Crimson Tide overwhelm Bearcats in semifinal
“B-Rob was huge for us all night,” Young said. “Making that first guy miss, falling forward fighting for those extra yards. He was a constant.”
Said Robinson, “As a young kid, just always wanted to be a part of this program. Just always wanted to play for a national championship. Just being able to go out there and just lead this team in this big game on this big stage it’s like a dream come true.”
Alabama (13-1) has missed the four-team playoff only once and will try to win its second national title in a row and fourth in the eight seasons of the CFP format. The Crimson Tide will play No. 3 Georgia, the previously undefeated team Alabama beat for the Southeastern Conference title, in the national title game Jan. 10 in Indianapolis.
Alabama clearly was doing what it could to minimize the impact of Cincinnati cornerbacks Ahmad Gardner and Coby Bryant, and pretty much succeeded with Robinson rushing 26 times and Young throwing a lot of short, safe passes — though he did find Ja’Core Brooks for a 44-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a play away from the standout defenders for a 17-3 lead just before halftime.
“I’m really, really proud of our team, our players. I think they showed great competitive character out there,” said coach Nick Saban, who in his 15th season at Alabama has six national titles. “Guys showed a lot of resiliency all year, to be able to have the opportunity to get to this game.”
The Tide opened the game with 10 consecutive runs, the first four and six overall for 37 yards by Robinson, before putting three receivers opposite of Gardner, who hadn’t given up a touchdown in coverage in his college career. Young found Slade Bolden open in the left flat for an eight-yard scoring pass that put Alabama ahead to stay.
With Ridder, the dynamic quarterback and NFL prospect who returned for an extra season for just this chance, the Bearcats (13-1) were the nation’s only undefeated team until facing the playoff standard bearer.
“Obviously, this is gutwrenching and really, really difficult for everybody, but most importantly for the 30 or so seniors that have brought this program and this team so far,” Bearcats coach Luke Fickell said.
Ridder was sacked six times and outside of a nineyard run on the opening play of the second half, he never got to hurt Alabama with his feet. He completed 17 of 32 passes for 144 yards.
“It’s one thing to sit there and watch on film, and to sit there and draw the twists and stunts they do on the board and work it through practice,” Ridder said. “It’s another thing to come down here and play it on a big stage.”
Young, a 20-year-old sophomore out of Santa Ana Mater Dei High, has a chance to become the fifth Alabama quarterback in 13 seasons to win a national title as a first-year starter. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 181 yards, four weeks after setting an SEC championship game record with 421 yards in a win over Georgia and three weeks after being the first Crimson Tide quarterback to win a Heisman Trophy.
His only interception came late in the third quarter when he overthrew AllAmerican receiver Jameson Williams in a crowd of defenders and was picked off by Bryan Cook on the logo at midfield. Williams caught the other seven passes thrown his way for 62 yards.
After Cook’s interception, the Bearcats went three and out for the fifth time in the game, with Ridder sacked for 10-yard loss on third down.
Cincinnati’s breakthrough into the playoff was bolstered by an October win at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish, who lost 31-14 to Alabama in a CFP semifinal Rose Bowl played at AT&T Stadium last New Year’s Day, didn’t lose another game this season and finished fifth in the final CFP rankings behind the historymaking Bearcats.
The American Athletic Conference champion Bearcats had a season-low 218 total yards and were held without a touchdown for the first time since a 42-0 loss at Ohio State in the second game of the 2019 season, the last time they played a topfive team.
“We knew the battle in the trenches was going to be a big deal, and that’s kind of where the game was won,” Fickell said. “In no phase of it did we give ourselves an opportunity.”