COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alabama allowed 48 points to a team that finished the regular season with a losing record. Ohio State allowed 491 passing yards at home to the team that only scored 20 points in a bowl loss to the same sub-.500 team referenced above. Defense did not lead either the Crimson Tide or the Buckeyes to their national championship matchup at Hard Rock Stadium near Miami on Monday. Both picked up doubters about their defense based on a couple of isolated performances. They also won their College Football Playoff semifinal games with defense-forward performances. The Crimson Tide held Notre Dame to seven points in the game’s first 59 minutes. Ohio State flattened Clemson’s run game and made its national nemesis one-dimensional early on. “We’ve always believed we can compete with anybody in the country on any particular week,” Ohio State linebacker Tuf Borland said. “We practice against the…
Continue Reading: In an Ohio State-Alabama national championship poised for a shootout, what does a winning defense look like?
