GENERAL NOTES
GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama captains for the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One were Landon Dickerson, Mac Jones, Alex Leatherwood and DeVonta Smith. Leatherwood went to midfield for the coin toss.
12-WIN CLUB: With Alabama’s win over Notre Dame today, the Crimson Tide has reached the 12-win mark for the 10th time in the last 13 seasons (2008, 12; 2009, 14; 2011, 12; 2012, 13; 2014, 12; 2015, 14, 2016, 14; 2017, 13; 2018, 14; 2020 12).
ALABAMA IN THE ROSE BOWL: Alabama has now played in a total of seven Rose Bowl matchups, holding a 5-1-1 mark in those games.
UA RANKS IN THE ROSE BOWL RECORDS: Alabama’s 97-yard scoring drive in the second quarter is the second-longest in Rose Bowl history. The current record of 99 yards was set by Washington State vs. Michigan in 1998.
BEATING THE BEST: The Crimson Tide is 65-17 (.793) against the Associated Press Top 25 since the start of 2008. Alabama is 5-0 against the Top 25 this season with a 41-24 win over then-No. 3 Georgia on Oct. 17; a 52-24 win over then-No. 13 Texas A&M on Oct. 3; a 42-13 victory in the Iron Bowl against then-No. 22 Auburn; a 52-46 win over then-No. 11 Florida in the SEC Championship Game; and most recently today’s 31-14 victory over No. 4 Notre Dame in the CFP Semifinal.
SABAN vs. AP TOP 25: The Crimson Tide’s 31-14 win over No. 4 Notre Dame in the CFP Semifinal was Nick Saban’s 89th career win and 66th at Alabama vs. the Associated Press Top 25.
149-8 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: Under head coach Nick Saban, Alabama is 149-8 (.949) when leading at the half. The Crimson Tide has held the lead in 66 of its last 84 games dating back to the start of the 2015 season. UA is also 133-4 (.971) when leading by seven or more points at the break during the Saban era.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
28-OR-MORE IN 25 STRAIGHT: Alabama is the current FBS leader for scoring at least 28 points in consecutive games with 25. What’s more impressive over that streak is the fact that Alabama has produced 35-or-more points in the 24 games before today.
OPENING DRIVE TOUCHDOWNS: Wide receiver DeVonta Smith scored a 26-yard touchdown on Alabama’s opening drive of today’s matchup with No. 4 Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide has won 39 straight games when scoring a touchdown on the first offensive possession of the game. The Tide’s last loss after finding the end zone on its first drive was to the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2014 Allstate Sugar Bowl.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: Alabama extended its school record for consecutive games with a score to 267 thanks to wide receiver DeVonta Smith’s 26-yard receiving touchdown on the Crimson Tide’s opening drive against No. 4 Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide was last held off the scoreboard in a 9-0 loss to Auburn on Nov. 18, 2000. Alabama has a 212-55 (.794) record over the course of the current streak.
FIRST QUARTER SCORING: With a 14-0 advantage after the opening 15:00, Alabama has now outscored its opponents 146-37 (+109) in the first quarter this season.
BALL PROTECTION: In the last 179 games dating to the start of the 2008 season, Alabama has turned the ball over only 193 times (106 fumbles, 87 interceptions) for 1.08 turnovers per game. Since 2009, the Tide has turned the ball over only 175 times in 165 games (1.06/game). That number since 2009 includes 69 interceptions in 4,231 attempts (1 INT every 61.3 attempts) by UA starting quarterbacks and 30 fumbles in 4,316 carries (one fumble lost every 143.9 carries) by the Tide’s top two running backs.
LEAP GOES LONG: On his third carry of the game, running back Najee Harris ran and leaped over a defender for a career best 53-yard long rush. His previous high was 42 yards against Kentucky earlier this season.
SMITTY AND NAJ KEEP ROLLING: The Alabama offense has been nearly unstoppable all season and a big part of that is the play of seniors DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris. Smith has been the Tide’s leading receiver with 105 catches, 20 of which have gone for a touchdown, and added one rushing score. Harris has paced the UA rushers with 229 carries and totaled 24 rushing touchdowns while adding 36 receptions and three receiving scores. The seniors have combined for 48 offensive touchdowns heading into the College Football Playoff Championship Game.
HARRIS OVER 100, AGAIN: Najee Harris totaled 125 rushing yards against Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1 for the 13th 100-plus yard rushing game of his career and his sixth this season. The 13 100-yard rushing games passes Mark Ingram (2008-10), Kenneth Darby (2003-06) and Sherman Williams (1991-94) for fourth all-time on the career 100-yard rushing performances list at UA. The Alabama career record for 100-plus yard games is 16 by Derrick Henry (2013-15).
DOUBLE TROUBLE: DeVonta Smith now has 20 receiving touchdowns, making Alabama the first team in FBS history to have a player with 20 receiving touchdowns (Smith), along with 20 rushing scores from Najee Harris in a single season.
SMITTY OVER 100 AGAIN: DeVonta Smith finished the first half of the CFP Semifinal matchup with Notre Dame by totaling 101 receiving yards to go over the 100-yard marker for the eighth time this season. He finished with 130 yards by game’s end. Those eight 100-plus yard performances give him 13 for his career as he entered his senior campaign with five in hand. Smith totaled two in 2018 and followed that up with three as a junior a season ago. His 13 100-plus yard performances ties DJ Hall (2004-07) for the second-most in Alabama history.
JONES SETS SINGLE-SEASON PASSING YARD RECORD: With 4,036 passing yards this season, Mac Jones moved into the top spot on the UA single-season passing yards list. Jones passed Tua Tagovailoa, who had been No. 1 with 3,966 yards in 2018. Jones is just the fifth quarterback in school history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season and is the first to go over 4,000 yards.
MAC MAKING HIS MARK: Signal caller Mac Jones threw for four touchdown passes against Notre Dame to total 36 touchdowns through the air this season. Jones’ 36 touchdowns rank as the second-most in a single season in program history. Only Tua Tagovailoa has thrown more touchdowns for Alabama in a single season with 43 in 2018.
JONES FIRST HALF PASSING: In the first half alone, Jones started today’s game 14-of-16 with 182 yards and a trio of touchdowns and finished 25-of-30 with 297 yards and four touchdowns.
3.6K for DEVONTA PUTS HIM NINE YARDS OFF SEC MARK: Senior DeVonta Smith has totaled 3,750 receiving yards in his Crimson Tide career. That total not only ranks atop the Alabama records but ranks second overall in SEC history. Smith’s 130 yards against Notre Dame puts him within nine yards of tying Vanderbilt’s Jordan Matthews (2010-13) who had 3,759 yards for the all-time conference record.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS: Alabama’s defense forced a turnover in the Crimson Tide’s win over No. 4 Notre Dame in the 2020 Rose Bowl Game on Jan. 1 after Christian Harris grabbed a third-quarter interception. With the turnover in Dallas, the Crimson Tide has forced at least one turnover in 78 of the last 84 contests dating back to the start of the 2015 season, including 11 of 12 matchups during the 2020 campaign. During the current run, Alabama has forced 142 turnovers (91 interceptions, 51 fumbles) and returned 29 of those miscues for touchdowns.
CAREER FIRST FOR CHRISTIAN: Linebacker Christian Harris caught his first career interception during the third quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS
FOURTEEN IN A ROW FOR REICHARD: Dating back to last season, placekicker Will Reichard has made 14 straight field goals, including all 13 attempts in 2020. The streak of 14 straight is tied with Jake Oldroyd of BYU for the longest active consecutive made field goals streak in Division I.
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