The Alabama Crimson Tide capped off a dominant 13-0 season with a victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. It concluded a season in which we saw one of the best offenses college football has ever had and one where the Crimson Tide were never really challenged late in a game.
Not only did a team never really challenge them late in a game, but the Crimson Tide won many of their games in blowout fashion, just as they did in their semifinal matchup against Notre Dame and the national title game. How Alabama won, though, is what caught the eye of the man who called its final game of the season. You often see trash talk from players on the field and even coaches in the media, especially in 2020, but Kirk Herbstreit points out that wasn’t the case with Alabama.
“If you really look at Nick Saban objectively, how can you not appreciate not just the greatness, recruiting and development, but how many times did you watch Alabama trash talk Ohio State during that game? They don’t do it,” Herbstreit said on Wednesday’s episode of the CFB Podcast with Herbie, Pollack and Negandhi. “I even asked him on that call (after the game) … “I don’t tolerate it. I tell them when they show up, and in practice, that we don’t talk to the opponent. That’s our one rule when it comes to that. You aren’t allowed to talk to your opponent.” And if you watch Alabama, they don’t just beat you. They do it in a way that is respectful.”
In the closing seconds of the national championship game broadcast, Herbstreit made quite the declaration about Saban. The Crimson Tide won their sixth national title under the famed head coach since he took over the program in 2007.
“We’re witnessing a dynasty with Nick Saban,” he said. “This team deserves all the accolades. Everything that people say about them, they deserve. But (Nick Saban), I know Alabama fans appreciate him. The nation needs to appreciate the job that he’s doing and the way his teams conduct themselves and carry themselves. It’s going to be his seventh national championship and his sixth in Tuscaloosa.”
Saban nearly had two teams go undefeated in the College Football Playoff era, but this team did it. Although there were two less games played, 11 coming against SEC competition sure was grueling.
“Well, to me, this team accomplished more almost than any team,” Saban said after the win. “No disrespect to any other teams that we had or any championship teams. But this team won 11 SEC games. No other team has done that. They won the SEC, went undefeated in the SEC, then they beat two great teams in the Playoffs with no break in between.
“This is our fifth game in a row, from LSU to Arkansas to Florida to Notre Dame to here. Played 13 games, went undefeated with all the disruption that we had in this season. I think there’s quite a bit to write about when it comes to the legacy of the team.”
BamaOnLine contributed to this report.
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