Rapid Reaction: Alabama rolls past Kansas State in Sugar Bowl, as Bryce Young wins likely Crimson Tide finale
Will Howard had Kansas State moving on the very 1st drive of the game on Saturday afternoon, but senior all-everything safety Jordan Battle set a defensive tone for the 89th Sugar Bowl in New Orleans with an interception in his final game at Alabama.
It was timely.
And it was telling.
Alabama followed Battle’s galvanizing pick with a dud of a 3-and-out, gaining 0 yards, and this point was driven home further — that points would probably be at a premium in a battle of defenses that both ranked in the top 20 in the country in points allowed per game, with the Crimson Tide 9th (18 points) and the Wildcats 17th (20.1).
But a 41-yard field goal by Kansas State’s Ty Zentner in the 1st quarter was a small breakthrough, and then came a much bigger one by the smallest player on the field. After a James Burnip punt pinned the 9th-ranked Wildcats back to their 12-yard line, Deuce Vaughn introduced his dazzling, 5-foot-6 self to the country for those who didn’t already know about him, bursting through the line and blazing away on an 88-yard touchdown gallop that gave K-State a 10-0 lead with 3:26 left in the 1st.
It was the longest run of Vaughn’s stellar junior season — and his exceptional career — it sent the royal purple and white-clad fans at the Superdome into a frenzy, and it finally woke up the 5th-ranked Crimson Tide.
And once Bama rose from the dead, it simply never stopped. The Crimson Tide erupted for 35 unanswered points after falling into that 10-0 hole and answered all the questions about their motivation level on a smaller, non-Playoff stage with tenacity and authority, beating down Big 12 champion Kansas State 45-20.
The Tide improved to 10-7 all-time in the Sugar Bowl, with most of the previous ones having everything at stake, unlike Saturday. But that didn’t matter in the end, especially to the legendary leader of the offense who decided to come back for 1 more go-around in an Alabama jersey.
In what almost certainly was his last game in an Alabama uniform, Bryce Young got to work, and he did it in a hurry. First, it was a 69-yard drive capped by a 6-yard touchdown flip to freshman Isaiah Bond on 3rd-and-goal, which sent a message as the 1st quarter ended that Bama was done pushing the snooze button for the 11 a.m. local time kickoff.
Bama’s defense followed with a 3-and-out. It was probably inspired by the Tide touchdown and definitely motivated by what Vaughn had done to it moments earlier. Suddenly, Young had the ball back in his hands and so did junior Jahmyr Gibbs, whose 60-yard catch-and-run on 3rd-and-10 keyed the touchdown on the previous drive.
With Young and star linebacker Will Anderson Jr. donning the crimson and white for almost certainly the last time in their phenomenal careers, Saturday was probably Gibbs’ Alabama curtain call, too, after only 1 season, and he wanted to make it count. Gibbs ran for 14 yards combined on the 1st 3 plays of the next drive, setting up Young’s 47-yard strike to the Tide’s other highly acclaimed 2022 transfer, wide receiver Jermaine Burton, who was tackled at the K-State 2-yard line.
Two plays later, Young found senior tight end Cameron Latu for a 1-yard touchdown and suddenly Bama had a 14-10 lead early in the 2nd quarter. The Tide were trying really hard not to be the 1st Alabama team since 2010 to lose 3 games in a season, but the Wildcats were trying really, really hard to be the team that finally handed Bama that dastardly 3rd loss.
Alabama (11-2) had to dig in on this New Year’s Eve afternoon against those Big 12 champions who, oh by the way, knocked off TCU in overtime in the Big 12 Championship Game 4 weeks earlier. The same TCU team that was about to play Michigan in the 1st of 2 College Football Playoff semifinals on Saturday. This Sugar Bowl thing was never going to be an easy dynamic for the Tide, not in the least, especially with many wondering about that aforementioned motivation level for Bama considering it wasn’t playing in a Playoff game this time of year — for a change.
