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Robinson Jr.'s strong ground game propels Alabama to theCFP Championship.
Brian Robinson Jr. scored 204 yards as Alabama trounced Georgia in the semifinals of the CFP. The time has been added.
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The house that Jerry Jones built for the Dallas Cowboys is the house that Nick Saban owns.
The College Football Playoff's first non-Power 5 team, Cincinnati, was defeated by Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
The Alabama team is 6-0 at AT&T Stadium.
Alabama outgained the Bearcats 483-218 and controlled the pace thanks to a defense that held the ninth-best scoring offense in the nation to single digits, as well as a trio of touchdown runs by Brian Robinson Jr.
The win puts Alabama in the title game for the fifth time in six years and one step closer to winning its fourth title since the introduction of the playoff system. The school will play for a seventh title on January 10 against either Michigan or Georgia.
The winning formula for this game was established by Alabama in the first quarter, when they ran for 106 yards on 18 carries and monopolized the ball for 10 minutes. It took over 33 minutes to finish the game.
The Tide ran the ball 10 times for 62 yards on their first drive, their most rushing attempts on a first possession since 2008. Alabama's running backs gained over 6 yards per rush on their 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended when Young threw his first pass of the game, an 8-yard toss to wide receiver.
Young's 44th touchdown pass was his 44th of the year, breaking the record of 43 set by Tua Tagovailoa.
The Alabama defense appeared to be confused by the pace of the Cincinnati offense, which moved the ball down the field with short passes to four different players. Alabama called a timeout and its defense held Cincinnati to a field goal after they entered the red zone.
Young completed crucial passes on multiple third downs and one fourth down to keep drives alive when he dropped back to pass more often. In the second quarter, the Cincinnati defense was able to get a stop on a third-down when Young's scramble for a 12-yard run on third and goal was short of the end zone, setting up a field goal that put the Tide up 10-3.
The first drive was the only one that mattered. Cincinnati's offense punted on three straight drives in the first half, as they were pressured on seven of their 21 first-half dropbacks. Cincinnati's front line kept getting to Young but couldn't stop the run.
The Alabama offensive line opened gaps at will and Robinson Jr. ran all over the Cincinnati defense that had been allowing only 137 rushing yards per game. Robinson Jr., who had 63 yards after contact in the first half and 95 yards after contact all game, surpassed the 100 yard mark on the ground with six minutes left in the first half and had 134 by halftime. He had never gone over 100 yards in a half before. Robinson Jr. averaged eight yards per carry.
The Tide's dominance on the ground made their decision to keep throwing questionable. Even though the team was averaging over six yards a carry, Alabama still went for Young's arm. After a couple of incompletions, two punts, and a missed field goal, the winner finally delivered. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Young threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Ja'CoreyBrooks to put them up 17-3.
Alabama, which led by at least 14 at halftime, did not look back.
The quarterback for Alabama threw a touchdown in the 4th quarter against Cincinnati. He had 181 yards and three touchdown passes.
Cincinnati's offense started the second half with another impressive drive that looked promising but ended in a red zone turnover. Instead of going for it on fourth and five, coach Fickell decided to kick another field goal. The drive ended in a three-and-out.
Young has only one interception this season, but he threw a receiver on third down in the third quarter. Alabama's defense forced a Cincinnati punt after forcing another Ridder pass down, and then sacked him on third down.
The Alabama defense made life difficult for Ridder, who was sacked six times. Cincinnati converted its first two third downs of the game and then went on to go 0-for-10 on third downs and 0-for-3 on fourth down.
The Tide had a 5-of-13 success rate on third downs. His third touchdown pass of the night -- a 9-yard toss to Cameron Latu -- pushed him over 4,500 passing yards on the season, breaking Mac Jones' school record from last season.
It had taken this particular Alabama team a little longer to get on track, according to the coach. Even if Alabama isn't one of the best teams in the country, it's still good enough to win it all, even if it isn't one of the best.
