DALLAS — As one Nick Saban assistant (Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart) prepares to leave the nest and take over his own program, another former Saban assistant will try to become the first branch off the Alabama coach's tree to beat the trunk.
For much of the Crimson Tide's 12-1 season to date, Jake Coker had seemed at least something of a hood ornament, charged with handing the football efficiently and wisely to Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry. Yet with Michigan State bunched in to stop
Late in the second quarter of Thursday's Cotton Bowl, Alabama running back Kenyan Drake caught a pass near the Alabama sideline. He stepped out of bounds, was lightly tapped by a Michigan State defender, took another step, and dropped like an anvil
After the Alabama front-seven got hit after hit on Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, Williams saw the Spartans offensive line's collective frustration. Billed as one of the nation's top offensive lines, Michigan State had no solution for stopping
Its namesake has only made one play in his young college football career at Michigan State. But without it, No. 3 Michigan State likely isn't playing No. 2 Alabama in the College Football Playoff Cotton Bowl semifinal on Thursday night. Go back to the