Ohio State beats Alabama in Sugar Bowl to reach CFP final

NEW ORLEANS – It's Ohio State and Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship Game.

The Buckeyes joined the Ducks in the final with a 42-35 victory over Alabama in Thursday's Allstate Sugar Bowl.

After trailing 21-6 midway through the second quarter, Ohio State ripped off 36 points to Alabama's 14 as the Tide's defense couldn't stop the Buckeyes' rushing attack.

The dagger came with 3:24 to go as Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott ripped off an 85-yard touchdown run to give the Buckeyes a 42-28 lead after a two-point conversion pass.

Alabama had a chance late in the game thanks to some curious playcalling by Ohio State, but QB Blake Sims' Hail Mary pass towards the end zone ended up in the arms of S Tyvis Powell as time expired.

The Tide scored a touchdown to bring the game within seven points with 1:50 to go and with two timeouts remaining, chose to onside kick. The onside kick failed, but Ohio State, sensing a chance to kill the game off, called a pass play on first down. Jones had WR Evan Spencer in man coverage on the outside, but the pass fell incomplete, giving Alabama what essentially amounted to a free timeout.

Two running plays later, Ohio State was forced to punt with 1:39 remaining. However, Alabama's chances of getting down the field were quickly extinguished when the first two plays of its drive took 45 seconds.

Ohio State cut the Alabama lead to 21-20 right before halftime and got the ball to start the second half. On the sixth play of the drive, Jones found Devin Smith for a 47-yard touchdown and the Buckeyes' first lead since 3-0 after the first drive of the game.

Alabama created the early margin on Ohio State by capitalizing on two early Ohio State turnovers and turning them into 14 points. But Ohio State seized control of the game via Alabama's first turnover in the third quarter. Sims was looking for WR Amari Cooper and didn't see OSU DE Steve Miller, who stepped in front of the pass and returned it to the end zone for a 34-21 lead.

Elliott finished with 20 carries for a Sugar Bowl-record 230 yards and two touchdowns. He accounted for nearly 82 percent of Ohio State's 281 yards on the ground, a number that's more than triple what Alabama entered the game giving up.

For more Alabama news, visit TideSports.com.

For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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