On January 11, number one ranked Alabama faced number three ranked team Ohio State in the National College Football Championship in Miami Gardens, Florida. The outcome of the game was the Crimson Tide taking control early and beating The Ohio State Buckeyes 52-24. This decisive win proved Alabama’s dominance, and set a record for the most points ever scored by an Alabama team in a national championship game. 

There were many doubts about the college football season at its start in the fall, with major conferences such as the Big Ten and the Pac-12 postponing their seasons due to COVID-19 and the other major conferences having to make major changes to their seasons in order to adapt to COVID-19 regulations. The fact that the colleges and conferences were able to pull off a semi-normal season is shocking. Not everything went smoothly as demonstrated by the Ohio State season. In their Big Ten championship game, 22 of their players were absent due to COVID-19 and quarantine procedures. Head coaches Nick Saban and Ryan Day of both Alabama and Ohio State respectively were not able to attend games for their own teams because they contracted the virus. 

Despite COVID-19 setbacks, the season went on, and the national championship was able to occur. Alabama went into the game with a 12-0 record, and landed their spot in the championship game after beating Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State went into the game with a 7-0 record and a big win against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl brought them into the championship. In the championship game, Ohio State faced some setbacks, such as starting running back Trey Sermon leaving the game early because of an injury, along with many players being absent from the game due to contracting COVID-19. Despite this, the score more so reflected Alabama’s superiority as a team. Quarterback Mac Jones, wide receiver and Heisman Trophy winner Devonta Smith, and running back Najee Harris carried the Alabama offense, and allowed the team to keep scoring. Alabama finished out the season averaging 48.5 points per game, the most in SEC history. 

In his post game press conference Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said, “Tough night. Tough night. I’m proud of our team, proud of the seniors, proud of the year that we’ve had. But it was a tough night.”

Remarking on the win in his post-game press conference, which also marked Saban’s 6th national championship at Alabama he said, “Well, I’m just so proud of our team for what they’ve accomplished all season long, the adversity they had to overcome, the togetherness that they have as a group, the way they’ve supported one another. To go undefeated, win 11 SEC games, win the national championship, beat two fine teams in Notre Dame and Ohio State, tell you how proud I am of that.”