wasn’t perfect, as 2020 college football rarely figured to be, but it wasn’t the frenetic up-and-down video game like the Ole Miss contest.

Two big plays turned the tide in the third quarter. Jones, Alabama’s all-time leader in touchdown passes of unusual length, hit Jaylen Waddle for a 90-yard score. Then, as the Bulldogs (3-1) marched to retake the lead, Stetson Bennett IV threw high, freshman Malachi Moore intercepted and the quickstrike offense struck again.

Ultimately, Alabama felt far better about a defense that forced turnovers and rattled Bennett in the second half. A trip to Atlanta seemed almost guaranteed, so everyone in Alabama, especially Saban, felt better.

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:01:33 PM

ALABAMA 41 GEORGIA 24

GARY COSBY JR./TUSCALOOSA NEWS

Sprung from self-isolation after his third straight negative COVID-19 test, Nick Saban walked through the tunnel at Bryant-Denny Stadium dressed for success and later stalked the sideline dressed to coach.

“It was pretty crazy,” Mac Jones said. “We were just in our quarterback meeting and he just showed up. You look over and see Coach Saban walking in and, from that perspective, we were fired up.”

The Season u Tide_book.indb 51

51 1/20/2021 8:01:37 PM

Alabama’s DeVonta Smith, a senior wide receiver from Amite, Louisiana, struck the pose after winning the Heisman Trophy for the 2020 season.

He finished comfortably ahead of three quarterbacks: Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Alabama’s Mac Jones and Florida’s Kyle Trask.

KENT GIDLEY/ HEISMAN TROPHY TRUST

94 Tide_book.indb 94

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:02:46 PM

You don’t go undefeated without some talent, and the Crimson Tide had it where it counts. Best quarterback? Check. (Mac Jones.) Best running back? Check. (Najee Harris.) Best wide receiver? Check.

(DeVonta Smith.) Best player in the nation? Yeah, the Tide had him, too.

HONOR ROLL 3 The Awards u

Tide_book.indb 95

95

1/20/2021 8:02:47 PM

THE BIG PICTURE

To prove they were the Greatest Of All Time, the Tide had to Get Over Any Thing.

ALABAMA 52 OHIO STATE 24

The G.O.A.T. B

BY BRETT HUDSON

anished for months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alabama’s players returned to campus over the summer to no promises. The greater conversation was less about how a football season would be played and more about if one would be played at all.

Most would have been overjoyed just to play. They had agonized with the spring athletes who lost their seasons to the unrelenting novel coronavirus. Alabama wanted more than to play a season; it wanted to dominate a season.

“We set this as a goal, to potentially be the greatest team to ever play,” quarterback Mac Jones said.

Alabama could not make that claim without winning the national championship first, which it did by routing Ohio State, 52-24, on Jan. 11, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Florida. A college football season unlike any other produced a championship team unlike any other — possibly unparalleled by any other.

146 Tide_book.indb 146

“Well, to me, this team accomplished more almost than any team,” coach Nick Saban said. “No disrespect to any other teams that we had or any championship teams, but this team won 11 SEC games. No other team has done that. They won the SEC, went undefeated in the SEC, then they beat two great teams in the playoff with no break in between.”

In that sense, the pandemic that made the Crimson Tide’s path to a championship more difficult also was the one that enhanced that championship’s value.

Saban said the obstacles for his team, which lost so much talent in the NFL draft, began when spring practice was canceled hours before its scheduled start. Coaches and players didn’t get developmental time over the summer. Then when nonconference games were canceled, young players lost out on the usual opportunity to gain experience in blowouts.

History will note that the 2020 Crimson Tide, besides the only team to win 11 SEC games, became the only 13-0 national champion to do it exclusively over Power Five competition.

The Tide won eight of its 13 games by at

Asked how the Tide “effortlessly” exploited holes in Ohio State’s defense, Najee Harris had reporters in stitches when he answered: “Effortlessly? You didn’t see what they was doing? They was blowing my ass up.” Still, he ran for 79 yards and two TDs. MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS

least 28 points. The 2019 LSU Tigers, at the time propped up as a best-team-of-all-time candidate, only won seven of its 15 games by that margin, three coming in nonconference matchups with Georgia Southern, Northwestern State and Utah State.

