Alabama won their fifth national championship in nine years and the dynasty doesn’t show any signs of slowing down with the impact freshman on the roster.
It used to be trendy to predict the fall of the Alabama dynasty. There was a rush to be the first to usher in the demise of Nick Saban and the almighty Crimson Tide. After Saban won his fifth national championship on Monday night, and his sixth overall, tying Bear Bryant for the most all-time, behind a number of freshmen making huge impacts, the end of the Alabama dynasty is not near. In fact, Alabama may just be getting started and that’s a scary proposition for the rest of the sport.
Saban proved yet again why he’s the greatest college football coach to ever patrol the sidelines when he inserted true freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to start the second half with Alabama trailing 13-0. Alabama couldn’t move the ball with Jalen Hurts under center, outside of a few long runs by Hurts, so Saban made the bold, yet calculated move to put Tagovailoa in the game and let his arm try to get the team back in it.
Sure enough, Tagovailoa did just that, completing 14-of-24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns. The biggest being the 41-yarder to fellow freshman DeVonta Smith in overtime to give Alabama the 26-23 win. It was the only catch of the game for Smith, but there were none bigger, as he led the team in receiving. Joining Smith in the end zone was fellow freshman Henry Ruggs III who caught Tagovailoa’s six-yard pass in the third quarter to get Alabama on the board and with some much-needed momentum. Jerry Jeudy added a 20-yard catch as the three Alabama freshman receivers combined for five catches for 91 yards.
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With Tagovailoa already showing an early rapport with the trio of receivers, Alabama has the makings of what could develop into their most dynamic passing attack in program history.
As potent as the passing game could be, it’s the run game that will always be the trademark of a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team. On a night when Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough were bottled up by the Georgia defense for a combined 40 yards on 10 carries, Alabama had to turn to another freshman to inject some life into the stagnant offense.
Enter Najee Harris, the No. 1 recruit of the 2017 class, who led Alabama in rushing with six carries for 64 yards, including a 35-yard scamper that led to a field goal to make it a 20-13 game in the fourth quarter.
Alabama is so loaded and recruited so well that last year’s No. 1 recruit is their fourth-string running back. They are so loaded they could bring in last year’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback off the bench with next to zero experience and he leads the team to the national championship.
There were more impact freshmen too that helped make those guys look great. Left tackle Alex Leatherwood stepped in after Jonah Williams was injured and held up nicely against the ferocious Georgia front.
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Just when you think Alabama may be vulnerable, Saban pulls out his stash of five-stars to steal the national championship away from the best Georgia team since 1980.
You can pencil Alabama in next year’s College Football Playoff and I’m not going to bet against them not winning it all because the math says the odds are ever in their favor.
With a young nucleus of freshmen leading the way, that doesn’t even include linebacker Dylan Moses, who missed the game with an injury and projects to be a future All-American soon, Alabama is in great shape to run college football well into the next decade.