Kansas State (10-4) smelled blood in this spot, and Chris Klieman, its head coach who has his own championship pedigree from his days at the FCS level with North Dakota State, was going all out to beat the guy on the other sideline with all those FBS titles. After Bama took that 14-10 lead, K-State didn’t blink. The Wildcats embarked on a ridiculous, 18-play, 73-yard drive that swallowed up 10 minutes, 30 seconds of clock and had the Tide teetering.
Three times Kansas State went for it on 4th down in Alabama territory during the mammoth drive. The 1st 2 times, the Cats converted. But the 3rd time, on 4th-and-goal from the Tide 2-yard line, Bama finally pushed back. Anderson fell down in coverage on Ben Sinnott, but Howard’s pass to the front-right corner of the end zone was off target, the 14-10 lead stood and, as it turned out, the Crimson Tide weren’t content going to halftime with just that.
With only 1:01 left on the clock and sitting at their own 2, Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien threw caution to the wind and went for the jugular. And off Alabama went on a stunning 98-yard drive in just 7 plays that took 51 seconds, capped by Young’s 3rd touchdown pass of the half, a 12-yard scoring strike to Burton that made it 21-10 at halftime.
It was a 14-point swing that felt like much more than that.
Young had started slowly on Saturday, the final day of his stellar and courageous collegiate career, but boy was he picking up steam.
And the long halftime didn’t slow him down.
Showing his cut-throat mentality with a slight whiff of desperation, Klieman tried an onside kick on the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, but Bama was ready for it. Even worse for K-State, the Tide wasted no time using the short field to get the ball in the end zone again. Needing just 3 plays, Young capped the short drive with his 4th touchdown pass of the day, a 32-yarder to Ja’Corey Brooks to make it 28-10.
And then it only got worse for the Wildcats on the 3rd play of their next possession, when Brian Branch intercepted Howard’s pass to give the Tide an even shorter field. This time, it only took 1 play for Bama to make K-State pay, with Jase McClellan’s 17-yard touchdown burst suddenly giving Bama a 35-10 bulge.
For the Tide, it was 2 TDs in exactly 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter, and the separation was established for the rest of the afternoon.
But they weren’t done, and neither was Young. He was putting his final stamp on things before being swallowed up by the NFL Draft process, and he was already making the Alabama fan base miss him. After the Wildcats kicked an inconsequential field goal, Young used yet another short field to his advantage, finding Kobe Prentice for a 47-yard touchdown connection on the final play of the 3rd quarter to give the Tide a 42-13 lead.
There was 1 full quarter to play, but the game was over, and Young had put the finishing touches on his Alabama legacy with a virtuoso performance. After starting the game 1 for 4 amid Kansas State’s early adrenaline rush, Young was 15 for 20 with 5 touchdown passes — to 5 different receivers — and 0 interceptions. Young finished 15 for 21 with 321 yards passing, and his decision along with Anderson to not opt out of the Sugar Bowl a few weeks ago looked pretty darn good.
Make that amazingly good — and heroic. It will only improve his draft stock, if that’s even possible.
And for Crimson Tide fans, they got the ending they wanted for the beloved Young, even if it wasn’t the snapshot with a national championship trophy in his clutches.
After Will Reichard booted a 49-yard field goal, the final make of his own stellar Tide career, Young trotted out for 1 last moment on Bama’s next possession. He handed the ball off to Roydell Williams, and that was it. Young shook hands with his offensive teammates and glided off the field the same way he glided through defenses for the past 2 seasons.
He got the obligatory thunderous ovation, Jalen Milroe took over, and Bryce Young’s Alabama career was over.
So, the Tide weren’t the national champions on Saturday. They were the Sugar Bowl champs, and that’s still pretty good.
And while Vaughn piled up 133 yards, 88 of them were on that 1st-quarter burst that was a footnote by the time the final seconds ticked off.
Turns out, points were only at a premium for 1 team on the final day of 2022 in the Big Easy, and it wasn’t Alabama.
And bama was not one of the 4 best teams according to the cfp….. to bad they did it get into the play off as I would have loved to see the Bama vs uga round 3 !
