Tide’s top stars returned to win another CFP crown
No. 1 Alabama’s offense capped one of the best seasons in college football history by blowing out Ohio State in the CFP National Championship. A big reason was the three stars who elected to wait a year to turn pro.
Najee Harris didn’t care what the mock drafts said. His junior year had not been what he wanted and he knew a senior season with Alabama would prove there was more — the chance to be the best running back in the country.
Alex Leatherwood felt the same way. He probably would’ve been a firstround pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and he almost certainly will be in the
2021 draft, and now the senior has another cham
pionship ring to take with him.
Even DeVonta Smith didn’t have an easy decision. He was an All-American in 2019 and could’ve been a first-round pick in the draft last year, but he knew he could come back to get his degree as a senior, win another title and boost his draft stock — and he couldn’t have been more right.
“This senior class,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said after the Crimson Tide’s 52-24 win in the
2021 College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, “provided great leadership.”
On Monday, No. 1 Alabama’s offense — led largely by those three All-Americans — capped one of the best seasons in college football history by blowing out Ohio State in the CFP National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium.
Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner and offensive most valuable player of the game, caught a CFP National Championshiprecord 12 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns in a little more than one half of action.
Harris, who finished fifth in Heisman voting, ran for 79 yards and two
touchdowns on 22 carries, and added another seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Leatherwood, the starting left tackle, helped set it all up as redshirt junior quarterback Mac Jones went 36 of 45 for 464 yards and five touchdowns, plus four carries for 11 yards and a lost fumble as the only blemish.
Not only doesAlabama (13-0, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) lock up a top-ranked recruiting class every year the Crimson Tide also convinces its players to return for fourth or fifth seasons.
“We had a mission,” Smith said after the win Monday. “Everybody wanted to end things the right way.”
Seven of the Crimson Tide’s 11 starters on offense against Ohio State (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten) were either redshirt juniors or
seniors and they produced an average of 48.5 points per game, topping 2019 LSU’s historically great unit.
It started with a feeling of unfinished business. When former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a devastating hip injury late in the 2019 season, Alabama’s season — by its lofty standards — unraveled. The Crimson Tide finished with two losses for the first time since 2014 and its worst end-of-year ranking since 2010.
Jones, who was up and down as Tagovailoa’s replacement, made the obvious decision to return and three of his teammates bypassed a chance at going in the first round to join him, even though they had all won a national title as freshmen.
“I didn’t like the season I had, truthfully, because a lot of things I lacked,”
Harris said after the win Monday. “I feel like I showed people I’m a three-down back.”
Harris ran for 1,224 yards and scored 20 touchdowns as a junior in 2019. It didn’t matter — he came back, ran for 1,466 yards, scored 30 touchdowns and became an All-American.
Smith logged 1,256 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior in 2019. It didn’t matter —he came back, piled up 1,856 yards, scored 24 touchdowns and won the Heisman.
Leatherwood was a first-team All-American in 2019, according to the American Football Coaches Association. It didn’t matter — he came back and was a unanimous All-American.
They all made gambles — any one of them could have gotten hurt, or struggled or gotten passed on the depth chart by one of Alabama’s sure-to-be-star underclassmen — and it paid off for themselves and the Crimson Tide.
The seniors all got a second ring and improved their draft standing. Alabama got an 18th championship and its next generation of stars got another year to watch, and wait and develop.
Once the 2021 season begins, they’ll be more prepared than they would have been this year and the Crimson Tide will once again be the favorite for the national championship.
“They made us better every day. That’s the best offense in the whole world,” redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Christian Barmore said. “I’m really happy them seniors came back and got us better. They motivated us.”