January 1, 2021 Postseason Neutral site Belt defended

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

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Alabama 31

Away · Challenger

Notre Dame 14

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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Mac JonesAlabama	25/30	297	9.9	4	0
Ian BookNotre Dame	27/39	229	5.9	0	1
Drew PyneNotre Dame	1/1	7	7.0	0	0
TeamNotre Dame	0/2	0	0.0	0	0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Najee HarrisAlabama	15	125	8.3	0	53
Mac JonesAlabama	5	12	2.4	0	9
Brian Robinson Jr.Alabama	3	10	3.3	0	6
TeamAlabama	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
DeVonta SmithAlabama	1	-5	-5.0	0	0
Kyren WilliamsNotre Dame	16	64	4.0	1	15
Ian BookNotre Dame	15	55	3.7	1	20
Chris TyreeNotre Dame	5	16	3.2	0	4
Ben SkowronekNotre Dame	1	4	4.0	0	4
C'Bo FlemisterNotre Dame	1	0	0.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
DeVonta SmithAlabama	7	130	18.6	3	34
John MetchieAlabama	3	53	17.7	0	40
Jahleel BillingsleyAlabama	4	39	9.8	1	15
Miller ForristallAlabama	3	31	10.3	0	15
Najee HarrisAlabama	4	30	7.5	0	14
Slade BoldenAlabama	2	22	11.0	0	14
Xavier WilliamsAlabama	1	0	0.0	0	0
Mac JonesAlabama	1	-8	-8.0	0	0
Michael MayerNotre Dame	7	62	8.9	0	18
Ben SkowronekNotre Dame	4	41	10.3	0	20
Chris TyreeNotre Dame	4	37	9.3	0	27
Kyren WilliamsNotre Dame	8	31	3.9	0	8
Lawrence Keys IIINotre Dame	1	20	20.0	0	20
Javon McKinleyNotre Dame	2	20	10.0	0	18
Avery DavisNotre Dame	1	15	15.0	0	15
George TakacsNotre Dame	1	10	10.0	0	10

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
DeMarcco HellamsAlabama	12	6	1	1	0
Will Anderson Jr.Alabama	6	6	0	0	0
Dylan MosesAlabama	6	2	0	0	0
Christian BarmoreAlabama	5	4	1	1	0
Jordan BattleAlabama	5	3	0	0.5	0
Daniel WrightAlabama	3	3	0	0	0
Patrick Surtain IIAlabama	3	2	0	0.5	1
Jaylen MoodyAlabama	3	2	0	0	0
Brian BranchAlabama	3	2	0	0	1
Phidarian MathisAlabama	2	1	0	0	0
Christopher AllenAlabama	2	0	0	0	0
Byron YoungAlabama	1	1	0	0	0
Justin EboigbeAlabama	1	0	0	0	0
Tim SmithAlabama	1	0	0	0	0
Shaun CrawfordNotre Dame	9	5	0	0	0
Drew WhiteNotre Dame	9	4	0	0	0
Kyle HamiltonNotre Dame	7	6	0	1	1
Jeremiah Owusu-KoramoahNotre Dame	6	4	0	0	0
Marist LiufauNotre Dame	6	4	0	1	0
Nick McCloudNotre Dame	4	0	0	0	0
Clarence LewisNotre Dame	2	2	0	0	0
Kurt HinishNotre Dame	2	0	0	0	0
Howard Cross IIINotre Dame	2	0	0	0	0
Brock WrightNotre Dame	1	1	0	0	0
Bo BauerNotre Dame	1	1	0	0	0
Ovie OghoufoNotre Dame	1	1	0	0	0
Michael MayerNotre Dame	1	1	0	0	0
Adetokunbo OgundejiNotre Dame	1	0	0.5	0.5	0
Jayson AdemilolaNotre Dame	1	0	0	0	0
Shayne SimonNotre Dame	1	0	0	0	1
Rylie MillsNotre Dame	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Ian BookNotre Dame	1	0	0
Chris TyreeNotre Dame	1	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Christian HarrisAlabama	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jahleel BillingsleyAlabama	1	16	16.0	16	0
Chris TyreeNotre Dame	1	8	8.0	8	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will ReichardAlabama	1/1	100.0	41	4/4	7
Jonathan DoererNotre Dame	0/1	0.0	0	2/2	2

Punt Returns

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

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Charlie ScottAlabama	3	127	42.3	0	2	46
Jay BramblettNotre Dame	4	189	47.3	0	1	53

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

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