Great game and a fantastic move to swap quarterbacks. Hurts is a tremendous player with one weakness which Auburn and Georgia were able to exploit. He has the accuracy to make the throws, but for some reason doesn't have the confidence to throw into coverage, even single man coverage. Caution is a good thing when you play on a great team, but last night they needed to gamble and Saban made a big bet. I still think Hurts can develop as a passer, but it looks like he'll need to do it in a rotation from now on if one or the other doesn't transfer. I think Georgia is going to have the bigger issue as there is no value in rotating Eason and Fromm. Georgia definitely looks like they'll be around for awhile, but the two big backs are moving on. No matter which quarterback continues, I'm pretty confident they'll develop into even better players going forward.

I was surprised at how things turned out. I honestly thought there was a better chance that both Bama and Georgia would lose last weekend than that either or both would even be in the championship game. Georgia was better than I thought they were, and I expected Clemson to be much more formidable than they were. Next year should be interesting with Georgia and Alabama trying to figure out which good QB to move forward with, Clemson and Penn State having their QBs come back with more seasoning, and Oklahoma and Ohio State transitioning to new QBs.

    For starters... let's discount the notion that Kirby Smart and his team "choked." They did everything they needed to do to win the game. And although it's very difficult to find yourself in a national championship game, it's also worth noting that Georgia has recruited well and will (imo) be contenders in the coming years. Fromm is just a freshman, had a great game and will only get better in the next few years. Georgia isn't done by a long shot.

    All of that said... Saban showed why he should be considered the best college head coach in college football history. He has a feel for the game, as was reinforced by his decision to put in a relative unknown backup in to secure his 5th national title game last night. Gutsy.... unafraid to take chances... knows his players... knows the situation... and is willing to take the blame for those type of gambles.

    He's won 5 national championships in 10 seasons at Alabama. During those 10 seasons he's amassed 118 wins versus only 19 losses, which equals an astounding .861 winning percentage.

    All credit to Saban for pulling out his 5th national championship, for understanding the situation he was in, for making such an extreme decision to put in a freshman QB after realizing his starting QB wasn't producing for his team. As in all of these situations as a head coach - you are resigned to either be the goat or the difference maker.

    Nick Saban was the difference maker last night.

    Congrats to Bama for a great win.

    And congrats to the selection committee might also be in order. They knew Bama was one of the top 4 teams in college football and deserved to be included in the playoffs. Solid team, only one loss on the season, and great head coach running the program.

    It was a great game. And thanks to college football this season for providing a lot of quality entertainment. I'd argue that college football has been more entertaining than professional football.

      johnnydoom Hurts is a tremendous player

      Admittedly I didn't watch all of their games, but I observed that Hurts' greatest strength was that he can run, and that means he might run, and that means he's not throwing against defenses designed to stop the pass. I do not recall many plays where he threw great passes.

      I trust Saban to make the call, but it'd be very hard for me to think that the freshman isn't the way to go. Alabama with a genuinely skilled passer should terrify the rest of D1 Football. Hurts was good enough to succeed with a wealth of other advantages (great defense, great o line, great running game, compromised opposing defenses) and had great composure throughout, but never seemed like he really wanted to throw the ball very much.

      • ode replied to this.

          ZWExton I could see an early hook for Jalen next year if he is the starter....could also see a QB rotation, as the freshman although he can run, it's clearly not his forte.

            Well, after some super exciting semi games I thought last night's game was a bit of a disappointment. I actually thought it was a bit on the boring side. So after staying up way too late watching the game I feel like chit. Bummer. 😩

              swinnea You're just cranky like the rest of us this morning.

              Probably so. At least I don't have to go to work. 😛

                One of the better college national championship games as I've ever watched, quite honestly.

                  PA-PLAYA
                  Totally agree!
                  This game had a little bit of everything,hardnose defense on both sides,Georgia dominated the first half,
                  Bama took over the second half.
                  You had blown calls by the refs for BOTH sides,(it seems like that always happens,just part of the game).
                  You had some spectacular plays by FRESHMAN (kids) just out of high school....how's that even possible?
                  And Jalen Hurts is one classy dude team player!
                  Nick Saban,like him or hate him knows how to build a championship winning team.

                  College football is in a good spot right now!
                  Just wish USC would get their chit together and play in one of these finals again!😎

                    PA-PLAYA I'd argue that college football has been more entertaining than professional football.

                    That's just like basketball. NCAA basketball is far more exciting than NBA basketball. The kids in college play with more heart than the pros.

                        Since I'm a Bama alumni '68, I gotta make a small post. SWMBO put me through the Jr & sr yrs there, which were unbelievably happy for us both. No money , living in dirt cheap married housing, which were relocated barracks from revolutionary war?😃 Nothing like now. God ,it was great. We could look out on the training field and see Bear's tower. Just up the street one of married team guys & wife lived. He drove a new Shelby Tang Cobra big block something the other. NCAA winked lots back then, I guess . Nameth , then Stabler were QBs then if I remember. Tuscaloosa was and still is great little college town. Football wasn't quite the money thing it's now but biggest thing on campus. Seems like we lost a couple of games post season ,maybe Nebraska or Penn State. Really can't remember many losses ...
                        My only have to win game is the Iron Bowl which , sniff, I'm still trying to get over. The team this year , with all the cliff hangers, is arguably to blame for our new heart problems. Wifey too, since she's a bigger Bama fan than me. We have had to double up on the BP meds pre-game and still spiking way high during game time , just like last night . I threatened to block out the last few games to protect our health, but know I didn't have that authority . We survived, as did , the team , but holy cow, just like this year's Rose Bowl, way much drama. Anything but boring , particularly if you're supporting one of the contestants . Folks got their money's worth IMO.
                        In spite of Bama's recent Championship wins it's great to see the parity through out the top level schools and would expect it very unlikely even NICK can keep up with his past success record. I wouldn't bet good money against him though.

                        ROLL TIDE y'all ! Yeeha !

                          Provisional Glad you made it through with your heart still intact! It was a good game. I wasn't rooting for either side as I am just an SEC fan in general (my team is the University of Memphis in the American Conference) and was glad the conference was going to have another championship.

                          I saw last night that Georgia QB Eason is transferring to Washington. I figured that either he or Fromm would need to leave.

                            puttnfool I'm definitely in the camp that prefers NCAA to professional in basketball. In football I used to be the opposite, but have morphed into a college fan over the years and am actually souring on the pro game with almost no interest this year at all.

                                johnnydoom
                                Our interest in pro FB follows teams with guys from Bama . So on offense we'll root for our ex Bama players and we'll switch to defense depending on who it is on that team. Doesn't work too well if there's two of our guys instrumental to a play on both sides. That said we almost always side with Saints since we live so near New Orleans . We like Breeze, of course , partly because we lived in Indiana when he was at Purdue. Not a NE fan, but will root for Hightower when he's playing . I was hoping Raiders and our Amari Cooper would do better this year . Pleased with how Julio Jones is doing this year.Lacey and Richardson , hope they can pick it up next year . Disappointed none of our QBs made it lately.

                                Nick builds teams, not individual super stars. Seems to mostly work although they'll aways be failure . When he talks about developing young men's life characteristics , it isn't just BS coach speak. It is what he views as a primary goal and fulfillment . I hope we can keep him at Bama. I wondered what would have happened , if Mazel had played for Sabin instead of A&M. Might have straightened him out back then, as he needed.