Alabama celebrates their 2nd consecutive National Champions and their third in just four season (Photo By Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports)
Alabama cruised to their second consecutive National Championship, by defeating Notre Dame by a score of 42-14. However, even that score doesn’t reflect the beat down the Tide gave the Fighting Irish, dominating on both sides of the ball.
The Crimson Tide jumped all over the Irish early on, scoring on their first two drives giving them a 14-0 advantage. Even overcoming that deficit would be a daunting task for Notre Dame against a stout Alabama defense, but the hole would only get bigger. The game plan was obvious for Alabama, run until Notre Dame proved they could stop it, which the Irish didn’t even manage to slow it down. Alabama’s rushing attack steamrolled the Irish defense on their way to 248 yards and two touchdowns. Eddy Lacy recorded 140 yards off 20 carries and a touchdown, while T.J. Yeldon racked in 108 yards of his own off 21 carries and a touchdown. With the Alabama ground game receiving so much attention from the Notre Dame defense, tide quarterback A.J. McCarron had himself a field day in the passing game. McCarron carved up the Notre Dame secondary for 264 yards and 4 touchdowns. With the score 28-0 at the half, the Irish appeared to have no answers for this Crimson Tide offense.
Notre Dame received the ball on the opening drive of the second half and was looking for a miracle. Quarterback Everett Golson took the Irish down the field in what appeared to be a promising drive, until he was picked off by Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix inside the Alabama 10-yard-line. McCarron would then march the Tide down the field and cap off the drive with a 34-yard strike to Amari Cooper, extending the lead to 35-0 in favor of the Tide. At this point, televisions were being switched to other channels around the country as this game practically was over.
Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Maziel proved that Alabama struggled when it came to containing a mobile quarterback as he and his Aggies from Texas A&M defeated Alabama in early November. Notre Dame’s Golson was thought to have similar success against this defense from Alabama because of his ability to tuck and run, but that theory did not last long as the Tide kept him bottled up for most of the night. Notre Dame as a team only managed to post just 32 yards on 19 carries. Golson eventually found success through the air passing for 270 yards, but by then the game had already been decided.
Alabama now finds themselves among the elite as they have won their third National Championship in four years.
