Upon Further Review: CFP Semifinal Cotton Bowl, Alabama vs. Cincinnati

The final word on the Crimson Tide's 27-6 victory over the Bearcats to advance to the National Championship Game.

One of things that Nick Saban simply doesn't get enough credit for is the versatility of his teams. 

In the SEC Championship Game, Alabama faced the toughest defense in the nation, which was led by a massive defensive lineman. Fine. The Crimson Tide used speed and technique to knock off the team atop the polls. 

During its next game, Friday's CFP semifinal Cotton Bowl Classic, if faced more of a pass-oriented defense, with a three-man front and prolific cornerbacks. Alabama changed its approach and went almost all physical.  

The Crimson Tide defense, though, did some similar. Alabama went with some extra girth up front against Cincinnati, starting Bryon Young, Phidarian Mathis and DJ Dale, who all might be playing nose tackle or defensive tackle at the next level, and knocked the Bearcats out of their game plan. 

"That's one of the biggest things we hit on this week was just being physical up front and making sure that we were in our gaps, everybody being sound, and just playing physical," sophomore linebacker Will Anderson Jr. said. "And I think that's what we did this game."

Having that kind of flexibility and diversity on the one side of the ball is impressive. Doing it on both is something few teams can successfully pull off, especially after establishing an identity.  

Yet Alabama does so as necessary. 

Of course, the Crimson Tide also didn't hide what it was attempting to do with called runs on the first 10 plays (the fifth play was a pass that sophomore quarterback Bryce Young ran out of). Alabama's offense ended up executing 47 plays on the ground, compared to 28 pass attempts. 

"I think we just showed a lot of physicality," senior running back Brian Robinson Jr. said. "We knew they were going to come out fired up. We knew they were going to come out and try to be physical. And we just proved that we were the most physical team, with the run game, the defensive front. Just the whole defense overall and the whole offense overall, we just proved that we were the more physical team."

Play of the Game: The 44-yard touchdown pass from Young to freshman wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks just before halftime signaled the beginning of the end for the Bearcats. The Crimson Tide demonstrated that it could hit Cincinnati deep without having to attack its prize cornerbacks, and had an advantage of 160-16 total yards while dominating the second quarter. 

Player of the Game: Robinson finished with 198 rushing yards on 26 attempts, averaging 7.9 yards per carry. It topped the 171 yards on 36 carries against another high-profile opponent that tried to use a three-man defensive front against Alabama, Ole Miss (although Robinson ran in four touchdowns against the Rebels).

Statistic of the Game: Cincinnati managed to compile just 72 yards in the first half, the fewest in any half in College Football Playoff history.

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Five Things of Note

1] Cincinnati's offense managed just four explosive plays. 

Saban defines them as a pass completion for at least 17 yards, and a run going 13 or more. Jerome Ford had a 14-yard carry on Cincinnati's final possession (otherwise his longest rush was for just nine yards), and quarterback Desmond Ridder had completions of 28, 22 and 19 yards, two of which where on the first possession.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide defense notched six sacks. 

2] Pass defense was not a liability 

Even though Josh Jobe didn't play and the other starting cornerback, redshirt junior Jalyn Armour-Davis, was still not 100 percent (Alabama appeared to have him on what Saban calls a "pitch count"), Cincinnati wasn't able to take advantage. 

A lot that had to do with the pass rush — more on that in a moment — but Ridder really struggled, completing just 17 of 32 passes for 144 yards, and averaged just 4.5 yards per pass attempt. The Bearcats averaged just 8.5 yards per completion. 

His 53.1 completion percentage was a season low, and the 90.9 passer rating was his worst showing in two years.

Ridder also wasn't able to run, enjoying just an 11-yard scamper on Cincinnati's final possession, after the outcome had long been decided, as Alabama did a terrific job of keeping him contained. 

3] Phidarian Mathis playing at another level 

Alabama always seems to have a defensive lineman playing his best in the postseason (Marcell Dareus and DaRon Payne come to mind), and this year it appears to be Mathis. 

He had two tackles for a loss and a sack while continually pushing the pocket back.  Mathis also had two of the four passes Alabama knocked down in the trenches. Ridder had just five batted down all season.

Overall, the Crimson Tide broke up six passes. 

Meanwhile, Cincinnati's leading receiver Alec Pierce had just two catches for 17 yards.

4] The right side of the offensive line struggled 

Cincinnati was smart to keep defensive lineman Myjai Sanders away from left tackle Evan Neal, and he responded with five pressures (depending on which stat service used). Sanders also had seven tackles. 

When guard Emil Ekiyor Jr. suffered a shoulder injury the Crimson Tide actually went bigger and inserted freshman JC Latham, who was listed third on the released depth chart. Was Alabama taking advantage of his size, or did he make a move during bowl practices, or both? 

Right tackle Chris Owens also limped off the field so keep an eye on both positions this week.  

5] Alabama didn't press things with Jameson Williams 

Probably the most angst Crimson Tide fans felt during the Cotton Bowl was when the wide receiver briefly ended up in the medical tent. With John Metchie III out, Williams is on the growing list of players Alabama can't afford to lose with the national championship on the line. 

Williams was targeted nine times, but hardly downfield while averaging just 8.9 yards per catch. Cincinnati did a good job of bottling him up. Alabama finished with just 83 yards after the catch, 17 by Williams. 

Young had a season-low 181 passing yards, but the priority was on getting the win. So Alabama ran the ball and at times used Williams as a decoy, like on Brooks' touchdown.

Yes, Alabama had three touchdown passes, but none came against a starting cornerback in coverage (Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner or Coby Bryant). Both of the red-zone touchdown throws came against linebackers, while Brooks was covered by a safety on his touchdown.