January 1, 2021 Postseason Neutral site Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 31–14, at a neutral site over Notre Dame.

Home · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 31

Away · Challenger

Notre DameAP No. 2 14

AP poll, week 16: Notre Dame No. 2 at Alabama No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 34 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. Alabama went on to defend it 6 more times before Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021, 315 days after the reign began.

For Notre Dame this was its 21st shot at the belt; it had held the belt 8 times before.

It was the 4th of 4 belt games between the two; going in, Notre Dame led the belt series 2–1; all-time it is 2–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's defense and Mac Jones's precision passing proved too much for Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. The Crimson Tide struck quickly, with Jones connecting with DeVonta Smith for two touchdowns in the opening quarter, including a 26-yard score at the 10:14 mark, and added another TD to Smith for 34 yards in the second quarter to build a commanding lead. Notre Dame kept pace early with Kyren Williams's 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and mounted a late rally with Ian Book's 1-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth, but Alabama's dominant first half and methodical execution—including a 53-yard Najee Harris run and a 40-yard Jones-to-Metchie connection—proved decisive. An interception by Christian Harris off Book in the third quarter effectively sealed the outcome as Alabama maintained control throughout.

Mac Jones TD pass to DeVonta Smith (26 yds, Q1 10:14) - Set the tone early with Alabama's first score
Najee Harris 53-yard run (Q1 4:55) - Established Alabama's dominant ground game and set up scoring position
Mac Jones TD pass to DeVonta Smith (34 yds, Q2 8:49) - Extended Alabama's lead to 21-7 and DeVonta Smith proved unstoppable
Christian Harris interception (Q3 7:27) - Stopped Notre Dame's momentum and led to Alabama's third TD drive

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

AlabamaNotre Dame

Total yards437375

Rushing yards140139

Passing yards297236

First downs2424

3rd down conv.6/108/16

Turnovers01

Penalties–yards6–593–25

Time of possession26:1733:43

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 10:14	Alabama	+26 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 26 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 4:19	Alabama	+12 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Jahleel Billingsley for 12 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 4:55	Alabama	+53 yd	Najee Harris run for 53 yds to the NDame 12 for a 1ST down
Q1 3:28	Notre Dame	+27 yd	Ian Book pass complete to Chris Tyree for 27 yds to the Alab 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:16	Notre Dame	+1 yd	Kyren Williams run for 1 yd for a TD (Jonathan Doerer KICK)
Q2 8:49	Alabama	+34 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 34 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 9:45	Alabama	+24 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 24 yds to the NDame 49 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:06	Notre Dame	+51 yd	Jonathan Doerer 51 yd FG MISSED
Q2 0:23	Notre Dame	+20 yd	Ian Book pass complete to Ben Skowronek for 20 yds to the Alab 40 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:34	Notre Dame	+20 yd	Ian Book run for 20 yds to the NDame 40 for a 1ST down
Q3 14:15	Alabama	+22 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 22 yds to the Alab 49 for a 1ST down
Q3 7:27	Notre Dame	+0 yd	Ian Book pass intercepted Christian Harris return for no gain to the Alab 38
Q3 7:15	Alabama	+40 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to John Metchie III for 40 yds to the NDame 22 for a 1ST down
Q3 4:58	Alabama	+7 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 7 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 2:05	Notre Dame	+20 yd	Jay Bramblett punt for 52 yds , DeVonta Smith returns for 20 yds to the Alab 30
Q4 12:45	Alabama	+41 yd	Will Reichard 41 yd FG GOOD
Q4 4:59	Notre Dame	+20 yd	Ian Book pass complete to Lawrence Keys III for 20 yds to the NDame 43 for a 1ST down
Q4 0:56	Notre Dame	+1 yd	Ian Book run for 1 yd for a TD (Jonathan Doerer KICK)
Q1 13:39	Ohio State	+49 yd	Drue Chrisman punt for 49 yds , DeVonta Smith returns for a loss of 1 yard to the Alab 22
Q1 13:27	Alabama	+22 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 22 yds to the Alab 44 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:07	Alabama	+1 yd	Najee Harris run for 1 yd for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 6:40	Ohio State	+20 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Chris Olave for 20 yds to the Alab 44 for a 1ST down
Q1 5:25	Ohio State	+36 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Jeremy Ruckert for 36 yds to the Alab 8 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:55	Ohio State	+8 yd	Master Teague III run for 8 yds for a TD (Jake Seibert KICK)
Q2 14:53	Alabama	+5 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 5 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 4:43	Alabama	+32 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 32 yds to the OhSt 43 for a 1ST down
Q2 11:43	Ohio State	+4 yd	Master Teague III run for 4 yds for a TD (Jake Seibert KICK)
Q2 9:00	Alabama	+26 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Najee Harris for 26 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 8:09	Ohio State	+29 yd	Master Teague III run for 29 yds to the Alab 15 for a 1ST down
Q2 5:21	Ohio State	+23 yd	Jake Seibert 23 yd FG GOOD
Q2 8:22	Ohio State	+28 yd	Justin Fields run for 28 yds to the Alab 44 for a 1ST down
Q2 3:53	Alabama	+44 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 44 yds to the OhSt 14 for a 1ST down
Q2 3:19	Alabama	+5 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 5 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 1:48	Alabama	+42 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 42 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 7:47	Alabama	+20 yd	Will Reichard 20 yd FG GOOD
Q3 6:45	Ohio State	+20 yd	Justin Fields pass complete to Garrett Wilson for 20 yds for a TD (Jake Seibert KICK)
Q3 7:03	Ohio State	+33 yd	Justin Fields run for 33 yds to the Alab 20 for a 1ST down
Q3 5:24	Alabama	+22 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Jahleel Billingsley for 22 yds to the OhSt 45 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:52	Alabama	+5 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Slade Bolden for 5 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 4:02	Alabama	+21 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 21 yds to the OhSt 10 for a 1ST down
Q4 13:15	Alabama	+1 yd	Najee Harris run for 1 yd for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 0:00	Alabama	+27 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to John Metchie III for 27 yds to the OhSt 16 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Mac Jones	25/30	297	9.9	4	0

