This is an opinion column.
Ty Simpson thanked a room full of reporters late Friday night.
An appreciation for the haters.
“Y’all kind of wrote us off in that sort of way,” Alabama’s quarterback said after beating Oklahoma, 34-24 in the playoff first round, “so appreciate that.”
If that’s true, he owes a handwritten note to a notable media member not crammed into that interview room under Memorial Stadium.
Nobody challenged the pride of Crimson Tide football quite like the commentator who recruited Simpson to Tuscaloosa.
Nick Saban on ESPN’s College GameDay offered some of the most stinging criticism before kickoff Friday.
“One thing that I prided ourselves in, when we played Georgia in the SEC championship game, it was two physical teams,” Saban said, according to Mike Rodak of 247Sports. “It was disappointing to me to see how much more physical Georgia’s team was in the SEC championship game than Alabama’s was. ”That’s why they can’t run the ball. You got to be able to win on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
A verbal gut punch to the mentality Saban built in his time before joining the media.
Essentially, called them soft.
For a while, it carried over from Atlanta to Norman. The Crimson Tide was getting pushed around, falling behind by 17 while managing just 12 yards on the first three possessions.
The response, while delayed a quarter, was resounding.
The Crimson Tide still didn’t run the ball with the consistency of previous generations, but the comeback from down 17-0 to Oklahoma was built on brute force.
On both sides of the ball.
Just watch the pivotal moments in the comeback and try to disagree.
It begins with Lotzeir Brooks, the 5-foot-9 freshman receiver who became the offensive star of the night.
The Millville, N.J. product scored Alabama’s first touchdown in Norman since 2002 on another of Kalen DeBoer’s fourth-down dice rolls. Brooks broke three tackles and spun through a fourth against the SEC’s top defense.
Oklahoma 17, Alabama 7.
Some good fortune came with a dropped pass that should’ve gone for a touchdown. And a punter’s dropped snap contributed to the 17-10 score update.
Then came Zabien Brown’s interception in the closing moments of the half. While sprinting up the sideline looking like Eddie Jackson, he slapped away quarterback John Mateer’s weak effort at a tackle.
It was a metaphor for the night, how it started and where it was going.
Alabama 17, Oklahoma 17.
The lead changed hands for the final time two plays after the longest Crimson Tide running play since the first Saturday of September.
Daniel Hill’s 30-yard run was a throwback to the olden days of a few years ago . Following the lead of two pulling offensive linemen and receivers sealing the back side, this was classic hat-on-a-hat football.
Two plays later, Simpson sat in a clean pocket and dropped one in the bucket for Brooks for a 30-yard touchdown.
Alabama 24, Oklahoma 17.
That’s when the Crimson Tide defensive front really took ownership of its trench.
Mateer was sacked on first- and second-down plays immediately after Alabama took the lead. Defensive lineman Keon Keeley got home on first down. Yhonzae Pierre and London Simmons overpowered blockers on second down.
Alabama had four sacks after halftime as Mateer never looked truly comfortable after those sacks.
The five total sacks were a season high for a Crimson Tide defense that had a habit of failing to complete QB takedowns. It added four quarterback hurries while holding Sooner running backs to 40 rushing yards on 14 tries.
Oklahoma gained exactly 181 yards, scoring those 17 points in the first 19:09 of the game and exactly 181 in the final 40:51.
Germie Bernard would eventually turn in the play of the night by physically dominating cornerback Jacobe Johnson. The Alabama receiver was the aggressor on a 27-yard pass that set up the final score.
Bernard first reached over the DB to snatch the pass before winning the wrestling match for possession as they fell to the turf.
Two plays later, Hill bulldozed through the gut of the Oklahoma defense for the six-yard touchdown.
Alabama 34, Oklahoma 24.
Game over.
Oklahoma showed more fight in a postgame scuffle as Alabama celebrated outscoring the hosts 34-7 to finish the night.
The Crimson Tide didn’t get to that moment with the razzle-dazzle. No trick plays or misdirection.
A few bursts of physicality were enough to survive Round 1 of the College Football Playoff.
They found a way to prove the media naysayers wrong.
Even the one named Nick Saban.