Quite a finishing touch
CITRUS BOWL player honors after hauling in a game-high 204 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown on the Crimson Tide’s first play of the game.
“It’s how it played out at practice and it was the perfect look so I knew Jerry was going to beat the guy at the line and I knew it was all in,” quarterback Mac Jones said of the play.
Coach Nick Saban commended the Tide juniors who played in the game while also getting feedback from the NFL draft advisory committee about their pro prospects.
“We have nine guys that came here together that all got junior grades — thought of enough by the next level to give them a grade — and those guys all chose to play in this game,” Saban said following the win. “… I think all of these guys wanted to play for Alabama, all of these guys wanted to play for their team and I think they wanted to play for their teammates and that’s what college is all about.”
Jeudy, along with fellow receivers Henry Ruggs III and DeVonta Smith, Alex Leatherwood, Jedrick Wills Jr., Najee Harris and Xavier McKinney are among the juniors weighing their NFL options. Cornerback Trevon Diggs and linebacker Terrell Lewis already declared for the draft and chose to skip the game.
Injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa also is weighing leaving early for the NFL.
“For Jerry to go out there and be the MVP of the game and have over 200 yards, he certainly used this opportunity to showcase his abilities, so it probably even enhanced his opportunities at the next level,” Saban said.
Jeudy finished his season with 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns, becoming the first Alabama receiver with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since DJ Hall in 2006-07. His 2,742 career receiving yards moves him into fourth place in Tide history behind Amari Cooper (3,463), Hall (2,923) and Calvin Ridley (2,781) and his 26 career touchdowns is second behind Cooper (31).
But it’s likely his commitment to finishing out the 2019 season that his teammates will remember the most.
“It’s awesome that all of these came back to play this game,” said redshirt junior tight end Miller Forristall, who had three catches for 36 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown catch at the start of the fourth quarter. “There’s a bunch of guys that could have sat out and that attests to the kind of teammates that they are and what kind of team that we have. I’m proud to be teammates with them.”
Senior defensive back Shyheim Carter added, “The respect that we got from these guys from coming back; God forbid they could have gotten hurt in the game, but they weren’t thinking like that and they came out and played tremendously.”
Saban said he has been impressed with Jeudy and fellow Tide receivers Ruggs, Smith and Jaylen Waddle all season.
“They all have the tremendous ability, but the thing I like about this group is there’s never a guy that’s shown any signs of being selfish,” said Saban, who saw his program win at least 11 games for the ninth consecutive year. “These guys are all together. They work hard every day. … They all just rooted for each other and that’s very unusual at this position.”