Alabama Routs Michigan State in Cotton Bowl
ARLINGTON, Texas — Alabama coach Nick Saban admitted his team didn’t have the right mindset last season when it faced Ohio State in the first College Football Playoff semifinal.
The Crimson Tide weren’t about to let that happen again.
“The focus we had for this game is completely different from what they had before, and it paid off for them,” Saban said.
The No. 2 Tide convincingly punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff national championship game by dismantling No. 3 Michigan State 38-0 on New Year’s Eve in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium.
Alabama (13-1) faces No. 1 Clemson (14-0) for the national title on Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz. The Tigers took care of Oklahoma 37-17 in the earlier semifinal Thursday.
It didn’t take long for Saban to get asked about Clemson.
“We’d like to enjoy this game for 24 hours, but Clemson’s got a great team,” he said. “They’re undefeated. They’ve got a great program, so I’m sure our guys are going to be motivated to play the best they can.”
Alabama, the first two-time CFB playoff participant, is playing for its fourth national championship under Saban. The Tide last took home college football’s top prize in 2012-13.
During a Cotton Bowl in which neither side got much of an early offensive foothold, the
Southeastern Conference champions pulled away behind big plays from quarterback Jake Coker and a suffocating defense.
Coker was an efficient 25-for-30 passing for a career-high 286 yards and two touchdowns. The senior didn’t try to do too much at first, but he took several well-timed shots down the field that proved effective.
“It was going to be difficult to run the ball, so we knew Jake was going to have to throw it and do a good job of it,” Saban said. “And he did a fantastic job of making some big plays.”
Alabama running back Derrick Henry, the Heisman Trophy winner, banged out 75 tough yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley caught eight balls for 138 yards and two scores, both coming during a third-quarter barrage.
“We just have a lot of athletes on the outside, and Calvin did a great job of making plays,” Coker said.
The Crimson Tide turned a 10-0 halftime lead into a 31-0 rout with three touchdowns in the third. Scoring grabs of 50 and 6 yards by Ridley were sandwiched around cornerback Cyrus Jones’ 57-yard punt-return touchdown.
Unlike the Tide, the Big Ten champ Spartans (12-2) weren’t able to figure anything out when they had the ball. Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook was under constant duress, and the running game was nonexistent.
Cook completed 19 of 39 passes for 210 yards in his final collegiate game. The senior was sacked four times and intercepted twice.
“It felt like they were playing some good defense out there,” Cook said. “The pass rush was there.”
Cook also brushed aside any speculation that he was less than 100 percent. He said his sore shoulder was fully healed and that he doesn’t need offseason surgery.
Michigan State’s 239 total yards were a season low. The Spartans were shut out for the first time since 2000.
“The inability to run the run the football consistently hurt us,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “That’s the first time all year that happened.”
It appeared that defense would rule the day for both sides until Alabama began to open it up more than halfway through the second quarter.
Alabama took a 10-0 lead into the half, with Coker setting up two scores with passes of 50 to Ridley and 41 yards to tight end O.J. Howard, respectively. The former set up Henry’s 1-yard touchdown, with the latter leading to kicker Adam Griffith’s 47-yard field goal.
Up until the first touchdown, the deepest penetration was Alabama reaching the Spartans’ 45-yard line.
The teams combined for eight punts through the first two quarters. The Spartans took it inside the Alabama 45 only once in six possessions, with that trip reaching the red zone before an interception.
Cook had Michigan State in position to score in the final seconds of the half, but he was picked off by Jones at the goal line.