Notre Dame

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	INT
Ian Book	27/39	229	5.9	1
Drew Pyne	1/1	7	7.0	0
Team	0/2	0	0.0	0

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Najee Harris	15	125	8.3	53
Mac Jones	5	12	2.4	9
Brian Robinson Jr.	3	10	3.3	6
Team	1	-2	-2.0	0
DeVonta Smith	1	-5	-5.0	0

Notre Dame

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kyren Williams	16	64	4.0	1	15
Ian Book	15	55	3.7	1	20
Chris Tyree	5	16	3.2	0	4
Ben Skowronek	1	4	4.0	0	4
C'Bo Flemister	1	0	0.0	0	0

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
DeVonta Smith	7	130	18.6	3	34
John Metchie	3	53	17.7	0	40
Jahleel Billingsley	4	39	9.8	1	15
Miller Forristall	3	31	10.3	0	15
Najee Harris	4	30	7.5	0	14
Slade Bolden	2	22	11.0	0	14
Xavier Williams	1	0	0.0	0	0
Mac Jones	1	-8	-8.0	0	0

Notre Dame

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Michael Mayer	7	62	8.9	18
Ben Skowronek	4	41	10.3	20
Chris Tyree	4	37	9.3	27
Kyren Williams	8	31	3.9	8
Lawrence Keys III	1	20	20.0	20
Javon McKinley	2	20	10.0	18
Avery Davis	1	15	15.0	15
George Takacs	1	10	10.0	10

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
DeMarcco Hellams	12	6	1	1	0
Will Anderson Jr.	6	6	0	0	0
Dylan Moses	6	2	0	0	0
Christian Barmore	5	4	1	1	0
Jordan Battle	5	3	0	0.5	0
Daniel Wright	3	3	0	0	0
Patrick Surtain II	3	2	0	0.5	1
Jaylen Moody	3	2	0	0	0
Brian Branch	3	2	0	0	1
Phidarian Mathis	2	1	0	0	0
Christopher Allen	2	0	0	0	0
Byron Young	1	1	0	0	0
Justin Eboigbe	1	0	0	0	0
Tim Smith	1	0	0	0	0

Notre Dame

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Shaun Crawford	9	5	0	0	0
Drew White	9	4	0	0	0
Kyle Hamilton	7	6	0	1	1
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah	6	4	0	0	0
Marist Liufau	6	4	0	1	0
Nick McCloud	4	0	0	0	0
Clarence Lewis	2	2	0	0	0
Kurt Hinish	2	0	0	0	0
Howard Cross III	2	0	0	0	0
Brock Wright	1	1	0	0	0
Bo Bauer	1	1	0	0	0
Ovie Oghoufo	1	1	0	0	0
Michael Mayer	1	1	0	0	0
Adetokunbo Ogundeji	1	0	0.5	0.5	0
Jayson Ademilola	1	0	0	0	0
Shayne Simon	1	0	0	0	1
Rylie Mills	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Alabama

No recorded stats in this category.

Notre Dame

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Ian Book	1	0	0
Chris Tyree	1	0	0

Interceptions

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Christian Harris	1	0	0

Notre Dame

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jahleel Billingsley	1	16	16.0	16	0

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Chris Tyree	1	8	8.0	8	0

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	1/1	100.0	41	4/4	7

Notre Dame

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jonathan Doerer	0/1	0.0	0	2/2	2

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeVonta Smith	1	20	20.0	20	0

Notre Dame

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Charlie Scott	3	127	42.3	0	2	46

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jay Bramblett	4	189	47.3	0	1	53

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401240152) · This game in the downloadable dataset

← Alabama at Florida Ohio State at Alabama →