Alabama moved quickly after their legendary head coach, Nick Saban, surprisingly announced his retirement earlier this week. The university tabbed Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to serve as the new head coach of the Crimson Tide.

Alabama officially confirmed DeBoer’s arrival on Friday evening.

Saban decided to retire after spending 17 seasons with Alabama and winning six national titles. Crimson Tide was eliminated in this year’s College Football Playoffs in the semifinals by Michigan, which ended up being crowned the champions.

“Following coach Saban is an honor,” DeBoer said in a statement. “He has been the standard for college football, and his success is unprecedented. I would not have left Washington for just any school. The chance to lead the football program at the University of Alabama is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

It is unclear whether DeBoer was Alabama’s first choice for replacing Saban. Athletic director Greg Byrne reportedly reached out to several former assistants of Saban, including Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Oregon’s Dan Lanning. However, both decided to stay with their current programs, leaving Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees on the final list of candidates alongside DeBoer.

Kalen DeBoer comes with a reputation as a program builder and a coach with a track record of winning. He had his first head coaching job with Sioux Falls in 2005, leading the Cougars to a 67-3 record in five seasons. DeBoer then spent time with several programs as an offensive coordinator before landing the top job at Fresno State in 2020.

After two successful seasons with Fresno State, DeBoer was hired to resurrect the Washington Huskies, which went 4-8 in 2021. He did just that, compiling a 25-3 record in two years and making the CPF in his second season in charge.

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It is the end of the road for Alabama Crimson Tide’s legendary head coach, Nick Saban. According to a report by ESPN’s Chris Low, Saban informed Alabama on Wednesday that he is retiring.

Saban is walking away after spending 17 years with Crimson Tide and leading the program to six national championships and 13 SEC titles. Alabama reached the College Football Playoffs in 2023 before being eliminated in the semifinals with a 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan.

Saban is considered one of the greatest coaches in college football history. He coached 28 seasons at the college level with Toledo, Michigan State, LSU, and Alabama without ever having a losing season. He has a total of seven national titles, winning one with LSU and six with Alabama. No other coach since 1998 has more than three.

Saban will end his career with a 292-71-1 record as a head coach in college football. His 292 wins rank him 12th all-time among head coaches in NCAA, while his 201 games won with Alabama are second-most with a single school in SEC history.

Saban spent time coaching in the NFL. He was an assistant with the Houston Oilers and defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns before landing a head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins in 2005. Saban left Miami after two seasons, during which the Dolphins went 15-17, to take the Alabama job.

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Michigan and Alabama faced in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Monday and produced a thrilling game, just like everyone predicted. Michigan ended up on top, getting a 27-20 win that secured them a shot at the national championship.

Michigan Wolverines will now play the Washington Huskies, who beat Texas Longhorns, in the CFP finals next Monday. The Wolverines will be looking for their first national title since 1997.

Alabama scored a field goal with less than five minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter to grab a 20-13 lead, at which point it seemed like Michigan could once again finish their CFP run on a disappointing note. However, J.J. McCarthy and the Wolverines’ offense marched 75 yards down the field to score a touchdown and force overtime.

The Wolverines got the first possession in overtime and reached the endzone thanks to a pair of Blake Corum’s runs. Michigan’s defense then made an impressive stand at their own 3-yard line to seal the win and punch the ticket to the CFP finals.

McCarthy finished the game with 221 passing yards while throwing three touchdowns to take the Offensive Player of the Game, while Corum rushed for 83 yards and a TD.

“Everything that we went through this entire year made us unbreakable, and in the biggest moments, we were going to show up,” said McCarthy after the game.

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After a dominant 52-24 win over No. 3-ranked Ohio State on Monday night, the Alabama football team has now won the College Football Playoff National Championship for the sixth time in 12 years.

This is the seventh national championship for head coach Nick Saban, who won his first in 2003 at LSU before winning six with Alabama. With his seventh title, Saban breaks the tie with another Alabama legend, Paul “Bear” Bryant, for the most championships won by a major college coach.

The Alabama Crimson Tide were perfect this year, winning 13 straight games to take the title.

Known for their strong defensive efforts over the year, Saban has evolved his philosophy to put as much focus on putting up points as on keeping opponents off the scoreboard. This was never more evident than last night, with the Alabama offense never taking its foot off the pedal, putting up 52 points to make sure that Ohio State had no chance of coming back.

Alabama’s star wide receiver and recent Heisman trophy winner DeVonta Smith put in another unbelievable performance and he only needed one half of football to do it. Before leaving the game at halftime with an injured finger, Smith caught 12 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

Football fans can expect Alabama’s dominance to continue next year and beyond and are clearly witnessing the greatest dynasty in the history of college football.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide, who headed into the weekend as the #5 ranked team in the country and with a big chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff, dropped the Iron Bowl to in-state rivals Auburn to kill all hope for their chances for qualifying.

