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The 2021 College Football Playoff kicked off Friday, featuring No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl and No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
The Crimson Tide dominated the Bearcats from the start and headed to the locker room with a 17-3 lead at halftime of the early game.
Alabama didn’t exactly slow down in the second half. The Tide’s defense held Cincy to just one field goal in the third quarter, and Bryce Young and the offense scored a touchdown early in the fourth to help take a 24-6 lead. Bama added a field goal to win 27-6 and earn its sixth national title game appearance since the playoff began in 2014.
Let’s run through the winners and losers of Friday’s action.
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As good as Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young was in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, Bama didn’t have to rely on its passing game much against Cincinnati.
The Tide set the tone with a dominant run game on their opening drive. In fact, the Tide ran the ball 10 times on their 11-play scoring drive, which was capped off with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Young to Slade Bolden.
The 10 rushing attempts on the first drive was vintage Nick Saban football and were the most attempts on an opening drive for the Tide since 2008, when they ran 10 times against Arkansas State, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Tide running back Brian Robinson Jr. had his best outing of the season, running for 134 yards in the first half alone. He finished the day with a season-high 204 yards, averaged 7.8 per carry and set an Alabama bowl-game record. It was also the third-most rushing yards in a CFP playoff game, per ESPN’s Sean McDonough on the broadcast. The fact that he’d been dealing with a leg injury toward the end of the regular season made his big day all the more impressive.
The performance was certainly jarring to the Cincinnati defense, which had only given up 137.5 rushing yards per game before Friday. In the first half, the Tide had 172 rushing yards. In total, Cincinnati finished with just 218 yards of offense to Alabama’s 482.
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Look, there has to be a loser, and unfortunately for Cincinnati, dropping a semifinal playoff game puts you here. The Bearcats were dominated from start to finish and struggled to score points off any momentum they got in the game.
Still, let’s not forget that this was a historic season for the Bearcats. Head coach Luke Fickell, in just his fifth year as Cincy’s head coach, led the team to its first 13-win campaign in school history.
Speaking of history, although this game certainly wasn’t the ending to the Cinderella story Bearcat fans were hoping for, this was a huge moment for Cincy to be in the semifinals at all. For the first time, the Group of Five had a school representing it thanks to the season the Bearcats put together, which included an American Athletic Conference championship.
That’s a huge recruiting boost for the Bearcats and their head coach.
Speaking of Fickell, his name was floated as a potential candidate for the numerous big-time head coaching jobs that opened in 2021. But for now, Fickell is staying put, and this semifinal appearance might be just the start of an impressive run.
Regardless of Friday’s result, the Bearcats can hold their heads high after such an incredible season.
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Michael Ainsworth/Associated Press
Although Cincinnati came into this game ranked ninth nationally in scoring offense, averaging 39.2 points per game, Alabama shut down the Bearcats offense with ease. To say that the Tide completely dominated Cincinnati’s offense might be an understatement. They held the Bearcats to just three points in the first half and 76 total yards to Bama’s 302.
Bama’s defense did a good job both stopping the run and the pass. Bearcats running back Jerome Ford finished with just 77 yards on 15 carries. On Cincy’s first three drives, Bama averaged one batted Desmond Ridder pass per drive. It batted another Ridder pass with 3:53 left in the third quarter, too. Ridder finished his day with just 144 yards on 17 completions.
Although the Bearcats had two great drives to open each half that ended deep inside Bama territory, Cincy had to settle for field goals on both to kill any hopes of a comeback. Even when the Bearcats picked off Bryce Young with 4:54 left in the third quarter, all Cincy could manage on the ensuing drive was a three-and-out on a drive that went for minus-16 yards.
The Bearcats came into this one averaging 428.9 yards per game and finished the night with just 218 yards and four three-and-outs. Alabama’s defense has looked vulnerable at times throughout the regular season, but what the unit has done the last two games against Georgia (two takeaways) and Cincinnati means this unit is peaking at just the right time.