According to the final rankings from the College Football Playoff selection committee, Alabama beat the Nos. 7, 4 and 3 teams in 24 days to end its season, after defeating the Nos. 5 and 9 teams in the first four weeks of the season.

Jones argued that Alabama made a “valid statement” en route to the school’s 18th national championship.

“I think we’re the best team to ever play,” he said. “There’s no team that will ever play an SEC schedule like that again. At the same time, we’re just so happy to have won this game and kind of put the icing on the cake.”

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:04:12 PM

The Playoffs u 147 Tide_book.indb 147

1/20/2021 8:04:14 PM

NO NEED TO PANIC

ALABAMA 52 OHIO STATE 24

With Smith out, Waddle limped back onto the field to help out. He finished with three inspirational catches for 34 yards. Even without Smith, and later with Jones hobbled by a leg injury, the Tide kept rolling. Its first drive of the half ended with a 20-yard Will Reichard field goal. OSU answered with a touchdown to make it 38-24, but Alabama countered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a five-yard pass to Shane Bolden, who became a starter when Waddle suffered his ankle injury in the victory at Tennessee. He had no catches at the time; he finished with 24 for 270 yards and, at long last, his first touchdown of the season. Down 21 at 45-24, OSU went for it on fourthand-1 near midfield. Defensive end Christian Barmore, a redshirt sophomore, crashed through the line and dropped Teague for a loss. A disruptive force throughout the game, Barmore won the defensive MVP award with five tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. Six plays later, Harris scored his third TD on a one-yard run. With 13:15 left to play, Alabama had the trophy in the bag with a 52-24 lead.

FOR THE BUCKEYES

Before the game, ESPN reported that Fields’ injury officially was a hip pointer. “For him to go out there and play today really shows his toughness,” Day said, “and how much he loves his brothers.” Fields completed 17 of 33 passes for 194 yards and one TD, a modest stat line somewhere between his worst game — in the Big Ten championship — and the Sugar Bowl, where he threw for career highs of 385 yards and six TDs. At times, he seemed hesitant to run, even though his 67 rushing yards led the Buckeyes and included a 33-yarder.

He absorbed more punishment to his hip, but still was elusive enough to be sacked only once. “Of course I could have been healthier,” Fields said, “but I was healthy enough.”

KYLE ROBERTSON/USA TODAY SPORTS

Brian Robinson Jr. closed his senior season with a leap and a bang. In the third quarter, he rushed four times for 32 yards during the Tide’s next-to-last touchdown drive. In the final quarter, he rushed six straight plays for 37 yards, setting up two kneel downs.

148 Tide_book.indb 148

Tide Unstoppable 1/20/2021 8:04:18 PM

PRIME NUMBER

98

Kicks without a miss by sophomore Will Reichard — 14-for-14 on fieldgoal attempts and 84-for-84 on extra-point attempts, including 1-for-1 and 7-for-7 against Ohio State.

MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS

Less than a month after major knee surgery, Landon Dickerson convinced Nick Saban to put him in for the kneel downs. “He wanted to go in and snap the ball,” Saban said, “so we let him do that.”

MOMENT TO REMEMBER

Considered the heart and soul of Alabama’s offensive line, selected the country’s best, Dickerson didn’t battle through years of injuries and transfer from Florida State to watch the championship game in street clothes. Despite knee surgery after the SEC title game, Dickerson donned his gear for Ohio State. “Most people can’t even walk after the time period where he’s at,” Jones said. “He texts me every morning, 7 in the morning, ‘I’m playing, Mac, I’m playing.’” He took pregame snaps with backup quarterback Bryce Young. In a jog, he led the team out of the tunnel right before kickoff. As a captain, he went to midfield for the coin toss. “He wasn’t supposed to play,” Saban said. And he didn’t until the final minute. He hiked the ball to Young for two game-ending kneel downs. Then the 6-foot-6, 325-pound Rimington Trophy winner intercepted Saban as he crossed the field, lifted him in his arms and carried him like another trophy. “I enjoyed the ride,” Saban said.

GARY COSBY JR./TUSCALOOSA NEWS

A sophomore from Hoover, Alabama, Will Reichard delivered another perfect kick with a 20-yard field goal in the third quarter. His 84 extra points broke the school record set by his backup, Joseph Bulovas, a redshirt junior who made 75 in 2018.

The Playoffs u 149 Tide_book.indb 149

1/20/2021 8:04:23 PM