In College Football’s first semifinal, #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC) and #4 Cincinnati Bearcats (American) made the 2021 Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Nick Saban’s team defense dominated the – until then – unbeaten Bearcats and Bama won with a lot of tranquility by 27 to 6 and will defend the title in Indianapolis against Georgia on January 10th.
Heisman winner Bryce Young had a safe start with 181 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Brian Robinson Jr was the name of the game with 24 carries for 204 yards, the longest run of 23. In the receiving group, which does not include John Metchie III out of season, was Jacorey Brooks (four receptions, 66 yards and a touchdown) and Jameson Williams (seven receptions, 62 yards) with top guns. Slade Bolden and tight end Cameron Latu also entered the end zone.
On defense, Brian Branch led the unit in tackles with six and still had 0.5 sacks. Jordan Battle finished with five tackles, Will Anderson Jr had two sacks, and DJ Dale and Dallas Turner also tallied a sack in the game.
The Bearcats couldn’t have their big offensive volume and Desmond Ridder completed 17 passes for 144. Jerome Ford led the team with 15 carries for 77 yards. Michael Young Jr caught four catches for 55 yards.
The Crimson Tide started the Cotton Bowl by dominating the trenches with Brian Robinson Jr and Jameson Williams. Nick Saban’s team made long runs by relying on advances of more than five yards to move the chains. In the end, Bryce Young completed an eight-yard pass to Slade Bolden to open the scoring in Texas, 7-0.
Desmond Ridder showed arm strength to get the Bearcats offense quickly into Alabama’s red zone with two straight passes for 15+ yards. The first 19 to Michael Young Jr to the 31 line and then on a second down a 22 torpedo to Tyler Scott at the 9 line. But in the final yards of the field, the Crimson Tide secondary provided perfect cover. Entitled to a third-down tackle for a six-yard loss by Leonard Taylor, Cincinnati walked out of bounds with three points with a 33-yard shot to Cole Smith, 7-3.
Alabama started the new campaign by converting two long third downs to keep the offense in the field. First Bryce Young hit a 16-yard pass to Bolden, then Robinson Jr had good blocks to advance also 16 yards to the 37-yard line of attack. In another long third down situation, Young found Jameson Williams, the wide receiver was two yards from first down and the defending champions went to fourth down and Robinson was able to move the chains once more.
The Crimson Tide running back appeared with another great 15-yard run putting the offense on the 10-yard line. But Cincinnati’s defense forced the sack with Darrian Beavers and Bama went out of bounds with the three-pointer, 26-yard quiet shot for Will. Reichard, 10 to 3.
Desmond Ridder suffered a sack by DJ Dale for a nine-yard loss on own field and quickly returned the ball to the Alabama team. In the next two attacks, the offensive units were unable to advance into the field. The Crimson Tide had a chance to extend their lead, but this time, in a nearly five-minute long campaign, Will Reichard missed the shot for 44 yards.
In another Bearcats three and out, Mason Fletcher went for the punt, JoJo Earle returned to the 12-yard line, but Jameson Williams forced and recovered the fumble. However, Jaylen Moddy committed an unsportsmanlike conduct and the Crimson Tide started with their backs against the wall at the six-yard line.
But Alabama moved the chains quickly with a great 23-yard run to Brian Robinson Jr putting the offense on the 42-yard line. Bryce Young hit a 14-yard pass to rookie Ja’Corey Brooks moving the chains. On the 44th line of attacking field, the Heisman winner dropped a 44-yard bomb again for the rookie to open 17-3 at the end of the first half of the first semi-final of College Football 2021.
Cincinnati started with the ball in the third quarter. Desmond Ridder advanced well on the field to the Alabama red zone with a good sequence of passes for Tyler Scott and Alec Pierce, but the defending champions once again held back one of the best attacks in the country and Cole Smith put another ball in the middle of the field. Y with a 37-yard shot, 17-6.
The game caught fire after Bryce Young sent an overthrow to midfield and was easily intercepted by Bryan Cook. But the Bearcats didn’t take advantage of the turnover, because the Alabama defense got the fourth sack on Ridder in the match, this one for a 10-yard loss.
Alabama set foot in Lucas Oil Stadium two weeks from now at the start of the final quarter. Bryce Young recovered from the interception and managed to get his offense out of the hole with a beautiful 20-yard pass to Jameson Williams. Before the end of the third quarter, Brian Robinson Jr, who has been dominating the trenches, scored an 11-yard run for the first down. Jameson Williams was targeted in another important big play, the wide receiver suffered an unsportsmanlike conduct putting Bama’s offense in the red zone. In the end, tight end Cameron Latu caught a nine-yard pass after a cut to the right putting 24-6 in the Coton Bowl.
Needing to score to stay alive, Cincinnati made it all the way to the 22-yard line, but Desmond Ridder ate grass for the fifth time on fourth down and the Bearcats were turned on downs. Abusing the land game, Alabama spent more than four minutes on the clock and left the field with another field goal conversion to Will Reichard, 43 yards, 27-6. The American Conference team suffered another turnover on downs and ended the semifinals. of College Football without any trips to the end zone.
