Just A Minute: Picking the Top 10 Crimson Tide Moments of 2021

Here's how good of a calendar year 2021 was for Alabama athletics.

It won two, yes two, Heisman trophies.

Look it up. At this point last year, Mark Ingram (2009) and Derrick Henry (2015) were the only two Heisman winners in Crimson Tide history. DeVonta Smith's win got pushed back by the delayed season, so he wasn't announced the winner until Jan. 5.

Remember, it came after Alabama thumped Notre Dame on Jan. 1 at AT&T Stadium.

Talk about a great way for the Crimson Tide to start a year.

Yes, 2021 also included a win in the Rose Bowl, albeit the only time the game was played in Texas.

With college football going back to a regular schedule in the fall, Bryce Young's Heisman victory became official in December, so it's now a great trivia question: What year did Alabama win two Heisman Trophies?

But here's how good the athletic program was in 2021:

Every sport minus one made the postseason tournament to determine the NCAA champions.

Nine different teams were ranked in the top-10 at one point in their season, and six finished in the top five.

The Crimson Tide captured one national championship and four SEC titles.

In comparison, a decade ago Alabama sports responded to the tornado by winning national titles in gymnastics (2011), football (2011, 2012), women's golf (2012), men's golf (2013, 2014), and softball (2012). But not all in the same calendar year.

The Crimson Tide also didn't have comparable success in other sports.

So was 2021 the best year of Alabama athletics? On paper, it's hard to argue.

Here are the top 10 moments:

Top 10 Crimson Tide Moments From 2021

"We're a championship school"

How good were Alabama sports over the calendar year? The SEC titles by the gymnastics and softball teams, and the NCAA individual titles by Lexi Graber and Luisa Blanco, and Mercy Chelangat in cross country, didn't make the list.

Any other year, they would have easily been in the top 10.

10] The Crimson Tide dominates the NFL draft

Alabama had a record-tying six selected in the first round, among the top 24 selections. Two more were drafted in the second round, and 10 overall. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who missed roughly half of the 2020 season with an injury, was the first Alabama player off the board at No. 6 overall.

6 Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins, WR

9 Patrick Surtain, Broncos, DB

10 DeVonta Smith, Eagles, WR

15 Mac Jones, Patriots, QB

17 Alex Leatherwood, Raiders, T

24 Najee Harris, Steelers, RB

37 Landon Dickerson, Eagles, C

38 Christian Barmore, Patriots, DT

9] The Terminator

Linebacker Will Anderson Jr. was named the 2021 recipient of the Nagurski Trophy as defensive player of the year as a sophomore.

Heading into the College Football Playoff, he led the nation both in sacks (15.5) and tackles for a loss (32.5), posting numbers that had only been topped in program history by Derrick Thomas.

One of his best games was against Mississippi State, when he had four sacks and the defense totaled seven sacks, nine tackles for losses and a defensive touchdown while keeping the Bulldogs out of the end zone.

8] Alabama basketball wins SEC title

Herbert Jones drove for a go-ahead layup with 19.5 seconds remaining and No. 6 Alabama won the SEC tournament for the first time since 1991, holding off a late flurry to edge LSU 80-79.

Trendon Watford scored 30 for LSU and Jaden Shackelford led Alabama with 21 points. Jones, both the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Alabama also won the SEC regular season title with a 16-2 record.

"So we don't have to be a football school or a basketball school," Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said. "We just win championships. We're a championship school."

7] Happy Birthday Montana Fouts

Softball ace Montana Fouts threw a 14-strikeout perfect game on her birthday to give Alabama a 6-0 win over UCLA and a spot in the 2021 Women's College World Series semifinal.

It wasn't able to reach the best-of-three finals, but the Crimson Tide finished third in the final polls.

The Crimson Tide also won the SEC Tournament, shutting out top-seeded Florida 4-0 in the championship game. Fouts set a tournament record with 39 strikeouts.

6] Alabama basketball reaches the Sweet 16

After matching its highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament, as the Crimson Tide was also No. 2 in both 1987 and 2002, Alabama beat Rick Pittino's Iona team and then sank 16 three-pointers to bomb Maryland out of the NCAA Tournament and advance to the Sweet 16.

