3 players of the game for Alabama in Cotton Bowl win vs. Cincinnati

The stars were out in full force, as the Alabama football team dismantled Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

It wasn’t a cakewalk, but Nick Saban’s Alabama football team proved victorious over the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, 27-6.

The top-seeded Crimson Tide await the winner of the Capital One Orange Bowl between No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Georgia in the national title. With one more win Alabama will repeat as national champions, giving Saban yet another ring as the greatest college coach to ever walk this earth. So who contributed massively in the Crimson Tide’s convincing victory over the Bearcats?

Here are the three players of the game that helped the Crimson Tide win the Cotton Bowl.

Alabama football: 3 players of the game in Crimson Tide’s Cotton Bowl victory

Evan Neal solidified himself as the first offensive tackle to be drafted in 2022

It may have gone unnoticed to the casual fan, but Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal was too much for an undermanned Cincinnati defensive line to contain. He played a massive part in Alabama’s dominating ground game, as well as keeping Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young upright to make throws from the pocket. Neal will be a top-five pick this spring.

Will Anderson proved to the Heisman Trophy voters he belonged in New York

After getting snubbed from a trip to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, Alabama’s best player in outside linebacker Will Anderson went off. He was all over the place defensively, playing a huge part in Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder’s worst game in years. Anderson is only a sophomore. There is no doubt over who college football’s best returning defensive player will be.

Brian Robinson Jr. ran for days all over the Cincinnati defense in his monster day

This one is obvious. Anytime a running back goes for over 200 yards on the ground, he will be the  team’s top performer. That is exactly what Brian Robinson Jr. did to the Cincinnati defense. While Alabama’s offensive attack was more passing centric this year than last, Robinson demonstrated he can be counted on to carry the lion’s share of the workload in Bill O’Brien’s offensive attack.

Simply put, Alabama won an old-school Nick Saban game with ground control and defense to end Cincinnati’s bid at perfection in Arlington.

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