Alabama rolls with 27–6 Cotton Bowl win over Cincinnati
In a national semifinal that was awfully reminiscent of their 2016 Peach Bowl win over Washington, the Alabama Crimson Tide soundly defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 27–6 on New Year’s Eve. The Tide advance to their sixth National Championship Game in the eight-year history of the College Football Playoff, continuing an unprecedented era of dominance under head coach Nick Saban.
In that 2016 win, Alabama relied heavily on its ground game, rushing for 269 yards while attempting just 14 passes. They didn’t run up the score, but their dominant defense went to work, holding Washington to under 200 yards of offense and just 14 first downs. And today, Alabama was similarly dominant, holding Cincinnati to a measly 218 yards of offense and just 13 first downs. Alabama didn’t blow the doors off of the Bearcats like they did Georgia earlier this month, but they were impressive nonetheless.
Offensively, Bama has come to rely on QB Bryce Young over the past months as injuries have decimated their running back room, but RB Brian Robinson was unstoppable today, gaining more yards than Cincinnati’s entire offense by himself. He was the team’s workhorse, taking 26 carries for 204 rushing yards.
Young, recently named the 2021 Heisman Trophy Award winner, was rather quiet today, totaling only 181 yards. But he refrained from making mistakes, throwing just one interception, and making clutch plays over and over again, from his 44 yard TD pass to Ja’Corey Brooks to take a commanding 17–3 lead just before halftime, to his knack for consistently escaping pressure in the pocket. With WR John Metchie injured and WR Jameson Williamson shaken up in the second half, there was concern that Alabama would struggle against Cincinnati’s dominant cornerback tandem: Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and Coby Bryant. But in the end, the Tide simply needed Young to manage the game, and he did so.
Defensively, Cincinnati was relatively stout. Their secondary was effective and kept them in the game, but Alabama’s war of attrition in the first quarter seemed to tire out Cincinnati’s run defense. Bama opened the game by almost exclusively running the ball, dominating time of possession as a result. By the time the second quarter winded down, the Bearcat defense was gassed and allowed Alabama to score their second touchdown of the game.
But the story of the night for the Bearcats was their inability to contain’s Alabama’s front seven. It seemed that QB Desmond Ridder was brought to the ground on every critical play. Cincinnati was looking to score to end the second quarter before receiving the second-half kickoff but instead, Ridder was sacked on back-to-back plays. In the third, Alabama’s pressure held Cincinnati to a field goal on their opening drive. Then, Cincinnati wasted another huge opportunity after they picked off Bryce Young at midfield. Will Anderson’s second sack of the night forced yet another punt, and Alabama would seal the game with a touchdown on their ensuing possession.
There’s no shame, however. The first Group of Five team to make the College Football Playoff put up a solid performance against a team that has dominated nearly every team it’s faced in the CFP. Cincinnati’s performance is right in line with Washington’s in 2016 (lost 7–24 vs Alabama), Clemson’s in 2017 (lost 6–24 vs Alabama), and Notre Dame’s just last year (lost 14–31 vs Alabama). And Cincinnati performed much better than Michigan State who was eviscerated 38–0 by the Crimson Tide in 2015.
Cincinnati’s loss should not be taken as an indictment against G5 teams. Rather, it is more evidence that the Power 5 monopoly on the Playoff is a problem that must be corrected soon. We can only hope that the CFP Committee will recognize Cincinnati’s competitiveness and give more respect to their contemporaries in the future.
