Ohio State Blown Out by Alabama, 52-24, in National Championship Game

There was no storybook ending for Ohio State in Monday night’s 
national championship game.

The Buckeyes’ defense was overmatched by Alabama’s offense, 
Justin Fields and Ohio State’s offense weren’t able to get going 
the same way they did against Clemson and the Crimson Tide 
rolled to a 52-24 victory, leaving the Buckeyes to cope with the 
heartbreak of coming up just one game short of their 
championship dreams.

The game got off to a bad start for Ohio State right out of the 
gates as the Buckeyes went 3-and-out on their opening 
possession. Making matters worse, starting running back Trey 
Sermon suffered an apparent shoulder injury on his first carry 
of the game and would not return, ultimately going to a nearby 
hospital for treatment.

Alabama proceeded to drive 78 yards for a touchdown on its 
opening possession. The Buckeyes managed to force 4th-and-goal, 
but the Crimson Tide opted to go for it from one yard out and 
Najee Harris powered the ball into the end zone for the game’s 
first points.

Ohio State responded with its first touchdown of the game on its 
second possession. Justin Fields completed a 20-yard pass to 
Chris Olave to get the Buckeyes past midfield for the first 
time, then completed a 36-yard pass to Jeremy Ruckert to get 
Ohio State inside the 10-yard line. Master Teague capped off the 
drive with a 7-yard run into the end zone.

Alabama went right back down the field for another touchdown on 
its second drive, which DeVonta Smith started with a 32-yard 
catch and ended by going into the end zone untouched by a 5-yard 
score.

Ohio State was forced to punt again on its third possession, but 
Baron Browning gave the Buckeyes a much-needed boost of momentum 
by forcing a Mac Jones fumble and recovering it himself at the 
19-yard line. The Buckeyes took advantage of the short field 
with Teague running for a 4-yard touchdown to tie the game.

From there, though, the game really started to get away from 
Ohio State.

Alabama scored its third touchdown on its fourth possession of 
the game as Harris went for a 26-yard touchdown after catching a 
pass on a wheel route of the backfield.

A 28-yard run by Fields and a 29-yard run by Teague got Ohio 
State back into the red zone on its next possession, and a 
targeting penalty against Alabama safety Jordan Battle brought 
the Buckeyes inside the 10-yard line. But they were forced to 
settle for a field goal attempt, which Jake Seibert – kicking in 
place of Blake Haubeil, who was unavailable due to COVID-19 – 
made from 23 yards out.

That enabled Alabama to extend its lead to two scores as the 
Crimson Tide drove right back down the field, with Smith burning 
Shaun Wade for a 44-yard catch and following that up with a 5-
yard touchdown catch to make it 28-17 with 3:19 to play in the 
second quarter.

Ohio State went 3-and-out again on its next possession, and 
Alabama took advantage again as Smith caught a 42-yard touchdown 
pass to extend the lead to 35-17 before halftime.

Smith caught 12 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the 
first half alone, while Mac Jones had 25 pass completions on 30 
attempts for 342 yards and four touchdowns before halftime.

Smith checked out of the game on Alabama’s opening possession of 
the second half after suffering an apparent finger injury, but 
the Crimson Tide still drove down the field on the Buckeyes 
again, getting all the way to Ohio State’s 2-yard line – 
bleeding out nearly half of the third-quarter clock in the 
process – before settling for a 20-yard Will Reichard field goal.

Ohio State quickly drove down the field for a touchdown on its 
first possession of the third quarter, as Fields followed up a 
33-yard run by throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Garrett 
Wilson. But the Crimson Tide built the lead right back to 21 
points with another touchdown drive, capped by a 5-yard pass 
from Jones to Slade Bolden.

After Teague was stopped on 4th-and-1 in Ohio State territory on 
the Buckeyes’ next series, Alabama took advantage of the short 
field and extended its lead to four touchdowns, with Harris 
running into the end zone from one yard out for his second score 
of the night.

Ohio State drove back inside the 10-yard line on its subsequent 
series, but finished without points after two near-touchdown 
catches by Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Chris Olave were ruled 
incomplete and Fields’ 4th-and-goal pass intended for Julian 
Fleming fell incomplete.

Monday night’s loss was Ohio State’s first loss in a College 
Football Playoff national championship game and its first loss 
in any national championship game since the 2007 season, when 
the Buckeyes suffered a 38-24 loss to LSU in the BCS National 
Championship Game.

Ohio State finishes the 2020 season with a 7-1 record after 
playing just five regular-season games due to the COVID-19 
pandemic.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2021-college-
football-playoff-championship/2021/01/120476/ohio-state-blown-
out-by-alabama-52-24-in-national-championship-game