From the Bench to a National Championship Title
Downtown in Atlanta Georgia, the biggest rivalry, the two most popular teams faced each other in the National Championship Game. 13–1 Alabama vs 13–2 Georgia bulldogs. When you think of these two teams, you think about the legendary Nick Saban and Kirby Smart who once coached underneath Saban. One thing about coaching underneath Saban’s wing, and adjusting to becoming a head coach of your own team is that Saban never loses, and when so, the comeback is harder than ever.
Where there are strengths on Georgia’s offense there’s weaknesses on Bama’s defense, and it reciprocates when switched. We’re at half-time and Georgia is leading the way. Then boom, it’s the third quarter and Sabans and the tides trailed 20–7 after Georgia’s freshman quarterback, Jake Fromm, hit Hardman for an 80-yard touchdown pass. The one play had the dawgs feeling good about ending a national title. This wasn’t just any title but a title after a long drought which takes us back to 1980. We’re not done just yet. We see the frustration on Nicks Saban’s face, but for some reason, somehow, it always forces Bama to play like we’ve never seen before as time winds down. There were alot of trusting and opportunities that happened in this play. Alabama turned to its quarterback of the future, and Tua Tagovailoa proved that his time was now.
The freshman quarterback, who had played mostly backup duty this season, came off the bench and sparked the crowd. He sparked a comeback and threw a 41-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith that gave №4 Alabama a 26–23 overtime victory against №3 Georgia on Monday night for the College Football Playoff national championship. On this play, Tua found DeVonta Smith streaking down the left sideline for the score that won the title. The play before that, the freshman took a bad sack. Tagovailoa entered the game at halftime, replacing a struggling Jalen Hurts, and threw three touchdown passes to give the Crimson Tide its fifth national championship since 2009. If you haven’t learned by now, Alabama is a second-half team. Alabama continues to strive with DeVonta Smith, Heisman winner, SEC AP Player of the year and top wide receiver in the country and lead his team to a National Championship title.
It’s 2021, and all of these players who have proven their spot are still representing Nick Saban’s greatest coaching program.
