The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alabama seeking an emotional repeat
There’s not much time to recharge before facing UGA.
Getting up for the Clemson game in the Sugar Bowl was easy. Alabama stewed over its College Football Playoff championship game loss to Clem- son for a full year, so seeing the Crimson Tide come out fired up shouldn’t have been a surprise.
On every offensive first down or big play, there was a lot of emotion. Every time a defensive player broke up a pass, made a sack or picked up a tackle for loss, he let the offensive player know it with a celebration.
Now, Alabama must find a way to recharge ahead of its national championship showdown against Georgia on Monday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, televised by ESPN.
“I don’t think it’s that hard because of the fact the way we felt all year because we lost in the national cham- pionship to Clemson,” Alabama running back Damien Harris said. “That fueled us for an entire year, but we can’t get caught up in that because if we’re not focused on this game or we lose this game, it’s the same thing all over again.
“If anything, we look back and say, ‘OK, so we got the game back that we wanted, but we want to keep that same feeling from happen
ing again for the next year.’” While Harris believes not wanting to experience the feeling of disappointment after losing to Clemson last year is enough, Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans said the significance of Mon- day night’s game should give the Crimson Tide an emo- tional boost.
“This is the national championship game, the biggest game of the season,” Evans said Thursday. “We’ve done a great job of just celebrat
ing for one night and then understanding that we’ve got to go back to work. (Ala- bama) coach (Nick) Saban
and all of the other coaches have done a great job of just keeping us levelheaded from all the happiness coming from that last game.
“I mean, it was a big game for us to be able to get a win over Clemson, which was something that we waited a whole year for. Right now, we’re just back focused and just looking forward to this next game.”
The players may not be worried about the quick break between games, but Saban is concerned.
Unlike the Sugar and Rose Bowls, Alabama and Geor- gia won’t have a lot of time to prepare.
Alabama played late Monday night, returned to Tuscaloosa on Tuesday and wasn’t able to resume full practice until Wednesday.
That gives the Crimson Tide five days to get ready for the Bulldogs.
“If you’re asking me to make a comment about this turnaround, it’s very difficult to come from a bowl game and just have seven days to prepare,” Saban said. “I mean, they’re coming from
the West Coast; we’re coming from New Orleans. Then we’ve got to be someplace else Friday.
“I mean, this is — I think that some kind of way, some- body has to think about the players a little bit when it comes to these games and not just what’s convenient for the media or TV or what- ever.”