Alabama won its second college football playoff championship in overtime on early Tuesday morning. Nick Saban made a switch at quarterback at halftime, subbing in Tua Tagovailoa, a freshman quarterback from Hawaii, in for Jalen Hurts because of a poor offensive first half. Tagovailoa lit it up in the second half, and delivered the game-winning 41 yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith in overtime. Tagovailoa was 14/24 for 166 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception passing, and rushed for 27 yards on 12 carries. Many people were stunned when Saban put Tagovailoa in the game, but it proved to be the winning move. “I don’t know how Coach Saban found me all the way in Hawaii from Alabama,” Tagovailoa said. “Thank God he found me and we’re here right now.” Jalen Hurts handled being benched with class, and was probably Tagovailoa’s biggest cheerleader. “It’s a great feeling, man,” Hurts said. “The greatest feeling I ever felt. We came out slow and [he] made the change. It’s probably what was best for the team. We won. We’re national champs. You can’t wish for anything more than that.”

For Nick Saban, it was his sixth title as a coach, tying Bear Bryant for the most ever in the AP poll era. Saban smiled after the game, which is a rarity for him, and praised his players. “Was that a good game or what!” Saban exclaimed. “The resilience of our team to come back in the second half , Tua did a great job, defense picked it up, to overcome missing a field goal and win the game in overtime. It was a great football game.” When asked how he felt about the win, he said, “This is a great win for our players, and I’ve never been happier in my life.” For Saban, he already has a huge dilemma to be settled this spring: who will be the starting quarterback?

Georgia led 13-0 at halftime, and looked to be in command, but Alabama came back and scored 26 second half points to win 26-23. Georgia has a bright future at quarterback with Jake Fromm, but are losing superstar running backs Sony Michel and Nick Chubb as they enter the draft. Since the season is over, here is my mock draft for the first round draft picks. The teams for picks 1-24 have been set, but teams for picks 25-32 can change.

1. Cleveland: Sam Darnold, QB, USC
2. NY Giants: Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA
3. Indianapolis: Connor Williams, OT, Texas
4. Cleveland(via Houston): Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State
5. Denver: Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma
6. NY Jets: Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia
7. Tampa Bay: Bradley Chubb, DE, NC State
8. Chicago: Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU
9. San Francisco: Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame
10. Oakland: Derwin James, S, Florida State
11. Miami: Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma
12. Cincinnati: Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB, Alabama
13. Washington: Taven Bryan, DT, Florida
14. Green Bay: Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson
15. Arizona: Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
16. Baltimore: Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
17. LA Chargers: Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma State
18. Seattle: Kolton Miller, OT, UCLA
19. Dallas: Calvin Ridley, WR Dallas
20. Detroit: Joshua Jackson, CB, Iowa
21. Buffalo: Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming
22. Buffalo (via Kansas City): Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA
23. LA Rams: Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State
24. Carolina: James Washington, WR, Oklahoma State
25. Tennessee: Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan
26. New Orleans: Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, OLB, Oklahoma
27. Pittsburgh: Vita Vea, DT, Washington
28. Philadelphia: Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia
29. Atlanta: Da’Ron Payne, DT, Alabama
30. Jacksonville: Luke Falk, QB, Washington
31. New England: Derrius Guice, RB, LSU
32. Minnesota: Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech

Written on January 9, 2018

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