January 11, 2021 Postseason Neutral site Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 52–24, at a neutral site over Ohio State.

Home · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 52

Away · Challenger

Ohio StateAP No. 3 24

AP poll, week 16: Ohio State No. 3 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 44 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 4 defenses already behind it; this was its 5th defense. Alabama went on to defend it 5 more times before Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021, 315 days after the reign began.

For Ohio State this was its 18th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 9 times before.

It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, Alabama led the belt series 2–0; all-time Alabama leads 3–0. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's defense and Mac Jones's pinpoint passing proved too much for Ohio State to overcome in this College Football Playoff Championship Game. The Crimson Tide struck first with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jones to DeVonta Smith just over ten minutes into the first quarter, then added another quick score to Jahleel Billingsley four minutes later. Ohio State managed to get on the board with a touchdown run by Master Teague III in the first quarter after a promising drive featuring a 36-yard completion to Jeremy Ruckert, but Alabama's offense never relented. Jones connected with Smith repeatedly throughout the game for scores and first downs, including a 34-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter and a 7-yard score in the third quarter, while Christian Harris's interception of an Ian Book pass in the third quarter short-circuited any Ohio State comeback attempt. The dominant performance gave Alabama the belt as it controlled time of possession by over 15 minutes and held Ohio State to just 341 total yards.

DeVonta Smith's 26-yard touchdown reception in Q1 set the tone for Alabama's offensive dominance early
Christian Harris's interception in Q3 stopped a potential Ohio State drive and shifted momentum back to Alabama
Mac Jones's four touchdown passes, particularly to Smith multiple times, overwhelmed Ohio State's secondary
Alabama's 37:32 time of possession advantage kept Ohio State's offense off the field and unable to establish rhythm

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

AlabamaOhio State

Total yards621341

Rushing yards157147

Passing yards464194

First downs3319

3rd down conv.6/116/14

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards6–444–29

Time of possession37:3222:28

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	36/45	464	10.3	5	0

Ohio State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Justin Fields	17/33	194	5.9	1	0

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Najee Harris	22	79	3.6	2	13
Brian Robinson Jr.	10	69	6.9	0	21
Mac Jones	4	11	2.8	0	10
Team	2	-2	-1.0	0	0

Ohio State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Justin Fields	6	67	11.2	0	33
Master Teague	15	65	4.3	2	29
Marcus Crowley	6	14	2.3	0	4
Trey Sermon	1	2	2.0	0	2
Team	1	-1	-1.0	0	0

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
DeVonta Smith	12	215	17.9	3	44
John Metchie	8	81	10.1	0	27
Najee Harris	7	79	11.3	1	26
Jaylen Waddle	3	34	11.3	0	15
Jahleel Billingsley	2	27	13.5	0	22
Slade Bolden	3	16	5.3	1	7
Xavier Williams	1	12	12.0	0	12

Ohio State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chris Olave	8	69	8.6	0	20
Garrett Wilson	3	50	16.7	1	20
Jeremy Ruckert	1	36	36.0	0	36
Jaxon Smith-Njigba	2	20	10.0	0	15
Jameson Williams	1	14	14.0	0	14
Marcus Crowley	1	4	4.0	0	4
Master Teague	1	1	1.0	0	1

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Christian Harris	6	3	0	0	0
Dylan Moses	6	2	0	0	0
Christian Barmore	5	3	1	2	0
DeMarcco Hellams	4	3	0	0	0
Brian Branch	4	3	0	0	3
Chase Allen	4	2	0	1	0
Josh Jobe	3	3	0	0	0
Jordan Battle	3	3	0	0	0
Patrick Surtain II	3	2	0	1	1
Will Anderson Jr.	3	2	0	0	0
Daniel Wright	2	2	0	0	0
Ben Davis	1	1	0	0	0
Jaylen Moody	1	1	0	0	0
LaBryan Ray	1	0	0	0	0

Ohio State

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Tuf Borland	14	7	0	0	0
Justin Hilliard	8	4	0	2	0
Pete Werner	8	4	0	0	1
Sevyn Banks	7	6	0	0	0
Baron Browning	5	4	1	1	0
Antwuan Jackson	5	4	1	1	0
Josh Proctor	5	4	0	0	0
Shaun Wade	5	2	0	1	1
Dallas Gant	3	3	0	0	0
Marcus Williamson	2	2	0	0	0
Jonathon Cooper	2	1	0	0	0
Haskell Garrett	2	1	0	0	0
Tyler Friday	2	1	0	0	0
Zach Harrison	2	1	0	0	0
Taron Vincent	2	0	0	0	0
Jameson Williams	1	1	0	0	0
Cody Simon	1	1	0	0	0
Lathan Ransom	1	1	0	0	0

Fumbles

Alabama

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Mac Jones	1	1	0

Ohio State

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Baron Browning	0	0	1

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jahleel Billingsley	1	7	7.0	7	0
DeVonta Smith	1	6	6.0	6	0

Ohio State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	1/1	100.0	20	7/7	10

Ohio State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jake Seibert	1/1	100.0	23	3/3	6

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeVonta Smith	2	18	9.0	19	0

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Garrett Wilson	1	3	3.0	3	0

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Charlie Scott	2	76	38.0	0	1	40

Ohio State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Drue Chrisman	5	214	42.8	0	2	50

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 401240174) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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