Auburn, which came into the game with an 8-3 record and as the #16 ranked team in the country, took advantage of a strong running game and mistakes by Alabama quarterback Mac Jones to romp to their highest-scoring game against the Tide since 1969.

The Tigers returned two interceptions for touchdowns against Jones, one by Zakoby McClain and another by Smoke Monday.

JaTarvious Whitlow and quarterback Bo Nix each had big days on the ground, rushing for 116 and 44 yards with a touchdown, respectively.

Despite all of the mistakes made by Alabama throughout the game, Jones and running back Najee Harris kept them in it with big days in the air and on the ground. The signal-caller threw for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Harris ran for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Alabama had a chance to tie up the game late with a 30-yard field goal, but kicker Joseph Bulovas hit the post with the kick, sending Auburn to victory.

Now, both teams will wait to see which bowl game they will play in to wrap up the season.

The post Alabama Upset By Auburn, Falls Out of CFP Picture appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Georgia Bulldogs got a big win on the road against Auburn on Saturday, and were rewarded for their efforts with a jump in the polls for the College Football Playoff on Sunday.

Georgia, which found itself ranked 5th heading into the weekend behind Alabama, took advantage of a convincing win over the 12th-ranked Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in order to move forward into the playoff spots in the poll.

In the College Football Playoff System, implemented for the 2015 season, the top four teams qualify for a playoff to decide the season’s champion.

Alabama found itself punished despite a comfortable 38-7 road win over Mississippi State, dropping from 5th to 4th and provisionally out of the playoffs.

This wasn’t the only bad news of the weekend for the Crimson Tide, however. Star quarterback Tua Tagovaiola suffered a season-ending hip injury in his team’s Saturday win, meaning that the Tide will have to turn to backup quarterback Mac Jones for the rest of the year.

Many have guessed that Tagovaiola’s injury influenced Alabama’s drop in the rankings heading into the penultimate weekend of the regular season.

Georgia will host #24 Texas A&M on Saturday, while Alabama will take on Western Carolina at home.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide are holding their breath after star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was forced out of their Saturday night win against Tennessee with what was described as a high ankle sprain.

The Hawaii native suffered the injury after being taken down from behind in the second quarter while trying to escape the pocket by Tennessee defender Greg Emerson. He immediately left the game after what appeared to be a serious ankle injury.

Alabama went on to win the 35-13 despite their star player’s injury.

Tagovailoa was evaluated during the game, where the extent of his injury was determined, and the Crimson Tide medical team didn’t take long to take action.

On Sunday, the potential #1 overall draft pick next spring underwent a “tight rope” procedure to stabilize his ankle in order to fix the injury and prevent further damage.

It is still unknown when Tagovailoa will be able to return to the field, but Alabama coach Nick Saban sounded optimistic when addressing the media, saying ” Tua will miss next week’s game against Arkansas, but we expect a full and speedy recovery.”

Tagovailoa has thrown for 27 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions in what has been a dominant season both for him and for the #1 ranked Tide.

Alabama fans and coaches alike will cross their fingers and hope that their gunslinger will be back to the field sooner rather than later.

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Things didn’t look good for Nick Saban and Alabama in the College National Championship game against Georgia. The Georgia Bulldogs, led by former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, had the Crimson Tide 13-0 on the halftime and looked like a better team. Then, Saban showed his skills as couch. He recognized that his offense was stalled, and made a switch on the quarterback position. Sophomore Jalen Hurts, who was Alabama’s starting QB the entire seasons, moved to bench in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa was tasked with turning over the game in Alabama’s favor, although he never started a college game in his life.

It turned out that Tagovailoa was just the spark the Crimson Tide needed, as he led Alabama back into the game, eventually tying the score 20-20.

This didn’t catch Georgia unprepared, since Kirby Smart anticipated such a move from his former mentor, but there was little they could do to stop him.

“We told everybody at halftime there was no question they were going to him because they were struggling and they needed some momentum,” – said Smart. “He provided them some juice.“

Crimson Tide had the chance to win the game in regular time, but kicker Andy Pappanastos couldn’t convert a 36-yard kick with few seconds remaining on the clock. Eventually, Alabama managed to win the game in overtime, 26-23 being the final score. The freshman quarterback threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the 41 yards TD which won the game.

“I thought Tua would give us a better chance,” – said Saban about his decision to switch it up at the quarterback position.

This was Alabama’s 17th National Championship title, and fifth since Nick Saban took over in 2007. Saban now has 6 national titles, including the one he won with LSU in 2003.

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Alabama moved quickly after their legendary head coach, Nick Saban, surprisingly announced his retirement earlier this week. The university tabbed Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to serve as the new head coach of the Crimson Tide.

Alabama officially confirmed DeBoer’s arrival on Friday evening.

