Crimson Tide Paint New Orleans Red, Knock Off Red Hot Houston in Sugar Bowl
Report by Matt Schmidlin | January 1, 2021
When came down to the last laugh,
D'Eriq King had to be feeling hysterical.
King led Alabama to victory in Sugar Bowl over his former school, Houston, by the final score of 35-17 to clinch an appearance in the National Championship game in ten days' time.
After star HB
Josh Jacobs left the contest early in the second quarter with a back injury, King took the game over for the Crimson Tide, tossing three touchdown passes in the second frame to lead Alabama to a 28-7 halftime advantage over the Cougars.
Houston battled back with 10 points straight after halftime, drawing within 11 points, but King marched Alabama right down the field for the final score of the contest, finding
Phillip Smith for a 15 yard touchdown. The senior graduate transfer finished with 334 yards passing on the night, tossing 4 TDs without a single turnover while also adding 30 yards on the ground.
"D'Eriq is a great player," Alabama coach
Nick Saban said. "That's why we were so lucky he decided to join our program in the offseason. He's a talented guy who knows what it takes to win."
The highlight of the contest came early in the second quarter with the game tied, as King found
John Phillips streaking open over the middle on a deep corner route. Phillips caught the pass in stride, taking it 86 yards to the house to give the Crimson Tide a lead that they would never relinquish.
The touchdown was one of two in the quarter for Phillips, who led all Alabama receivers with 148 yards on six catches, with two resulting in touchdowns.
Bryan Hand led the Crimson Tide on the ground with 109 yards on 23 carries following Jacobs's departure. Jacobs did rack up 57 yards and a score on just 6 carries before leaving in the second quarter. His status for the national championship is currently questionable, though he will have a longer than normal recovery time with the ten day gap leading to the title game on January 11.
"Everyone is day-to-day at this point," Saban said. "Josh still wanted to play even today, so we hope he can have that opportunity to suit up for us one more time. We'll see how things go."
Junior DT
Quincy Bailey starred defensively for Alabama, bringing down Houston QB
Bowman Sells on three separate occasions this evening. Sells passed for 306 yards and a pair of scores in the loss, finding his main target
Courteney Lark for both of those touchdowns, part of his sensational 9 reception, 157 yard performance.
For Houston, the loss ends their season and drops them to 12-1 after winning the American conference championship. Alabama improves to a national best 14-0, remaining the only unbeaten, with playoff #2 seed Pitt waiting in the wings after defeating West Virginia in the Rose Bowl.