Did not ( typo)
Remains to be seen if Ohio State belongs, but I would have had Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Michigan as the best four teams. But they are not interested in picking the best four teams. They want W-L records and conference championships.
This was a good year to placate the lesser conferences and let the big10 send two teams to get murdered by UGA. I think Bama might be one of the four best, but losing two games is undeniably a liability when the rest of the country plays against air most weeks. Props to K State for standing tall before the man today; if KSU was in the SEC, they might have been 3rd in either division.
Congrats on the win. Bama was not one of the four best…that was proven yesterday. Any of those four would’ve beaten Bama yesterday.
Records and championships are how ‘best teams’ are determined.
What else would we do? Just pick the top 4 in the recruiting rankings, or best hype videos, or some other intangible nonsense and put them in?
If you couldn’t put it together on the field week-in and week-out you don’t belong.
All I can say is that’s the kind of thinking that handed BYU the title in 1984.
Did you believe the UCF was the National Champion when they went undefeated a few years back?
If you couldn’t put it together on the field week-in and week-out you don’t belong.
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It’s pretty easy, really. Vegas and gamblers do it all the time.
Alabama (or SCAR, or TN, or…) would have run the Big-12 table.
TCU in the SEC would be mid pack.
@bayou Washington ended up ranked #2 that season and beat the previously ranked #2 team, Oklahoma in the bowl game. Washington’s lone loss was by 9 to a top 10 USC team on the road.
Do you think the other teams in the playoffs other than Georgia could have made it in the SEC without 2 losses?
bayou tiger: “… But they want W-L records and conference championships.”
They have two teams, Ohio State and TCU, who weren’t conference champions and lost their way into the Playoff this year…
Last year Georgia wasn’t a conference champion and lost their way into the Playoff too…
while coaches who win their conference championship get sent home with a pat on the @$$ and an encouraging “better luck next year.”
Then the quacks, who defend the bias selection committee “manipulation” of the Playoff scam, start aggressively quacking back at the ones who remind them that the NCAA Football “ponzi scheme” is alive, well, and striving for those whose benefit from the bias; then you get the usual there is no need to fix the bias system because the bias system works perfect for us!
Is anyone currently watching what TCU is doing to Mich right now? lol
I am. TCU showing they belong.
Spoilers: Michigan isn’t all that good. People who haven’t watched them this season are just now figuring it out.
Ok who got left out this year? Two losses and your out.It’s been that way since it started.They got it right and yesterday’s games proved it.
2 teams in the playoffs are not conference champions.
You can’t put in two loss teams over TCU and Ohio State.
Really content with that win. It’s great to have another eleven win season. Sad that Bryce won’t get to have a national championship, but I am absolutely grateful that he played one last time today. Onto the off-season and getting excited for next year.
BY has to be the best qb ever to play for Bama. This season was a disaster without his skills at bailing out horrific play calling, online play, and inconsistent receivers. Honorable mention for J Gibbs – leading rusher and receiver is unreal.
He is that good. Would like to see him bulk up a bit for the league, but they don’t allow ANYONE to hit the QB so he may be OK.
Jalen Milroe one pass three feet short of an open receiver. I hope there are other QB’s for next year.
Hope Ty Simpson doesn’t transfer. Or we get a decent qb coach soonest
I doubt Milroe wins the job next year. Like most dual-threat guys he’s a good runner, but he doesn’t present as a real passing threat. Simpson will be the favorite to win going into spring camp.
Well done. Bama will probably move up depending on the results of the CFP, hopefully UT can grab that #5 spot.
Great finish for Young.
Why wouldn’t Tennessee be ranked higher than Alabama…
Tennessee beating Clemson was a far more impressive win than Alabama beating KS; and then Tennessee had that head to head win over Alabama…
drum roll…
because the selection committee wanted Alabama to play KS, that’s why!
Tennessee gave up 63 points to and unranked South Carolina that’s why they dropped in the polls….