Saban decided to retire after spending 17 seasons with Alabama and winning six national titles. Crimson Tide was eliminated in this year’s College Football Playoffs in the semifinals by Michigan, which ended up being crowned the champions.

“Following coach Saban is an honor,” DeBoer said in a statement. “He has been the standard for college football, and his success is unprecedented. I would not have left Washington for just any school. The chance to lead the football program at the University of Alabama is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

It is unclear whether DeBoer was Alabama’s first choice for replacing Saban. Athletic director Greg Byrne reportedly reached out to several former assistants of Saban, including Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Oregon’s Dan Lanning. However, both decided to stay with their current programs, leaving Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees on the final list of candidates alongside DeBoer.

Kalen DeBoer comes with a reputation as a program builder and a coach with a track record of winning. He had his first head coaching job with Sioux Falls in 2005, leading the Cougars to a 67-3 record in five seasons. DeBoer then spent time with several programs as an offensive coordinator before landing the top job at Fresno State in 2020.

After two successful seasons with Fresno State, DeBoer was hired to resurrect the Washington Huskies, which went 4-8 in 2021. He did just that, compiling a 25-3 record in two years and making the CPF in his second season in charge.

The post Alabama Hires Washington’s Kalen DeBoer as Crimson Tides’ New Head Coach appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It is the end of the road for Alabama Crimson Tide’s legendary head coach, Nick Saban. According to a report by ESPN’s Chris Low, Saban informed Alabama on Wednesday that he is retiring.

Saban is walking away after spending 17 years with Crimson Tide and leading the program to six national championships and 13 SEC titles. Alabama reached the College Football Playoffs in 2023 before being eliminated in the semifinals with a 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan.

Saban is considered one of the greatest coaches in college football history. He coached 28 seasons at the college level with Toledo, Michigan State, LSU, and Alabama without ever having a losing season. He has a total of seven national titles, winning one with LSU and six with Alabama. No other coach since 1998 has more than three.

Saban will end his career with a 292-71-1 record as a head coach in college football. His 292 wins rank him 12th all-time among head coaches in NCAA, while his 201 games won with Alabama are second-most with a single school in SEC history.

Saban spent time coaching in the NFL. He was an assistant with the Houston Oilers and defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns before landing a head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins in 2005. Saban left Miami after two seasons, during which the Dolphins went 15-17, to take the Alabama job.

The post Alabama’s Legendary Head Coach Nick Saban is Retiring appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Michigan and Alabama faced in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Monday and produced a thrilling game, just like everyone predicted. Michigan ended up on top, getting a 27-20 win that secured them a shot at the national championship.

Michigan Wolverines will now play the Washington Huskies, who beat Texas Longhorns, in the CFP finals next Monday. The Wolverines will be looking for their first national title since 1997.

Alabama scored a field goal with less than five minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter to grab a 20-13 lead, at which point it seemed like Michigan could once again finish their CFP run on a disappointing note. However, J.J. McCarthy and the Wolverines’ offense marched 75 yards down the field to score a touchdown and force overtime.

The Wolverines got the first possession in overtime and reached the endzone thanks to a pair of Blake Corum’s runs. Michigan’s defense then made an impressive stand at their own 3-yard line to seal the win and punch the ticket to the CFP finals.

McCarthy finished the game with 221 passing yards while throwing three touchdowns to take the Offensive Player of the Game, while Corum rushed for 83 yards and a TD.

“Everything that we went through this entire year made us unbreakable, and in the biggest moments, we were going to show up,” said McCarthy after the game.

The post Michigan Takes Down Alabama to Advance to CFP Finals appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After a dominant 52-24 win over No. 3-ranked Ohio State on Monday night, the Alabama football team has now won the College Football Playoff National Championship for the sixth time in 12 years.

This is the seventh national championship for head coach Nick Saban, who won his first in 2003 at LSU before winning six with Alabama. With his seventh title, Saban breaks the tie with another Alabama legend, Paul “Bear” Bryant, for the most championships won by a major college coach.

The Alabama Crimson Tide were perfect this year, winning 13 straight games to take the title.

Known for their strong defensive efforts over the year, Saban has evolved his philosophy to put as much focus on putting up points as on keeping opponents off the scoreboard. This was never more evident than last night, with the Alabama offense never taking its foot off the pedal, putting up 52 points to make sure that Ohio State had no chance of coming back.

Alabama’s star wide receiver and recent Heisman trophy winner DeVonta Smith put in another unbelievable performance and he only needed one half of football to do it. Before leaving the game at halftime with an injured finger, Smith caught 12 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

Football fans can expect Alabama’s dominance to continue next year and beyond and are clearly witnessing the greatest dynasty in the history of college football.

