ESPN's Todd Blackledge Discusses What it would Take for Cincinnati to Topple Alabama Football

Blackledge noted two key matchups that could be the secret to success for a potential Bearcats victory.

DALLAS — Ahead of Friday's College Football Playoff matchup between No. 1 Alabama football and No. 4 Cincinnati at the 2021 Cotton Bowl, ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge discussed the matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Bearcats on Monday afternoon.

While Alabama is currently the betting favorite to win not just the Cotton Bowl but the College Football Playoff as a whole, Blackledge broke down what he believes will be the keys for the Bearcats to upset the top-ranked Crimson Tide.

“Cincinnati is a really good football team," Blackledge told the media via Zoom. "They deserve to be in the playoff. They proved that last year in how they played against Georgia in the Peach Bowl, so this is a team that is worthy of being on this stage and playing in this game. The question I have is do they have the depth, do they have the strength up-front on both sides of the line to go toe-to-toe with a team like Alabama — that we’ve seen in this arena — for 60 minutes? That’s the big question that I have."

At 13-0, Cincinnati is the only undefeated team in this year's College Football Playoff. The Bearcats are coming off of a 35-20 victory over No. 21 Houston in the AAC title game and are the first Group of Five team to make it to the CFP.

While Alabama might be the favorite in the game, Blackledge pointed out that there are a couple of areas that Cincinnati might be able to take advantage of.

"In terms of where they match up well, I mentioned the tight ends and Alec Pierce the wide receiver because if you want to beat Alabama, you have to make contested catches because of how tough the coverage is and the man-to-man coverage that Alabama likes to play," Blackledge said. "You got to win some one-on-ones, and they’ve got guys that can do that. The other area where I think they matchup up extremely well is this is an excellent secondary led by two wonderful corners. I mean, Coby Bryant is the Thorpe Award winner, the guy on the other side, Ahmad Gardner, is an All-American, has had a great career. The NFL projects him to be a very high draft pick. They’ve got good safeties.

"So I think their secondary against the passing game of Alabama matches up very well. I think it will probably be the best secondary that Alabama, that Bryce Young have seen all year."

For Alabama's most recent game to be a 41-24 victory over a vicious Georgia defense in the SEC Championship Game, that is a considerably high compliment for Cincinnati's secondary from Blackledge.

Blackledge elaborated on his point that in order for the Bearcats to overcome the Crimson Tide, they will need to remove Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams from the equation. In making his point, Blackledge cited Auburn and what it was able to accomplish against Williams and the Alabama wide receiver corps in the Iron Bowl.

"It’ll be interesting to me to watch what strategy Cincinnati has with dealing with Jameson Williams," Blackledge said. "I gotta believe that they will try to do something to try to make someone else step up to make plays and to win for Alabama. I thought that — before he was ejected — that Auburn had a really good plan against Jameson Williams. They put their best cover guy, [Roger] McCreary, on him and they pressed coverage. They got pressure on the quarterback and for about 55, 56 minutes of that game, they really controlled everything.

"So I’ll be interested to see what Cincinnati does to try to maybe limit Jameson Williams. Not allow him to be the kind of big-play threat that he’s been all season and see if they can force someone else to step up. But I think tight ends, wide receiver/cornerbacks are the two best places that Cincinnati matches up."

Blackledge will be calling Saturday's game alongside Sean McDonough in the booth (Friday, Dec. 31, 2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN). Molly McGrath and Laura Rutledge will also be on the sidelines for the game.