At the half of Monday night’s CFP National Championship, Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith had 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns….AT THE HALF! He injured his hand and wasn’t even able to finish the game and he STILL ended up winning the offensive MVP honors. Had he been able to finish that game, there’s no doubt in my mind he would’ve gone over 300 yards and probably finished with six touchdowns. Just a brilliant cap to an unreal season.
But, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian deserves a lot of credit for finding ways to scheme Smith open all season long. It was a rare chemistry between play-maker and play-caller. The ways in which Sark drew things up in order for Smith to get even just a single step on his opponent was impressive.
That’s part of the reason the man won this year’s Broyles Award, given annually to the best assistant coach in college football. Now, he’s off to be the head coach of the Texas Longhorns and Nick Saban will be looking for a new play-caller yet again. But, let’s take a look at Smith’s touchdowns from Monday night as examples of this chemistry between Sark and Smith.
DeVonta Smith finds the endzone for the Tide ‼️#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/xa0QKBugT0
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 12, 2021
Here, Smith runs up as if he’s going to block or run to the right. Then, he bails out at the last second, and catches a pass while drawing a Buckeyes defender (#41) in and then faking him out for the touchdown. Just brilliant misdirection design, and it’s a good example of the synergy between the two – Sark drawing that up is great, but it only works if you have the athlete that can still get to the edge after coming up.
On another, he breaks the motion man’s ankles BEFORE the ball is even snapped. All he needs is a step and he’s in – that’s exactly what happened on this play.
DeVonta Smith is the
— Alabama Diehards (@AlabamaDieHards) January 12, 2021
Alabama leads 28-17 vs Ohio State pic.twitter.com/OkITTFmc5J
#7 is the only Buckeye that has a chance to make this tackle, but Smith effects the angle he has to take BEFORE the ball is even snapped. I would imagine that once the offense identifies the man coverage here, Smith breaks that off and everyone sees the play. An offense absolutely in sync.
Finally, the slaughter of Tuf Borland. Smith lines up in the slot – he really can play anywhere – and identifies a mismatch against Borland and just runs right at him. The next thing you know, he’s streaking down the field for the touchdown.
OH MY DEVONTA SMITH
— ESPN (@espn) January 12, 2021
That makes THREE TOUCHDOWNS for the Heisman winner pic.twitter.com/u9qpKEKnTC
Props to Smith for identifying that mismatch and absolutely exploiting it – but it’s also an indication of how deadly he can be all over the field. That’s how Sark uses Smith to create these mismatches.
Sure, Smith is a freak of nature, but Sark lining him up in different formations and using him in motion is so creative in getting the guy just a single step on the opponent. It’s amazing – it feels like one of those rare ‘lightning in a bottle’ kind of things. You have a Heisman winning wide receiver and a Broyles Award winning offensive coordinator completely in sync.
This 2020 Alabama team was amazing, maybe Saban’s best yet, which is saying something given some of the teams and all-time great defenses he’s fielded. I just hope Tide fans can appreciate just how special Sark’s work with Smith was this season, because it’s not something you see too often.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
