Not Quite Deja Vu, But Alabama Dominating Notre Dame Sure Looked Familiar

The pregame message from Brian Kelly to his Notre Dame team was prove you belong in this game.

Well, at least the Irish had a little more fight in them compared to the last time they ran into Alabama.

Notre Dame was probably the fourth best team in the nation when the College Football Playoff selection committee slotted the semifinals, although that debate will likely continue for some time.

Yet what was true back during the 2012 season has remained the same: It didn't belong on the same field as Alabama.

Few teams do against Nick Saban, but this is the kind of program that likes to claim it's at a different level.

"Great team win," Saban said after the 31-14 victory in the Rose Bowl. "These guys have really deserved the chance to play for the national championship."

From the opening kickoff, when Josh Jobe drilled the returner and forced a fumble, throughout the afternoon, there was little doubt about which team would be advancing to the National Championship Game.

Ironically, it'll be played on the same field where Alabama last obliterated Notre Dame, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Sun Life Stadium is now Hard Rock Stadium, but for a while this "rematch" eight years later did more that bring back some flashbacks.

Instead of AJ McCarron (264 passing yards), it was Mac Jones (297) notching four touchdown passes.

The Fighting Irish couldn't stop Amari Cooper (six catches, 105 yards, two touchdowns), and it never really had an answer for DeVonta Smith (seven, 130 and three TDs) en route to being named the offensive MVP.

In January 2013, Eddie Lacy (140 rushing yards) ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated after displaying his jaw-dropping spin move.

This time, Najee Harris (125) wowed everyone with his spectacular hurdle, which was a very early entry for play of the year.

THIS NAJEE HARRIS HURDLE 😱 #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/3qiYJq9wPi
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2021

"I don’t know why I’m surprised every time he does it," senior tight end Miller Forristall said. "I’ve seen it for three years, but still, geez.”

“I actually try to teach him not to do it, and it didn’t work,” Saban said with a laugh.

In both postseason games, Alabama scored touchdowns on each of its first three offensive possessions and that was essentially it for the Fighting Irish.

This time, Notre Dame had a top 20 defense statistically, yet early on Alabama was averaging 14.4 yards per play, and even more per run. Out of the Crimson Tide's first 18 snaps, 13 resulted in a first down.

Notre Dame? It won the toss and had a great couple of punts from Jay Bramblett, who hails from Tuscaloosa. An eight-minute touchdown drive helped the Fighting Irish play keep-away in the second quarter, but similar to the previous meeting one had the feeling Alabama could pick the score.

On the Crimson Tide's first possession it needed just two plays, passes to Forristall and Harris to cross midfield. Five plays later, with nearly everyone else but Heisman Trophy favorite Smith having touched the ball, the wide receiver finally did while scoring a 26-yard touchdown.

The Crimson Tide made it look easy too, and not just because of the nice block by wide receiver John Metchie III on the touchdown.

The second possession was highlighted by Harris's hurdle, during his career-best 53-yard carry. It set up a 12-yard touchdown to tight end Jaheel Billingsley.

No. 1 Alabama (12-0) subsequently answered Notre Dame's scoring drive with a 34-yard catch, run and hard land on his rear in the end zone by Smith.

Granted, the Crimson Tide didn't get to 42-14 like the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. It didn't score the first 35 points, and its record streak of scoring at least 35 points was snapped at 24 games.

But Alabama has another game to play, and had to leave a little something in the tank.

"We kind of protected the lead a little bit," Jones said.

Otherwise we're basically down to the minor technicalities: The site of the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl Game moved to A&T Stadium in Dallas due to coronavirus crowd regulations in California.

The Notre Dame helmets were a brighter gold, too.

Everything about it seemed familiar in some way, even some of the defensive hits.

No one should have been surprised by the outcome, though.

Even the intangibles seemed to be in the Crimson Tide's favor, playing in a stadium it had never lost.

Notre Dame came in 0-6 on New Year's Day bowls and BCS games since 2000, having been outscored by 144 points.

In contrast, Alabama had won six straight College Football Playoff semifinal games.

Make that seven.

As the song says, by Wayne Cochran and made popular by the Blues Brothers, we're going back to Miami.