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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A really untraditional Rose Bowl setting, a quite common end result for Alabama within the School Soccer Playoff.
With Heisman Trophy finalists DeVonta Smith and Mac Jones, the top-ranked Crimson Tide rolled into its fifth CFP championship recreation in six seasons.
Smith caught three of Jones’ 4 landing passes and Najee Harris ran for 125 yards with a high-hurdling spotlight in a 31-14 victory over No. 4 Notre Dame in a CFP semifinal Rose Bowl performed inside about 1,400 miles from Pasadena, California.
”I do not assume there’s something fairly just like the Rose Bowl, the custom, the setting, the mountains. It is only a phenomenal expertise … want our gamers had gotten that chance,” coach Nick Saban stated.
However Saban and the Tide (12-0, No. 1 CFP) will take one more win within the dwelling of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, which the coach referred to as considered one of school soccer’s best venues, and advancing once more within the playoff.
The Tide earned a spot within the Jan. 11 championship recreation in suburban Miami, in opposition to No. 2 Clemson once more or No. 3 Ohio State – the Tigers and Buckeyes performed within the different CFP semifinal on the Sugar Bowl on Friday night time. Alabama missed the CFP final 12 months for the one time because the four-time playoff debuted on the finish of the 2014 season.
Notre Dame (10-2, No. 4 CFP), in soccer’s last 4 for less than the second time, has misplaced seven consecutive New Yr’s Six video games since 2000.
Alabama scored TDs on its first three possessions, together with an 97-yard drive on which Harris leaped over 6-foot cornerback Nick McCloud simply after crossing the road of scrimmage, landed on each toes after which sprinted for a 53-yard achieve earlier than getting run out of bounds.
”I do not know why I am stunned each time he does it. I’ve seen it for 3 years, however nonetheless, ‘Geez!,” tight finish Miller Forristall stated.
”I really attempt to educate him to not do it, and it did not work,” Saban stated, laughing. ”Anyway, for an enormous man, it is fairly superb that he can try this. He is sort of bought an amazing really feel when a man’s going to attempt to reduce him. … When he sees that head go down, he’ll go excessive of them in a heartbeat.”
Jones, who accomplished 25 of 30 passes for 297 yards, threw a 12-yard TD to tight finish Jahleel Billingsley on the subsequent play.
That got here between drives when Smith, with 16 TD catches his final seven video games, turned quick passes into scores of 26 and 34 yards. Smith completed with seven catches for 130 yards, later including a nifty toe-tapping 7-yarder within the entrance nook of the tip zone proper on the pylon.
CFP officers moved the Rose Bowl due to COVID-19 restrictions in California that will have stored household – or any followers – from attending the sport at its regular dwelling. There was a restricted capability crowd of 18,373 at AT&T Stadium, the house of the Dallas Cowboys, only a bit increased than attendance for the Cotton Bowl recreation there two nights earlier when Oklahoma beat SEC runner-up Florida 55-20.
It was one other thud of a end for the Combating Irish after successful all 10 regular-season video games, together with a house victory over Clemson. However Notre Dame then misplaced 34-10 within the ACC title recreation to the Tigers.
”In the present day was about making the performs. They made them on the perimeter. Their talent gamers confirmed up at the moment as they’ve all 12 months,” Irish coach Brian Kelly stated. ”We battled. I believed we did a few of the issues that we wished to at the moment however we merely did not make sufficient performs.”
Notre Dame misplaced 30-3 to Clemson within the CFP semifinal Cotton Bowl two years in the past at AT&T Stadium. It was the primary time the Irish had performed Alabama because the Tide beat them 42-14 within the BCS nationwide championship recreation eight seasons in the past.
The Alabama protection stored quarterback Ian Ebook scrambling. The winningest beginning QB ever for the Irish at 30-5, Ebook accomplished 27 of 39 passes for 229 yards and solely his third interception in 353 makes an attempt this season.
PERFECT AT COWS HOME
Alabama is 5-0 at AT&T Stadium, with a pair of convincing CFP semifinal wins there. The Tide beat Michigan State 38-0 within the Cotton Bowl 5 seasons in the past.
THE TAKEAWAY
Notre Dame: The Combating Irish have gone 32 seasons since successful their final nationwide title with a 12-0 document underneath Lou Holtz in 1988. The Irish had been down solely 21-7 after they bought the ball for the primary time within the second half. However any probability to get some momentum evaporated when Ebook threw an interception when underneath stress, and Alabama turned that into one other Smith’s third TD catch.
Alabama: The result wasn’t surprising with the Tide a three-TD favourite, however the 31 factors had been its fewest since shedding to Clemson 41-16 within the CFP title recreation two years in the past – a span of 25 video games. The 437 whole yards had been the bottom since 414 in opposition to Missouri within the opener of this pandemic-affected season.
”We sort of protected the lead slightly bit,” Jones stated. ”We’ve to do higher job taking part in the performs.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame goes into one other offseason nonetheless making an attempt to determine methods to shut the hole. The Irish play their 2021 season opener Sept. 5 at Florida State.
Alabama will get an opportunity to win its sixth nationwide title in Saban’s 14 seasons within the CFP nationwide championship recreation.
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Extra AP school soccer: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
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