Alabama is headed to the championship game again. However, the Tide nearly destroyed themselves by committing penalty after penalty.
Alabama opened the game leading 28-0, scoring on each of their first 4 drives. Then the game started to collapse. Alabama, led by Nick Saban, attempted, and almost succeeded, in committing suicide. They gave up ten straight points, making the game 28-10. Late in the first half, Alabama was at 3rd and a foot in the red zone, then Alabama Offensive Tackle Zendrick Willis committed back-to-back 5-yard penalties (a false start and an illegal formation) putting Alabama at 3rd and 11. Tua Tagovailoa ran and made it 4th and 1. Alabama was going to go for it, but then Damien Harris was penalized with a false start, forcing Alabama to kick a field goal, making the game 31-10. To make matters worse, Nick Saban nearly got called for unsportsmanlike conduct after he threw his headset down in anger over Damien Harris’ false start. Nick Saban can blame whoever he wants for those penalties, but false starts and illegal formation penalties show lack of discipline and that starts with the coach. Eventually, Saban’s going to need to take some responsibility for those types of mistakes.
Despite all those mishaps, one thing stood out to me. Joseph Bullovas, Alabama’s kicker, made all his extra points and even made his field goal. If you know anything about Nick Saban’s history with kickers, you will realize how rare this is. This season, Alabama has missed 8 extra points.
Here are my offensive and defensive MVPs for the game.
Offensive MVP: Tua Tagovailoa
Defensive MVP: Anfernee Jennings
Alabama will play Clemson January 7th in the championship game.
This is a test.