Kickoff is just hours away as Alabama gets ready to face Georgia in Indianapolis for this year’s college football championship. Both teams headed to Indiana on Friday for an abbreviated practice schedule before the title game. The shortened timeframe was due to the threat of COVID-19. The Crimson Tide is dealing with a relatively inexperienced team this year. One veteran player was running back Brian Robinson. Head Coach Nick Saban praised Robinson, who set a school record in a playoff game with two hundred and four rushing yards against Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl.
“Never complains, always works hard,” Saban recalled. “And was willing to have the patience to wait his turn. He worked hard, whatever his role on the team, he was willing to do it. He’s improved dramatically.”
The Tuscaloosa native acted as the understudy to running back and starter Najee Harris, who was a standout in the Crimson Tide’s championship victory over Ohio State last year. Harris is now a star rookie play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with former Crimson Tide player Minkah Fitzpatrick. Coach Saban points to now veteran running back Robinson as an asset to the current team…
“He certainly showed a tremendous amount of resiliency to stick with it, stay with the program, and keep working,” Saban said. “But, there’s probably not a whole lot of successful people in this world that don’t have a lot of resiliency. Because you have to be able to overcome adversity, and he’s done that and become a very fine person and a really good player.”
The last time Alabama faced Georgia in a national championship game was in 2018. The Tide won that match in Atlanta. Back-up quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, now with the Miami Dolphins, threw a last second pass in overtime to freshman wide receiver DeVonta Smith to win that fame. Smith now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles.
