Awesome second half effort by the Crimson Tide in their 35-16 victory over Michigan.

Jerry Jeudy, in his last game in a Crimson Tide uniform most likely, caught 6 passes for 204 yards with a TD. DeVonta Smith had 3 receptions and a TD. Miller Forrestall, the hard working tight end, also caught a TD. Najee Harris was spectacular rushing for 136 yards and 2 TDs. Talk about a player that boosted his professional stock this season. Mac Jones was awesome going 16-for-25 for 327 yards, 3 TDs and 0 ints.

The defense got 6 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. Safety Xavier McKinney led the defense with 10 tackles. McKinney had a super game. Linebackers Shane Lee land Christian Harris added 9 tackles apiece. Lee had a sack and a TFL and Harris added 2 TFLs. Those guys are both freshmen. With those 2 and the great Dylan Moses returning and with some other young talent, linebacker should be a position of strength next season. Josh Jobe and Shyheim Carter each had an int. ***Update Dylan Moses’ return to Alabama is in limbo right now, as his father, an attorney, is checking into a loss of value” insurance policy that he will try to negotiate with the university. So that’s not a done deal for Dylan’s return. Will keep you posted.

Overall, a terrific effort by the team. There will be several juniors making their decisions soon on whether or not they’ll go out for the NFL draft. Tua will announce his decision this coming Monday, 1-6-20. Najee, Jeudy, DeVonta, Jedrick Willis, Alex Leatherwood, who has now announced he IS returning for his senior season, among others will also be making decisions. It’ll be an interesting time and a little nerve wrecking for Crimson Tide fans. All the guys listed above seem ready for the next level with the training they’ve gotten under S and their supreme ability. Henry Ruggs III is another. I’ve heard there’s a chance he’ll come back. Whatever the players decide is OK with me. They have given a lot and have been treated well in return, but I know they want to make a good living doing this, so I wouldn’t begrudge them for going. They deserve a shot in the National Football League if they choose that direction. Tua is a 50-50 proposition in my opinion. Wish I could give you more definitive answer. I think he wants to go the next level, but he knows he could really get his stock back up to the No.1 status that it was if he came back to Tuscaloosa and played another year. So that could be potentially exciting. Mac Jones is a pretty formidable quarterback as well. Taulia needs some work, but he’s talented. The incoming freshman, Bryce Young, the 3rd ranked player in the country according to Rivals and a big time 5 star, is a real stud, so there are some excellent possibilities if Tua decided to go out for the draft. It would be exciting if Tua decides to come back, but the cupboard would still be in pretty good shape even if he didn’t. Tua really likes playing at Alabama so that is a plus for him coming back. He’s also an amazingly nice young man who’s got high character, so that’s good for coming back. Jerry, DeVonta and Najee might be hard to keep, but we’ll see. Should be an exciting time with another top flight recruiting class coming in, and some really fine players in place on the team. This upcoming sophomore class is exceptional. Will get a better read on the team in the spring game, but the potential is there for another championship. That’s always the case in Tuscaloosa.

Auburn

That was a tough loss for the Tigers. Minnesota and Coach P.J. Fleck played and coached an awesome game respectively. Tough for the Tigers to lose that momentum they got from the Iron Bowl victory. Sorry for Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and the seniors. I really don’t blame Gus for this loss, the credit mostly goes toFleck who lost his offensive coordinator for the game after he took another head coaching job. He’s quite a coach. The running back Mohmed Ibrahim rushed for 140 yards and a TD. Tyler Johnson is a spectacular receiver as he caught 12 passes for 204 yards and 2 TDs. Quarterback Tanner Morgan was 19-of-29 for 278 and 2 TDs. The Minnesota defensive line dominated the AU offensive line. Bo Nix was always under duress. It was a tough way for the Tigers to finish the season. The recruiting class is very good and the talent returning on offense led by Bo Nix and wide receivers Seth Williams and Anthony Scwartz is pretty solid. There will be linemen on both sides of the ball who will need to be replaced. Auburn had a tough schedule this year. I did blame Gus for the Florida and LSU losses, not really the Georgia loss as much I guess, but maybe that one too, but not as much here. I think it was all about how well Minnesota played. P.J. Fleck is a supremely talented coach.

Yesterday: 2-2

Overall: 18-12

Today

Ticketsmarter Birmingham Bowl

No. 21 Cincinnati (10-3) vs. Boston College (6-6)

Legion Field

2 PM CT

ESPN

Cincy by 7 1/2

Like the Bearcats to take care of business in an unfortunately sloppy game at the Old Gray Lady.

Cincinnati 17, Boston College 7

Taxslayer Gator Bowl

Tennessee (7-5) vs Indiana (8-4)

TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL

6 PM CT

ESPN

Vols by 3 1/2

Like Jeremy Pruitt and his Vols to keep the momentum going and matriculating into the 2020 season. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano finishes off a very fine season starting at the latter part of the season and leads his team to their 8th victory in 2019. Pruitt has a lot of talent returning and has the 9th best 2020 class in the country according to Rivals. Things are looking very bright in Knoxvegas.

Tennessee 28, Indiana 24