Nick Saban diagnoses DeVonta Smith’s injury suffered in the national title
By SDS Staff
Published:
DeVonta Smith proved once again why he was college football’s best player Monday night in Alabama’s 52-24 win over Ohio State.
He was simply unstoppable.
The talented pass catcher caught 12 passes for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half alone. He finished his Alabama career as the SEC’s career receiving yardage leader.
After the damage done in the first half, it looked as if Smith would have gone for 400 receiving yards, but he suffered a game-ending injury early in the second half. It was tough to tell from the replay, but the index and middle fingers jammed into the defender on the catch attempt.
This is the hit where DeVonta Smith injured a finger on his right hand. pic.twitter.com/8oLj9zy25w
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) January 12, 2021
Smith left the game and remained in the injury tent for about 20 minutes before heading back into the locker room for further evaluation.
After the game, Nick Saban was asked about Smith’s finger and what exactly happened.
“Well, he really dislocated his finger,” Saban said. “I told Smitty after the game, I said, You’re the only player that I know that missed a whole half because of your finger.
“It was dislocated and they couldn’t get it back in,” Saban continued. “If they’d have got it back in, he would have been fine. He actually wanted to play, we just didn’t allow him to.
“He’s a great competitor. I heard somebody say he set some kind of record in the first half of the game. Heavens knows what he would have done if he played the whole game.”
It was a tough break for the Heisman Trophy winner having to finish the night early, because Ohio State truly had no answer for him.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
