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Alabama running back Brian Robinson was feeling pretty confident about his team’s title chances after the Crimson Tide topped Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday, 27-6.
“We just know how to fight,” he said in his postgame comments on ESPN’s broadcast. “We know how to fight until the end. We know how to come together as a team, as a unit. We’re just warriors. We fight to the end with everything we do. That’s why we’re going to win the natty and repeat.”
Robinson earned that swagger, rushing 26 times for 204 yards against the Bearcats. For an Alabama team that has thrown the ball at will on most opponents, it was the offensive line and Robinson that wore down a tough Cincinnati defense.
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Only Ezekiel Elliott has run for more yards in a College Football Playoff game than Brian Robinson Jr.
Alabama prevails, 27-6, and heads to its 9th national title game in the BCS/CFP Era.
No other team has more than 5. pic.twitter.com/Rld7NOhm6x
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Brian Robinson: 204 rushing yards ⁰⁰Cincy: 218 total yards#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/v4p9Hhrire
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Cotton Bowl individual honors:
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Will Anderson Jr.
Most Outstanding Offensive Player: Brian Robinson Jr.
The senior has had an excellent season, rushing for 1,275 yards and 14 touchdowns, though he’s often been cast in a supporting role behind players like Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young and his duo of explosive wideouts, Jameson Williams and John Metchie III.
With Metchie done for the year due to an ACL injury—and the Crimson Tide facing a pair of excellent corners in Coby Bryant and Ahmad Gardner—the question coming into this game was which players would step up in his absence.
“When you lose a guy like Metch, it’s not easy,” Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien told reporters on Tuesday. “He can do so many different things for us, and he’s just a great guy. So his presence in the room is missed and all those things.”
The answer was Robinson and wideouts Ja’Corey Brooks and Slade Bolden, who combined for seven catches, 97 receiving yards and two scores. With Cincy keeping Williams in check (seven catches for 62 yards), at least by his lofty standards, Robinson, Brooks and Bolden came up huge for the Crimson Tide.
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Some of the best runs from Brian Robinson Jr.’s incredible performance 👏#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/VM35XLmbOt
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“We love it when B-Rob gets rollin’.”
Nick Saban shares how proud he is of Brian Robinson after the running back’s 204-yard performance 👏 pic.twitter.com/untyk4lz9v
It’s that depth that makes them such a threat to repeat as champions, whether they face Georgia for the second time this season or Michigan for the first time. The CFP title game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Alabama is looking to win its seventh national championship in the Nick Saban era.