Bama Prepares For New Era With College Football Playoffs

Nick Saban has won three BCS national titles at Alabama.

Now he has his team in the first college football playoff to settle the national title as they take on Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

Said Saban,"This is really kind of a new season for us. A new opportunity. Something the team can do. What does everybody want the legacy of this team to be."

   Not many people pegged the Tide to get this far with quarterback Blake Sims.

A fifth year journeyman who played multiple positions, but he hung around and made the most of his opportunity to start at quarterback this season.

Said Saban,"Some little ten-year-old boy came up to me after the spring game and said, do we have a quarterback other than Blake Sims? I think he set the single season passing yardage record or something, and ran the offense that set the all-time total offense record in a single season. I’d say it’s pretty inspirational. I’d say he has got a lot of respect for his teammates. And I’d say he has a tremendous impact on everybody around him."

   Injuries will force Ohio State to play third string quarterback Cardale Jones, who handled himself well against Wisconsin.

Said Jones,"Playing the number one team in the country. I never went against Alabama. No one on this staff has. Of course we’re going to see something we didn’t prepare for. Of course we’ll see something they haven’t put on film yet with me being a young quarterback."

Said Bama safety Landon Collins,"It’s great because you get to mess with a newcomer on the field. It’s great because that’s what we do. We try to confuse as many quarterbacks as we can."

    But Ohio State will have to defend one of the country’s best play-makers in Tide receiver Amari Cooper.

Said Buckeyes safety Tyvis Powell,"You have to have something in place to stop him because we don’t want it to be like last year when (Clemson’) Sammy Watkins just went crazy on us."