Alabama Crimson Tide

Peach Bowl Proves Old School Football Wins

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:04 a.m. ET

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Fansided, Ronald Evans/FanSided via Bama Hammer

Alabama’s Peach Bowl Semifinal win over Washington proves “old school” football wins as Bama’s defense leads Tide toward another Championship.

Old school football espouses establish the run and stop the opponent’s run.  In the Peach Bowl, CFB Playoff semi-final Alabama outgained Washington 269 rushing yards to 44.  Bo Scarbrough led Bama with 180 yards and a 9.5 yard average.

Early in the 4th quarter a small dose of Chris Petersen’s wizardry pinned the Tide at its own 2 yard-line. Despite a 17-7 Tide lead, the outcome remained in doubt. After two stellar defensive stops against Bama’s Harris and Hurts, the Tide faced a daunting 3rd and nine.  In perhaps the defining play of the game, Bo Scarbrough followed the Tide’s left side and bludgeoned his way to a first down.

A couple of plays later Bo went left again. A combination of good blocking, strong running and a failed desperate arm tackle by a Husky defender resulted in a 68 yard TD.  The 4th quarter 98 yard scoring drive was classic, Alabama-style, power football.

Was Alabama’s 24-7 win over the Washington Huskies a thing of beauty?  Seen through Crimson eyes, perhaps it was.  Paul Bryant believed “offense sell tickets, defense wins championships.”

Other than Bo’s heroics, the Tide offense was inconsistent. The stubborn Husky defense and numerous offensive penalties left Bama needing one of its best defensive performances.

After an early Washington touchdown the Tide showed why it leads the nation in so many defensive statistics.

Besides stuffing U Dub runs and sacking Jake Browning five times, the Tide defense created turnovers.  Anthony Averett caused a fumble that was recovered by Jonathan Allen and Ryan Anderson intercepted Browning, returning it 26 yards for the Tide’s 11th defensive TD of the season.

Rushing for an average of 5.4 yards per carry, while holding your opponent to an average of 1.5 yards, is a historically sound formula for winning games.

The Tide offense will have to play better on Jan. 9, 2017, but on the last day of 2016, “old school” defensive, football was more than enough to win.

What do you think? Is old school football back? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below.

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