It took Tennessee best team to beat Alabamas worst…
All that Tide89 said plus Bryce Young was still recovering against TN and still nearly beat them on the road. The Sugar Bowl knew Bama was much better than TN with a healthy Bryce Young. He proved them to be correct.
I think they should’ve been flipped.UT to the Sugar and Bama to the Orange.Basically,they said Bama was the better team because the SEC runner up goes to New Orleans.
I think most college football fans are tired of Bama versus Clemson. It worked out well for the SEC – SEC wins for both bowls.
Congrats to Bama and their fans. That escalated quickly. Tons of respect for Young and Anderson, but I can’t say I’m unhappy they are moving on.
Gomer Pyle: “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!!!”
Rumors of Bama’s decline may be slightly inaccurate…. ?
The selection committee wanted Bamaa to play KS…
not Clemson. And now we know why…
If I am not mistaken, it is because the Sugar Bowl has a contract to have the BIG12 and SEC champions meet when they are not in the playoffs and when the Sugar Bowl is not hosting a playoff game.
Because Kansas State is better than Clemson and the 2nd best team in the SEC goes to the Sugar Bowl?
Must be tough to be a team that’s happy if they beat Bama.
Congrats, Bama! Great finish.
Bama showed they aren’t ready to go away just yet.
Go down 10. Come roaring back. Good to see them play so hard. Good to see an SEC team win the Sugar Bowl (i.e. our traditional bowl).
Great win for Bama
Thanks boxster. Hope y’all beat the h e l l out of OSU.
This was one of the best Bama games I’ve seen. Players played as a team and for their team. They demonstrated that the “process” is more than a buzz word. I’m proud of these young men.
Remember when this K State team beat one of the playoff teams. Good news, with 12 team playoffs this is the last season Bama misses the playoff for a while. Where were these receivers during the season? Oh well. Got a good crop of young guys ready to play.
That playoff team KSU beat is actually giving Meatchicken a helluva game right now. TCU looks impressive so far.
I want to see Mich and Ohio St wiped from the playoffs…that would make my year.
So would I but they’re in the playoff, some teams will never know. Like Arkansas ??♂️
TCU looks impressive so far.
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Only if you haven’t watched Michigan all season. I thought they were better than TCU, though.
Oh man, that last play by Michigan couldn’t have been any more perfect.
+ Great win.
– Why such a slow start on both sides?
– Why didn’t Milroe get more meaningful snaps? The win was secure by the middle of the 3rd. One measley pass attempt?
Evidence of great pride in the program to have your two biggest stars and future 1st round picks show up in a bowl game with nothing to prove and potentially a lot of future nfl $’s to lose. Congrats to the tide
Roll Tide
Congratulations Tide!
Good win Bama. Slow start, but then everything kicked into gear. Well done.
Nice to see y’all beat Clemson! Congratulations on a great season.
Congrats! Glad someone set the alarm and no one hit the snooze button.
I was hoping y’all would beat Iowa. Still, Yall had a good year. Stoops will have you back next year.
Tennessee and Bama not missing a beat from the regular season. Beautiful NY6 ball being played.
Bama should have been in the final 4 and most of us knew this.
Because Milroe isn’t a college QB and he showed that in the game he starred. He’s Starr Jackson junior.
Great win. Roll tide
Good luck to y’all. Hope y’all make easy work of Ohio State and win it all.
It sure was not easy but it is done, now off to California!
Nice win today Bama. Looked like a Bama team should in the post season. Kinda surprised at TCU Michigan score but I honestly haven’t watched Michigan play this year so… Gonna go pull for the Dawgs to get another SEC championship…
Great game by Alabama. So glad they got the win.
Very well done Bama, cream rising to the top again.
Nice game Alabama, congratulations! It’s awesome that there were no opt outs, that says a lot about a team.
It’s frustrating understanding the cfp – do you select the best teams or the best records? Heck, if it’s the latter, then 1/3 of the SEC teams should just move to other conferences where they would rarely lose a game.
Good to see the SEC teams showing these other schools how to play football.We knew Florida,Missouri,and Kentucky were going to lose.These bigger bowls are getting a taste of football in the south.