Alabama Crimson Tide WR DeVonta Smith wins Offensive MVP after record-setting first half
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith set multiple records and was named Offensive Most Valuable Player of Monday night's 52-24 win over Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T.
Crimson Tide defensive tackle Christian Barmore was named Defensive MVP.
Smith, who was awarded the Heisman Trophy last Tuesday, exited the game early in the third quarter with a right hand injury. He returned to the sideline in the fourth quarter in street clothes with his hand heavily bandaged.
Afterward, Smith said he had a dislocated finger and noted that he will "be all right."
The senior needed only two quarters to make history, as he caught 12 passes, a CFP title game record. His 215 receiving yards were the second most in a CFP or BCS game, and his three receiving touchdowns tied a BCS/CFP title game record set by Southern California's Steve Smith in 2005.
DeVonta Smith's march into the record books began on Monday's opening drive, as a 15-yard reception broke the SEC record for career receiving yards previously held by Jordan Matthews, who set the mark of 3,759 yards at Vanderbilt from 2010 to 2013. Smith finishes his SEC career with 3,965 receiving yards.
Smith also set the SEC single-season receiving (1,856 yards) and touchdown (23) records. He caught his 21st touchdown on a 5-yard reception in the second quarter, breaking a tie with LSU's Ja'Marr Chase, who set the mark last season. And Smith also broke Chase's single-season record for receiving yards in the second quarter, going past the previous mark of 1,780 yards.
"Heaven knows what he would have done if he played the whole game," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
Smith, who had to watch a portion of the game from the locker room, credited his teammates for stepping up in his absence.
"It came down to the young guys just putting in the work, every day, every week, knowing if somebody went down, they were going to have to come in and do something big," he said. "I believed in them from the jump. That's what we do; that is why you come to Bama."
Monday night marked the fifth time in Smith's career he registered 200 or more receiving yards in a game. His career best for receiving yards in a game was 274 against Ole Miss on Sept. 28, 2019.
Smith, who first gained notoriety when he caught the winning pass in overtime of the 2018 CFP title game as a freshman, leaves Alabama as the school's all-time leader in receiving yards and touchdowns (46).
"Unbelievable," Smith said of the Alabama's season. "We just finished writing our story; that was the whole thing of us coming back, just finishing the story that we wanted to write, and we did that."
The Louisiana native is the No. 4 overall NFL draft prospect and the highest-rated wide receiver on Mel Kiper's Big Board.
Barmore is listed as Kiper's No. 2 defensive tackle.
ESPN's Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.
