DeVonta Smith closes senior season in stunning fashion, despite injury

College football fans knew Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith was going to have a monster game against Ohio State for the College Football Playoff national championship. And even after an absolutely stellar season, the 2020 Heisman Trophy winner certainly impressed in the biggest game of the season.

Actually, it was really just the first half because Smith dislocated his finger, per coach Nick Saban, in the third quarter and did not return for the rest of Alabama’s dominant 52-24 victory against the Buckeyes at Hard Rock Stadium.

“I’ll be alright,” the senior wide receiver told ESPN after the game. Here’s a look at the play where he injured his finger:

This is the hit where DeVonta Smith injured a finger on his right hand. pic.twitter.com/8oLj9zy25w

— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) January 12, 2021

But even in one half of the Crimson Tide’s blowout win, Smith — who For The Win ranked No. 2 among the 2021 NFL Draft prospects in the national championship game — still knocked out a couple College Football Playoff records.

He finished with 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns — all accumulated in an outstanding first half — and averaged 17.9 yards per catch Monday night. He was named the game’s offensive MVP.

ANOTHER TD FOR DEVONTA 😤#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/mwS0ofKcvM

— ESPN (@espn) January 12, 2021

His 12 receptions broke the record for catches in the CFP title game. Previously, Clemson wide receiver Hunter Renfrow held the record with 10 catches, plus 92 yards and two touchdowns, in the Tigers’ 2016-17 championship win over Alabama. (If you recall, his most important play of that game was a two-yard go-ahead touchdown catch from Deshaun Watson with one second left in the fourth.)

Those three trips to the end zone also set the CFP title game record, passing by LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase and Thaddeus Moss, Alabama’s O.J. Howard and Renfrow (in two games), who were all in a tie for the record with two national championship receiving touchdowns.

And to be fair, quarterback Mac Jones also broke a couple records too, including most passing yards in a title game with 464 yards. He completed 36-of-45 passes and added five touchdowns.

Heisman hands and footwork 👟👟#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/TB4xZHfygM

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 12, 2021

For Smith, it was his seventh time this season racking up more than 100 yards in the first 30 minutes and the third time this season he’s had at least 200 receiving yards in a single game. And his first touchdown of the game broke the SEC single-season record after he was previously tied with LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase with 20 single-season touchdowns.

He just makes it all look so easy, especially blowing by Buckeyes linebacker Tuf Borland in the video below, and was a huge reason why the Crimson Tide had a 35-17 halftime lead over Ohio State.

OH MY DEVONTA SMITH 🤯

That makes THREE TOUCHDOWNS for the Heisman winner 🔥 pic.twitter.com/u9qpKEKnTC

— ESPN (@espn) January 12, 2021

After the game, Smith described the season as “unbelievable” and said, “We just finished writing our story.” In the interview with ESPN’s Maria Taylor, he also said:

“It just came down to the young guys just putting in the work every day of the week knowing that if somebody went down, they was gonna have to come in and do something big. And I just believed in them from the jump, and that’s what we’re doing. That’s why you come to Bama. …

“Just with COVID and everything going on, it just made things tougher. It just made us more together as a team with us being around each other more, waking up in the morning and getting tested and just being there for each other and keeping our bubble small. The discipline of this team is just like no other.”

“Unbelievable. We just finished writing our story.”

—DeVonta Smith describes what it feels like to cap off this season with a national title pic.twitter.com/gJdTpLyqlI

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 12, 2021

After Monday’s title game, Smith now has the SEC records and Alabama program records for single-season receiving yards, single-season receiving touchdowns, career receiving yards and career touchdowns.

Game after game, the senior wide receiver consistently produced jaw-dropping highlights, and even though he was unable to finish the national championship game, his performance will be remembered as one of the best of all time.