The post Alabama Wins National Championship, Continues College Football Dominance appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Alabama Crimson Tide, who headed into the weekend as the #5 ranked team in the country and with a big chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff, dropped the Iron Bowl to in-state rivals Auburn to kill all hope for their chances for qualifying.

Auburn, which came into the game with an 8-3 record and as the #16 ranked team in the country, took advantage of a strong running game and mistakes by Alabama quarterback Mac Jones to romp to their highest-scoring game against the Tide since 1969.

The Tigers returned two interceptions for touchdowns against Jones, one by Zakoby McClain and another by Smoke Monday.

JaTarvious Whitlow and quarterback Bo Nix each had big days on the ground, rushing for 116 and 44 yards with a touchdown, respectively.

Despite all of the mistakes made by Alabama throughout the game, Jones and running back Najee Harris kept them in it with big days in the air and on the ground. The signal-caller threw for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Harris ran for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Alabama had a chance to tie up the game late with a 30-yard field goal, but kicker Joseph Bulovas hit the post with the kick, sending Auburn to victory.

Now, both teams will wait to see which bowl game they will play in to wrap up the season.

The post Alabama Upset By Auburn, Falls Out of CFP Picture appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Georgia Bulldogs got a big win on the road against Auburn on Saturday, and were rewarded for their efforts with a jump in the polls for the College Football Playoff on Sunday.

Georgia, which found itself ranked 5th heading into the weekend behind Alabama, took advantage of a convincing win over the 12th-ranked Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium in order to move forward into the playoff spots in the poll.

In the College Football Playoff System, implemented for the 2015 season, the top four teams qualify for a playoff to decide the season’s champion.

Alabama found itself punished despite a comfortable 38-7 road win over Mississippi State, dropping from 5th to 4th and provisionally out of the playoffs.

This wasn’t the only bad news of the weekend for the Crimson Tide, however. Star quarterback Tua Tagovaiola suffered a season-ending hip injury in his team’s Saturday win, meaning that the Tide will have to turn to backup quarterback Mac Jones for the rest of the year.

Many have guessed that Tagovaiola’s injury influenced Alabama’s drop in the rankings heading into the penultimate weekend of the regular season.

Georgia will host #24 Texas A&M on Saturday, while Alabama will take on Western Carolina at home.

The post Georgia Moves Up to #4 in CFP Poll After Beating Auburn appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are holding their breath after star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was forced out of their Saturday night win against Tennessee with what was described as a high ankle sprain.

The Hawaii native suffered the injury after being taken down from behind in the second quarter while trying to escape the pocket by Tennessee defender Greg Emerson. He immediately left the game after what appeared to be a serious ankle injury.

Alabama went on to win the 35-13 despite their star player’s injury.

Tagovailoa was evaluated during the game, where the extent of his injury was determined, and the Crimson Tide medical team didn’t take long to take action.

On Sunday, the potential #1 overall draft pick next spring underwent a “tight rope” procedure to stabilize his ankle in order to fix the injury and prevent further damage.

It is still unknown when Tagovailoa will be able to return to the field, but Alabama coach Nick Saban sounded optimistic when addressing the media, saying ” Tua will miss next week’s game against Arkansas, but we expect a full and speedy recovery.”

Tagovailoa has thrown for 27 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions in what has been a dominant season both for him and for the #1 ranked Tide.

Alabama fans and coaches alike will cross their fingers and hope that their gunslinger will be back to the field sooner rather than later.

The post Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa Suffers High Ankle Sprain in Win vs. Tennessee appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Things didn’t look good for Nick Saban and Alabama in the College National Championship game against Georgia. The Georgia Bulldogs, led by former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, had the Crimson Tide 13-0 on the halftime and looked like a better team. Then, Saban showed his skills as couch. He recognized that his offense was stalled, and made a switch on the quarterback position. Sophomore Jalen Hurts, who was Alabama’s starting QB the entire seasons, moved to bench in favor of freshman Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa was tasked with turning over the game in Alabama’s favor, although he never started a college game in his life.

It turned out that Tagovailoa was just the spark the Crimson Tide needed, as he led Alabama back into the game, eventually tying the score 20-20.

This didn’t catch Georgia unprepared, since Kirby Smart anticipated such a move from his former mentor, but there was little they could do to stop him.

“We told everybody at halftime there was no question they were going to him because they were struggling and they needed some momentum,” – said Smart. “He provided them some juice.“

Crimson Tide had the chance to win the game in regular time, but kicker Andy Pappanastos couldn’t convert a 36-yard kick with few seconds remaining on the clock. Eventually, Alabama managed to win the game in overtime, 26-23 being the final score. The freshman quarterback threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the 41 yards TD which won the game.

“I thought Tua would give us a better chance,” – said Saban about his decision to switch it up at the quarterback position.

This was Alabama’s 17th National Championship title, and fifth since Nick Saban took over in 2007. Saban now has 6 national titles, including the one he won with LSU in 2003.

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