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Alabama Football
Tide Humbles Spartans 38-0
Crimson Tide Wins!
Photo Credit: G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News
This one is sweet. This one had Alabama a 10-point favorite. It was nowhere near that. Well, other than the first quarter.
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide (13-1) handed Michigan State (12-2) an embarrassment. This was a 38-0 lesson in humility. Oh, they lined up to stop running back DERRICK HENRY so offensive coordinator LANE KIFFIN dialed them up some sweeps, passes, options and kept them guessing who was getting the ball when. Defensive coordinator and new Georgia head coach KIRBY SMART had the defense dialed in to shut out the Spartans.
The Michigan State fans made some noise. Well, not much after the first quarter but everyone knew they were alive when they began departing AT&T Stadium early. Oh, it was a sellout crowd of 82,812 by the way. It was the first Cotton Bowl shutout since LSU did it to Texas back in 1963.
Dominance.
Now the Crimson Tide will go on to face the Clemson Tigers, 37-17 winners over the Oklahoma Sooners, on January 11th in the College Football Playoff National Championship gameat the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Alabama is going to play for its fourth national championship in the past seven seasons.
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach NICK SABAN will be going for his fifth national championship. He has three at Alabama and one at LSU. Now, going for five it showcases the number one Clemson Tigers and the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Both had very big wins.
Saban said, "This was a great team win. I'm really proud of this group."
This was Bama's second game this season in this venue. Both were big wins. Both were wins over schools from the same conference. Oh, that means that the Alabama football team has won more games here than the home team has...the Dallas Cowboys.
The Alabama defense held the Spartan offense to only 29 rushing yards and a total of 239 yards. Linebacker REGGIE RAGLAND led the Tide with seven tackles while linebacker DILLON LEE had six tackles and one interception. RYAN ANDERSON had four tackles, including a sack and two tackles for losses. Also with four tackles each are linebacker REUBEN FOSTER and safety GENO MATIAS-SMITH.
The Alabama offense produced 440 total yards (286 passing, 154 rushing). Quarterback JAKE COKER had a career high 286 passing yards and two touchdowns. CALVIN RIDLEY, Bama's freshman wide receiver, had eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Ridley set a new Alabama freshman record for single-season receiving yards with 1,031.
Heisman Trophy winner DERRICK HENRY didn't get his 100 yards rushing for the first time this season. He did have 75 yards though, as well as two touchdowns on 20 carries. He also became only the 25th running back in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. He now has 2,061 rushing yards in 2015.
One more step to 16.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Kent Gidley
Photo Credit: RollTide.com/Kent Gidley
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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University of Alabama senior quarterback JAKE COKER was named Offensive Most Valuable Player in Thursday's night Cotton Bowl Classic, while CYRUS JONES was named Defensive MVP for the game.
Coker worked magic in last night's 38-0 Alabama beat-down of Michigan State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal game. He threw two second half touchdown strikes and hit on 25 of 30 passes on the night for 286 yards for two scores and no interceptions. It was a career-high for the young man.
Jones, himself, was again dazzling in the contest. He returned a punt for a touchdown, had three tackles on the night and a big interception to spark the defense to the shut out of the Spartans and limiting them to just 239 yards of total offense.
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Another Record-Setting Night For Derrick Henry
Tide Running Back Derrick Henry
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
It was another record-setting night for Alabama running back DERRICK HENRY. In fact, last night was a double-record setting night. Though the Crimson Tide's Heisman-winning running back didn't continue his streak of 100-yard rushing games, he was impressive none-the-less.
In last night's 38-0 trouncing of Michigan State, the Bama back became the first player in Southeastern Conference history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. In fact, he finished the night with 75 yards on 20 carries for a total of 2,061 yards in 2016. He is only the 25th running back in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season.
The other record he set last night? He set the SEC record for rushing touchdowns in a single season. He scored Bama's first touchdown of the night on a one-yard run in the second quarter. He scored two touchdowns total on the night.
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Jake Coker, Cyrus Jones Cotton Bowl MVPs
Bama QB Jacob Coker
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
University of Alabama senior quarterback JAKE COKER was named Offensive Most Valuable Player in Thursday's night Cotton Bowl Classic, while CYRUS JONES was named Defensive MVP for the game.
Coker worked magic in last night's 38-0 Alabama beat-down of Michigan State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal game. He threw two second half touchdown strikes and hit on 25 of 30 passes on the night for 286 yards for two scores and no interceptions. It was a career-high for the young man.
Jones, himself, was again dazzling in the contest. He returned a punt for a touchdown, had three tackles on the night and a big interception to spark the defense to the shut out of the Spartans and limiting them to just 239 yards of total offense.
Cyrus Jones punt return for touchdown
Photo Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
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CB Tony Brown Was Sent Home For Fighting
It has been reported that the reason cornerback TONY BROWN of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team was sent home the day before the 2015 Cotton Bowl was for starting a fight with one of the Bama defensive linemen. According to AL.com, Brown started the fight during one of Alabama's pre-Cotton Bowl practices.
The decision to be sent home came from the Bama player leadership council and announced in a statement released by head coach NICK SABAN. The reason, however, was not made known in the statement. The statement, released Wednesday, said, "We have made an internal decision to send Tony Brown home due to a violation of team rules."
