NCAA Football Championship Recap

Calvin Yocum

Football has always been the sport that has excited the American public the most. The clashing hits and crazy catches have millions watching on the edge of their seats. On January 8th, 2018, Alabama and Georgia met to excite the public for the final time in this crazy college football season.

All year long, no one knew who exactly would end up in the college football playoff. Teams were getting upset, others were pulling off upsets, and even the football experts had no clue as to who would make it to the postseason. In the end, in chaotic and controversial fashion, the 4 teams that made it to the playoffs were Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Oklahoma. Many thought that Ohio State should have made the cut rather than Alabama, but the odds were in Alabama’s favor once again.

Alabama played Clemson, and won comfortably with a score of 24-6. In the other game, Georgia beat Oklahoma in an absolute nail biter. In the highest scoring Rose Bowl of all time, Georgia beat Oklahoma 54-48. Georgia and Alabama would meet in the championship to settle who the best football team of the season truly was.

The game started with some excitement, with an interception by the Alabama defense, but the first quarter remained scoreless. Alabama was having trouble getting anything going on offense, but Georgia couldn’t get a scoring drive together either.

The second quarter was a different story for Georgia, as they put on a defensive show. They held Alabama to under 100 total yards in the entire first half, and put up a solid 13 points for themselves. The Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship made two field goals to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead before Mecole Hardman ran a one yard touchdown to seal the score at 13-0. At the half, the Bulldogs were looking like a championship team, while Alabama was still trying to get themselves going.

Trying to find a spark to gain some ground on the Bulldogs, Alabama put in their backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, a true freshman. On their second drive, Tagovailoa threw a six yard touchdown pass to Ruggs, putting the Crimson Tides first points on the board. On the next drive, the Bulldogs came down and scored right back, making the score 20-7. Alabama then came down and made a field goal to make the score 20-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Alabama defense put up a great performance in the fourth quarter, holding the Bulldogs at 20 points. With another touchdown and a field goal, the Tide had pulled the score even and sent the game into overtime. In OT, the Bulldogs drove down and made another field goal to go up by three. With their final drive, Alabama was looking for the touchdown to end the game. On the first play of the drive, Tagovailoa was sacked for a massive 16 yard loss, a huge setback. But on the very next play, he found teammate DeVonta Smith down the field for a 41 yard game winning touchdown. Tua Tagovailoa won the offensive player of the game, and his teammate Da’Ron Payne won the defensive player of the game. After an exciting season, we will see if the Alabama dynasty can be stopped in the coming years.