Alabama football has even more motivation thanks to Ohio State.
When you make it to the National Championship, motivation should no longer be a factor. If you can’t get up for the biggest game of the season, you should not be playing. Still, players find extra bits of motivation from just about anything, and an Ohio State corner just gave some to Alabama football.
While preparing for the CFP National Championship, OSU corner Shaun Wade was asked about defending the Alabama wide receivers. He said, “You already know who I want to go up against,” obviously referring to DeVonta Smith. He seemed very confident in his answer, which will surely motivate Smitty to perform well.
Wade was a solid corner last season, but he came back to Ohio State to prove that he could play on the outside. He was mostly a slot corner in 2019, but the Buckeyes have needed him to take top targets all year. This will easily be the toughest test of Shaun Wade’s career, and it is almost disrespectful to come into this situation with this much confidence.
Now, it is easy to understand where Shaun Wade is coming from. When you are playing in the National Championship game, you have to have an alpha-dog mentality. Still, this will fuel DeVonta Smith’s fire as he takes it personally.
DeVonta Smith has been counted out and disregarded for the majority of his life. He’s used to it, and it has clearly fueled him on his journey through the Alabama football history books.
Shaun Wade defending DeVonta Smith is a key matchup for the National Championship. While both players are preparing for this battle, Smith and the Tide will have just a bit more bulletin board material thanks to Wade’s comments about wanting to defend him. Will Wade live up to his words and find a way to stop the Heisman winner? Probably not. At best, he will be able to slow him down.
DeVonta Smith is going to have a lot of fun against Shaun Wade in the CFP National Championship.