No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 4 Notre Dame 31-14 in the Rose Bowl Game at AT&T Stadium in AT&T Stadium on Friday.
The Crimson Tide (12-0) advanced to the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. They will face the winner of Friday's second semifinal, No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
MORE: Alabama-Notre Dame score, highlights
Mac Jones finished 25 of 30 through the air for 297 yards and four touchdowns for the Tide. DeVonta Smith, Sporting News' 2020 Player of the Year, also played a starring role in the victory, nabbing seven catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns.
Alabama advanced to the CFP championship game for the fifth time under Nick Saban, who will pass Bear Bryant with a seventh national championship if the Crimson Tide can win their next game.
Here are three takeaways from the first College Football Playoff semifinal of the 2020 season:
Bama's first three drives were art
The Crimson Tide put up 260 total yards on their first 18 plays from scrimmage. That's an incredible 14.4 yard-per-play average. Alabama's trio of All-American skilled position players were responsible for most of that damage.
Smith provided three chunk plays in the receiving game, including touchdown catch-and-runs of 34 and 26 yards, respectively. Jones hit 12 of 13 passes on those drives and added a third touchdown pass: a 12-yarder to tight end Jaheel Billingsley. Najee Harris provided the highlight-reel play with a 53-yard run in which he hurdled Notre Dame defensive back Nick McCloud.
Harris had seven carries for 93 yards in the first half alone. Alabama was ahead 21-7 with 8:49 remaining in the first half and then built on its lead after halftime.
DeVonta Smith is Heisman-worthy
Smith made the biggest impact on the game in the first half. He had four catches of 20 yards or more, and that included the two first-half scores. Smith worked the middle of the field and popped open on crossing routes, and Notre Dame's secondary didn't have an answer.
Smith appeared to land awkwardly on his hip on the second touchdown, but he returned and showed no signs of slowing down. He added a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter that pushed Alabama's lead to 28-7; it was an impressive grab in which he dragged both feet to stay inbounds.
Smith is one of the four finalists for the Heisman Trophy, and he validated his case to become the first wide receiver to win the award since Michigan's Desmond Howard in 1991.
Consider Smith's combined numbers from the SEC championship game and CFP semifinal: 22 receptions, 314 yards, five touchdowns.
Irish facing the same old questions
The one highlight for Notre Dame (10-2) vs. Alabama was a 15-play, 75-yard drive in the second quarter that Kyren Williams finished with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Other than that, Notre Dame followed the same big-game narrative. It could not close a two-touchdown gap after halftime and Ian Book was injured in the third quarter. Book battled, though, with 229 passing yards, 55 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. But most of those stats came with the Irish in catch-up mode.
The Irish are now 1-7 against top-five teams under Brian Kelly. Despite their 47-40 double-victory over Clemson in the regular season, the national focus will gravitate toward the corresponding 34-10 loss to the Tigers in the ACC championship game and then the national semifinal flop against the Crimson Tide.
Was the program's one-year ACC lease a success? Kelly can continue to build off a second Playoff appearance in three years, but Notre Dame faces major challenges in catching up with the other three teams in this year's field.
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January 02, 2021 at 08:07AM
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Three takeaways from Alabama's victory over Notre Dame in College Football Playoff semifinal - Sporting News
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