Although Alabama led the nation in 3-pointers attempted and made during the season, it never got comfortable at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, finishing 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.

Alex Reese hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of regulation, UCLA ended Alabama's season 88-78 en route to reaching the Final Four.

5] Crimson Tide pummels Georgia in SEC Championship Game

Although No. 1 Georgia's defense was loaded, and had allowed seven touchdowns all season, Alabama rolled up 536 total yards. Paced by a 24-point second quarter, the Crimson Tide pounded the Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, 41-24.

Quarterback Bryce Young finished with 421 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, plus 40 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Wide receiver Jameson Williams finished with seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

"You guys gave us a lot of really positive rat poison," Nick Saban told the media during his postgame press conference. "The rat poison that you usually give us is usually fatal, but the rat poison that you put out there this week was yummy."

With the win, Alabama took over the top seeding for the College Football Playoff.

4] The soul-crushing catch

After the offense struggled through the first three quarters, Bryce Young led the Crimson Tide on a 97-yard drive in 95 seconds with his picturesque, 28-yard, back-shoulder lob to Ja’Corey Brooks for the game-tying touchdown to send the game at Auburn into overtime.

In the fourth extra frame, he connected with John Metchie III for game-winning points as Alabama pulled out a dramatic 24-22 victory in the first Iron Bowl decided in overtime.

The Crimson Tide had already won the SEC West, but kept alive its hopes for the national championship and Heisman Trophy for Young.

3] Bryce Young wins Heisman Trophy

Young became the first quarterback in Alabama history to win the Heisman, and the voting wasn't close over Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

Young collected 2,311 points in the voting. Hutchinson was a distant second with 954 points, followed by Pickett (631) and Stroud (399).

For the season, he had completed 314 of 462 passes (68 percent) for 4,322 yards, 43 touchdown passes and four interceptions, while rushing for three more scores.

2] Devonta Smith wins the Heisman Trophy

The senior became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991, and the first non-quarterback-or-running back to win the Heisman since cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.

Smith led the nation with 98 receptions and 1,511 receiving yards while his 17 touchdown catches and 137.4 receiving yards per game were both second.

Smith was also named the 2020 SEC Offensive Player of the Year while quarterback Mac Jones placed third in voting and running back Najee Harris fifth.

Alabama's incredible awards haul included:

Joe Moore Award (outstanding offensive line unit): Alabama

Paul Hornung Award (most versatile): DeVonta Smith

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (best four-year quarterback): Mac Jones

Rimington Award (best center): Landon Dickerson

Biletnikoff Award (best receiver): DeVonta Smith

Maxwell Award (most outstanding player): DeVonta Smith

Davey O'Brien Award (best quarterback): Mac Jones

Outland Trophy (best interior lineman): Alex Leatherwood

Doak Walker Award (running back): Najee Harris

Walter Camp Award (player of the year): DeVonta Smith

Associated Press Player of the Year: DeVonta Smith

Bear Bryant Coach of the Year: Nick Saban

Manning Award (quarterback of the year): Mac Jones

Frank Broyles Award (top assistant coach): Steve Sarkisian

1] Alabama wins the national championship; Saban's seventh

Alabama dismantled Ohio State 52-24 as Nick Saban passed Paul W. "Bear" Bryant for the most national titles during the poll era with seven.

Unlike many of his earlier teams, this championship was led by the offense. Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith had 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game with a hand injury.

Some of the records he set that night in Miami Gardens, Fla.:

Single-season receiving yards record (SEC)
Single season TD record (SEC)
Single-game receptions record (CFP National Championship Game)
Most yards in a half (CFP)
Career receptions record (Alabama)
Single-game receiving touchdowns record (CFP National Championship Game)
Multi-game receiving yards record (CFP, semifinal and final

Quarterback Mac Jones set a CFP title game record with 464 passing yards and five passing touchdowns while breaking the FBS record for single-season completion percentage.

Running back Najee Harris scored three total touchdowns to set Alabama’s single-season record and the SEC record with 30 scores for the season.

Alabama finished with 621 yards and punted only once late in the fourth quarter.