Brian Robinson, Alabama brush aside Cincinnati to get to title game

ARLINGTON, Texas – If you ever need to assess the value of the top seed in the four-team College Football Playoff, click on the video of the 86^th Cotton Bowl Classic. No. 1 Alabama, using virtually none of the pyrotechnics that has characterized its offense this season, churned out a 27-6 victory Friday over No. 4 Cincinnati at AT&T Stadium.

Fifth-year senior tailback Brian Robinson Jr. ran for a career-high 204 yards, quarterback Bryce Young threw for three touchdowns and the Crimson Tide proved what football has taught for more than 150 years: Bigger and faster wins.

It won’t be that way in the national championship game in Indianapolis on January 10. The opponent there, either Georgia or Michigan, fishes in the same recruiting waters as Alabama. But the Tide, by routing the Bulldogs 41-24 in the SEC Championship Game, got to wait one round before playing one of those teams.

Cincinnati played the well-coached, disciplined football it played all season in going 13-0. The Bearcats didn’t turn the ball over. They committed only one major penalty. They allowed only one long completion, a 44-yard touchdown to Ja’Corey Brooks after he got behind safety Bryan Cook late in the first half.

It didn’t matter. Alabama’s offensive front repeatedly opened holes in Cincinnati’s 3-3-5 scheme for Robinson and his backup, Trey Sanders (67 yards). Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban pointed out that the soundness of the Bearcats’ defense forced Alabama to run more and take downfield shots less than usual.

The Crimson Tide established its mindset from the start. After receiving the opening kickoff, Alabama ran the ball on its first 10 snaps. To be fair, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien called a pass on one play, but the Bearcats forced Young to run. He gained a yard. The other nine rushes went for 66 yards. And on the 11^th play, the Tide passed. Young found Slade Bolden in the middle of the field for an 8-yard touchdown.

Young frequently mined the middle of the field, mostly because that’s where the Bearcats’ outstanding corners weren’t. Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant did a great job of limiting Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams (seven receptions for 62 yards), but Alabama stayed patient. It may have been an offensive game plan for vanilla ice cream and mild salsa lovers everywhere, but that’s what Alabama needed, and thanks to the handiwork of Robinson, that’s what they got.

“We just showed a lot of physicality,” Robinson said. “We knew that they were going to come out fired up. We knew they were going to come out and try to be physical. We just proved we were the most physical team.” 

Robinson, a fifth-year senior from Tuscaloosa, grew up wanting to lead his hometown team to a national championship. He waited patiently behind Damian Harris and Najee Harris without considering the transfer portal, which these days either makes him an outlier or a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

“He’s improved dramatically,” Saban said. “He’s a great person and a leader on the team right now. There are so many players who are willing to cut and run. … He showed a tremendous amount of resiliency. There probably are not a whole lot of successful people in this world who don’t have a lot of resiliency.”

Robinson has a distinctive style. If he were a pitcher, he’d be a Charlie Morton: An older head who knows how to change speeds, fit into tight spots and challenge his opponents. And Robinson eats up innings. He carried the ball 26 times Friday.

Cincinnati’s defense may have come into the game ranked in the FBS top 10 in six statistical categories, but the Bearcats had the second-best defense on the field Friday. The Tide defense made yards as hard to come by as an at-home COVID test. Cincinnati had 218 yards of total offense, barely half the Bearcats’ average (429.6) this season.

An offensive line that allowed only 20 sacks all season gave up six. The last captains to greet one another before the coin toss were Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder. Anderson patted Ridder’s helmet as they shook hands. It wouldn’t be the last time they met. Anderson got two of the six sacks, and now has 17.5 for the season.

Ridder is 6 feet 4, but Alabama still batted away four of his passes at the line of scrimmage. Saban credited a “match the hand” drill — when the quarterback’s hand comes up to throw, the pass rushers should match his hand.

The closer that Cincinnati got to Alabama’s end zone, the harder the yards came. The Bearcats snapped 22 plays in Crimson Tide territory and gained a total of 44 yards. On the two drives that Cincinnati managed to make it into the red zone, the Bearcats ran five plays and gained yards on none of them: three incompletions, a rush for no gain and a hurried, don’t-sack-me pass by Ridder that lost 6 yards. Five plays, minus-6 yards and, in the end, two field goals.

It may not have been exciting, but there isn’t an Alabama football player who’s complaining. Alabama is on its way to its sixth championship came in the eight years of the College Football Playoff. That’s excitement enough for the Crimson Tide.