Alabama duo DeVonta Smith, Najee Harris are the founding fathers of exclusive 20-20 club

DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris may be the best duo in college football history after the pair became the first to meet this scoring threshold.

Once the College Football Playoff selection show concluded, the masses knew that the Alabama Crimson Tide would have an easy go of things against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Rose Bowl. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, as Alabama defeated Notre Dame by the score of 31-14 on New Years Day to advance to the CFP Championship Game on Jan. 11. And they did so by making history.

During the game, wide receiver and sure-fire first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft DeVonta Smith, caught seven passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns, bringing him to 20 touchdowns on the year. With that, Alabama is now the first-team in FBS history to have a player with 20 receiving touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns (Najee Harris).

Smith and Harris are Heisman finalists for a reason

Entering the game, Harris had 1,262 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns on 214 carries to his credit. No, Harris didn’t score a touchdown against Notre Dame on Friday. However, he did pull off a 53-yard run by hurdling over a defender in the first quarter that set the internet ablaze. Harris finished his day with 125 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Smith, on the other hand, entered the CFP Semifinal with 98 receptions for 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns. That regular-season stat-line is the reason why Smith was named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. His odds of winning have significantly increased with his Rose Bowl MVP performance and the dud put up by Florida’s Kyle Trask in the Cotton Bowl. If Smith does so, he’d be the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since 1991, when Michigan’s Desmond Howard won the award.

When thinking of all the great offensive players to come out of Alabama, it’s crazy to think that they never joined the 20-20 club before. But it goes to show that the Crimson Tide had some superb talent in Smith and Harris, who will both be heavily coveted prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft.

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