Cotton Bowl score, stats, box score: Alabama leads Cincinnati at halftime

Here is the halftime score of the 2021 Cotton Bowl Classic between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Cincinnati Bearcats.

The 2021 Cotton Bowl Classic has entered halftime, with the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide leading the No. 4 Cincinnati Bearcats 17-3. The winner of this game will compete in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Orange Bowl winner between Michigan and Georgia.

Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young is leading the way through the air, completing 12-of-20 pass attempts for 130 yards and two touchdowns. One of those touchdown passes came on the opening drive of the Cotton Bowl, connecting with Slade Bolden for the eight-yard score. Young set Alabama’s single-season passing touchdowns record with that throw, his 44th of the year. The previous record was held by Tua Tagovailoa, who threw 43 touchdown passes in the 2018 season.

Crimson Tide running back Brian Robinson Jr. dominated Cincinnati’s run defense in the first half, as he picked up 134 yards on 17 carries, averaging 7.8 yards per carry.

The leading receiver of the game entering halftime is Alabama’s Ja’Corey Brooks, who caught three passes from Young for 68 yards and a touchdown, which came in the closing minutes of the second quarter.

Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder had 17 pass attempts in the first half, where he completed just eight of them for a total of 59 yards.

The Bearcats running game could not get anything going, thanks in part to the Crimson Tide’s run defense. Jerome Ford ran for 23 yards on five carries. But, Cincinnati could only accumulate a total of 17 rushing yards on the day, mostly due to Ridder being tacked for -9 yards on four carries.

A full box score can be found here.

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