When the initial College Football Playoff rankings came out, everyone had an opinion about Alabama being in the top four. Some felt the Tide deserved their No. 4 ranking, while others complained that their inclusion was just another example of SEC bias.
I took a completely different approach. Rather than address the rankings — which are completely meaningless until Dec. 6 (e.g. you shouldn’t watch the weekly show) — I felt it was appropriate to let the teams settle the issue on the gridiron.
Alabama did exactly that on Saturday night, beating LSU in every facet of the game in a 30-16 victory. With the “W,” the Crimson Tide moved into the top spot in the SEC West. Alabama will almost certainly head to the College Football Playoff if it wins out.
Based on what transpired on the gridiron against LSU, it’s not a stretch to think ‘Bama will win finish the season with only one loss. After all, defense wins championships, and the Crimson Tide proved Saturday night that they’re one of — if not THE — best defense in college football. Faced with the monumental task of stopping Leonard Fournette — whom many experts compared to SEC legends Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson — Alabama’s front seven responded with the poise of championship-caliber unit. The Crimson Tide defensive line dominated the point of attack all night long, limiting Fournette to a season-low 31 yards on 19 carries.
More impressively, Fournette had only one run longer than 10 yards — an 18-yarder in the fourth quarter. He came into the game with 37 of them, which was the third-highest total in that nation.
It’s tough to argue with those results.
Yet, Alabama’s “D” did an outstanding job in other areas as well. The secondary came up with a clutch interception on the first drive of the second half, allowing the Tide to grab a seemingly insurmountable double-digit lead. The defense also made life miserable for Brandon Harris, who managed to complete just 6 of 19 passes for 128 yards. As a result, LSU mustered only 182 yards of total offense… almost 300 yards less than it averaged coming into the contest.
As well as the Tide D played — and it played extremely well — the offense deserves the game ball. Playing against the nation’s sixth-best run defense, Alabama ran the ball at will on Saturday, carving up the Tigers for 250 yards on 55 carries. The Bayou Bengals had absolutely no answers for the two-headed monster of Derrick Henry (38 carries for 210 yards and 3 TDs) and Kenyan Drake (10 carries f0r 68 yards, 3 catches for 40 yards). As a result of this dominance on the ground, Alabama held the ball for almost 40 minutes, including the final 9:18 of the contest.
No wonder Nick Saban called it a complete team effort.
So, what does this win mean in the grand scheme of things?
Simply put: it guarantees Alabama a spot in the College Football Playoff if it wins out. While there’s a lot that could happen between now and the end of the season, the fact remains that no one will forget how well the Crimson Tide defense played tonight. Bottling up the likes of Leonard Fournette — arguably the best back in the SEC in the past 20-25 years — will leave a lasting impression on the Selection Committee, making it virtually impossible to exclude them from the field.
In addition, it has to make Derrick Henry the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy award. Although Fournette will certainly remain in the mix, it’s only appropriate to point out that this was Henry’s second 200-yard performance against a ranked opponent this year. Given that he outperformed almost everyone’s top choice in a head-to-head matchup, he’s got to be at the top of everyone’s ballots this week. He’s certainly number one on mine.
