Alabama is heading to the Cotton Bowl. The Crimson Tide is going to the college football playoffs against the Cincinnati Bearcats after stunning number one ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship over the weekend. Alabama upset the Bulldogs forty one to twenty four after entering the game as underdogs. Quarterback Bryce Young says the team rallied after last month’s win in quadruple overtime against Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
“I think, it was just us as a whole…us wanting to get off to a better start than we did,” Young thought. “But, I think we all stepped up, we all answered the bell, we all understood what was at stake, we all understood that we needed to step up.”
The Tide went into the weekend game as underdogs. And that bad news coverage may have sparked the Tide into action. Head Coach Nick Saban often complains about favorable news stories making his players complacent. Saban says the bad publicity before the SEC title game probably helped Alabama…
“You guys gave us a lot of positive rat poison,” Saban quipped. “The rat poison that you usually give us is fatal. But, the rat poison you put out this week was yummy.”
Rat poison is Saban’s nickname for the overly positive new coverage that can result in lackluster performances by the Tide. Alabama gave up seven sacks against a lesser defense at Auburn during last month’s Iron Bowl with Auburn.