MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Ever since Nick Saban took over at Alabama, a championship-level defense has been on the field for the Crimson Tide. The specifics of the scheme have evolved over the years as personnel and offensive styles have changed and evolved, but a Saban-coached defense has, and will always, be a group that's expected to compete and succeed at the highest levels of college football.
On Saturday night at the 2018 Orange Bowl semifinal, that defense was bailed out by arguably the best offense in Alabama history and definitely the best offense since Saban arrived.
While Quinnen Williams was a physical force up front early on and Xavier McKinney took home defensive MVP honors for his play against Oklahoma's wide receivers, the Tide defense was not free from fatigue that comes with trying to defend Kyler Murray and the Sooners offense for four quarters. As the game wore on a hot and muggy night in Hard Rock Stadium, it became harder for Alabama's defenders to chase Murray around the field.
Suddenly, a 28-0 game that looked like it was going to be blowout started to level. No. 4 Oklahoma put together a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive and a 10-play, 41-yard field goal drive before halftime to finally put some points on the board. In the third quarter, No. 1 Alabama really started to look gassed, and Oklahoma scored touchdowns on each of its final three possessions of the game to fall short in the 45-34 loss. By the time the game was over, the Sooners had scored on all six of its final non-garbage time possessions and the two drives that ended in field goals looked like wins for the defense.
"We just had to contain their high-powered offense," Alabama safety Deionte Thompson told CBS Sports. "They can score a lot of points; we just had to slow them down. I thought in the first half we did a pretty good job of that. In the second half, they played well but we got stops when we needed it."
By the end of the game, Oklahoma had its yards and points. The Sooners rolled up 471 total yards of offense and 6.8 yards per play -- about 100 yards per game and 2 yards per play short of their nation-leading average but more than 200 yards per game and 2 yards per play more than Alabama's top-10 defense had allowed all year -- and still fell short.
That's mostly because there was no answer for Alabama's offense.
"Our offense played a lights-out game," Thompson added. "They came out and competed at a very high level, and I'm thankful."
By never turning the ball over, Alabama never gave Oklahoma a chance to steal a possession. By continuing to push the ball down the field and score touchdowns, the Tide were able to keep the Sooners at arms' length while burning clock with its rushing attack. Josh Jacobs, Damien Harris and Najee Harris combined for 191 rushing yards at 5.6 yards per attempt with Jacobs adding four receptions out of the backfield and one of the most violent touchdowns we've seen in the postseason.
"I was actually surprised I was that open," Jacobs said after the game. "Initially, when I caught the ball, when I seen it was just one defender to beat, I tried to beat him any kind of way I could, and it just happened to be running him over."
Devonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy were excellent as well in the passing game, but none of it -- the 528 yards of offense, the four straight touchdowns to start the game -- comes about for Alabama if not for the efforts of Tua Tagovailoa.
All week we were sold a bill of goods suggesting that the star quarterback might be limited because of an ankle injury that required minor surgery to get him ready for the playoffs, but the showing on Saturday night suggested full health and showcased a level of execution that hadn't been matched since October. Tagovailoa said he was 80-85 percent during the week, so no one expected him to nearly complete 89 percent of his passes when he took the field against the Sooners.
Tagovailoa completed 25-of-27 attempts for 318 yards passing and four touchdowns with no interceptions, scrambled for extra yards when plays broke down and got back up with a spring in his step after he was tackled. It was perhaps one of the best performances, especially considering the stage, that we'll see from Tagovailoa during his star-studded career at Alabama, and the Tide needed every bit of it in order to beat Oklahoma and advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship. All the Sooners needed was one turnover to close the gap, just one stolen possession to finish the furious comeback in the closing moments and stun the defending champs.
Now, this is not to say the offense was perfect. Saban was sure to point out they "stopped themselves" a few times, noting procedural penalties on offense and other miscues that contributed to less effective production during the second half. But the key to Alabama's offense saving the game was its ability to respond. When Oklahoma first cut the lead to 11 at 31-20, Tagovailoa led an 87-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock and ended in a touchdown pass to Smith. Then Oklahoma cut it to 11 again at 38-27 midway through the fourth quarter, bringing the Sooners fans to their feet and electrifying the sideline. But after a failed onside kick, it was Tagovailoa that put the dagger in with a touchdown pass to Jeudy.
At the risk of disrespecting the many elite offensive talents that have come through Alabama, it's worth considering that had any other Tide offense besides the 2018 unit been on the field, we may not be looking ahead to Alabama-Clemson IV next Monday.
Alabama needed a nearly flawless offensive performance to hold off a historically great Oklahoma offense, and it's lucky it had a historically great offense itself that was clearly up to the challenge in the Orange Bowl.
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