Alabama Football: 30 Greatest Games in Crimson Tide History
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football Greatest Game
January 2021 – National Championship – Ohio State
Alabama Football and all its fans were crushed on January 7, 2019, when the Clemson Tigers destroyed the Crimson Tide 44-16. For the first time, some Alabama fans thought the immediately renewed claims of a dead Dynasty might actually be true.
The 2019 season was the closest thing to a Crimson Tide disaster since the 2010 season. Though it continually battled back, the injuries to Dylan Moses and Tua Tagovailoa were too much for the Tide to overcome. In mid-October, the Crimson Tide was ranked No. 1 and hosting Tennessee in Bryant-Denny. Tua incurred a high-ankle sprain. After surgery, a game but gimpy Tua returned for the LSU game. With a healthy Tua, what turned into a magic season for LSU might have been derailed. Tua made uncharacteristic mistakes against the Bengal Tigers, but those in Bryant-Denny who watched him hobble off the field after the game will not question his heart or his toughness.
What happened to Tua a week later was almost inconceivable. His hip injury against Mississippi State was the kind of damage that incurs in car accidents. The Tide loss to Auburn three weeks later was another major disappointment but almost fitting to a disappointing season.
The road back began with an easy win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. What followed in the 2020 season, despite COVID restrictions, was magical. The No. 2 ranked Crimson Tide took down No. 3 Georgia in October, practically assuring another CFB Playoff opportunity.
Over the next five games, the Crimson Tide outscored its opponents 253-36. The SEC Championship game against Florida was the Tide’s toughest game of the season, with neither defense having much success. It didn’t matter for the Tide that possessed an even more explosive offense than LSU had the season before.
Another routine win over an again overrated Notre Dame team placed the Crimson Tide into the national title game.
The Ohio State Buckeyes made a game of it until the 9:00 minute mark of the second quarter. A 26-yard touchdown pass from Mac Jones to Najee Harris put the Tide up for good at 21-14. By the end of the first half, the score had ballooned to a 35-17 Crimson Tide lead.
In that half, DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris demolished the Ohio State defense. Harris caught five passes for 66 yards and added 49 yards on the ground. Smitty made a shambles of the Buckeyes’ secondary, catching 12 first-half passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
Ohio State generated 190 yards of first-half offense. The Alabama Crimson Tide had 389 yards.
The game had long been over when the fourth quarter began. Needing no more points (the Tide got seven more points anyway), the last quarter’s offense was almost totally a ground attack. By the end, even with the fourth-quarter brakes on, the Crimson Tide ran up 621 yards on the legitimately second-best, 2020 team. It would have been worse without the injury to DeVonta Smith.
Final Score – Alabama Crimson Tide 52 – Ohio State Buckeyes 24
The Alabama Crimson Tide Dynasty – the greatest in the history of college football – lives on.
Note: Stats from these games came from a combination of rolltide.com; sports-reference.com; mcubed.net and collegepollarchive.com.