No single play demonstrated the talent gap between Alabama and Notre Dame better than Najee Harris’ hurdle.
Harris is a freak of nature on a team stacked with freaks of nature. It’s easy to lose track in the constant traffic of an Alabama football game, but against a supposedly evenly-matched Notre Dame side (lolz), Harris shouldn’t be able to make plays like the following so easily.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1345124341478875136
Oh my goodness, such a play defies gravity and hurts my brainwaves. As it turns out, I’m not alone.
College football media lost their collective mind over Harris’ hurdle
https://twitter.com/AlabamaFTBL/status/1345124987066314756
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1345123797767225344
Najee.
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) January 1, 2021
Ridiculous.
Is this the best Alabama offense ever?
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 1, 2021
How high did Najee get on the hurdle? I think he may have touched the Jerry World video board.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 1, 2021
Good grief. #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/dfZxe4ecfg
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) January 1, 2021
This is even worse than I expected. And I expected it to be bad.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) January 1, 2021
Draw up the defense to stop Superman leaping tall buildings at a single bound.
— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) January 1, 2021
Can we just shut it down, now?
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) January 1, 2021
Oh my. Najee Harris with the leaping metaphor for where this game is headed.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 1, 2021
OMG... Najee!! This Bama offense is just unfair.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 1, 2021
https://twitter.com/LRiddickESPN/status/1345123745229373443
Najee!!! pic.twitter.com/rrJ6ejLAxs
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) January 1, 2021
If Harris is routinely making plays like THAT, Notre Dame doesn’t stand a chance.
Notre Dame entered the game as a massive underdog, really to no fault of their own. Alabama has made light work of their entire schedule to this point, which included legitimate SEC competition such as the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies, both of which were in the top-10 of the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
While the Irish looked impressive at times this season — including peaking in a win over Clemson at home minus Trevor Lawrence — their recent results (a 34-10 loss to the Tigers in the ACC Title Game) suggest they’re ill-prepared to handle a team as stacked as Alabama.
But then again, is any team in the country ready to play Alabama?
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