Alabama’s perimeter passing game in the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State mostly consisted of quarterback Jake Coker and receivers ArDarius Stewart and Calvin Ridley.
With some Cam Robinson sprinkled in as well.
The Crimson Tide’s 6-foot-6, 326-pound sophomore left tackle made some impressive blocks in space to help ignite the Crimson Tide’s aerial attack in the 38-0 trouncing of the Spartans. Robinson has spent most of this season providing holes for Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Derrick Henry, but he likes the balance Alabama has developed entering Monday night’s national championship game against undefeated Clemson.
“That last game was big for us,” Robinson said last week in a news conference. “Teams are going to load up the box to try and stop Derrick, so we have to come out and make big plays. We’ve got great playmakers all over the field, and Jake did a great job of throwing the ball around.”
Alabama practiced for the first time in Arizona on Saturday night, which was also the Crimson Tide’s last workout before the title game.
Robinson hasn’t always been perfect this season, though it seems that way lately. He has graded out at 90 percent three times in Alabama’s last five games, and 17 of his 44 knockdown blocks have occurred against Auburn in the regular-season finale, against Florida in the Southeastern Conference championship game and against Michigan State.
Tide coach Nick Saban said Robinson’s stepping-up moment occurred in the 30-16 win over LSU on Nov. 7, when Henry rushed 38 times for 210 yards, Kenyan Drake added 10 carries for 68 yards and Coker completed 18 of 24 passes for 184 yards.
“When you run the ball as effectively as we did against a team like that – that is a good defensive team – I think you have to be pleased,” Saban said. “He did his job very well and dominated his space.”
Robinson was the consensus No. 1 tackle nationally in the 2014 signing class out of Monroe, La., and picked Alabama over the home-state Tigers. He became the first Crimson Tide freshman to start at left tackle since Andre Smith and wound up compiling 32 knockdown blocks while allowing just three sacks in 861 snaps.
That was plenty enough to earn him Freshman All-America honors, but he wasn’t showing improvement during the early stages of this season. Saban said in early October that Robinson had been dealing with nagging injuries but did not offer specifics.
“That’s just a part of football,” Robinson said. “It’s rare that anybody can play without getting at least a little banged up, and it’s something I’ve just had to deal with.”
His strong finish helped Alabama win the inaugural Joe Moore Award, which is given to the nation’s top offensive line. He also helped Henry rewrite the record books as the first player in SEC history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
Henry has 2,061.
“It makes me feel good that we were able to open up the holes for him and let him get downhill to where he can break off runs and get a lot of yards,” Robinson said. “In the first halves of these games, we know that teams are going to be hyped up to stop the run, but we just continue to do what we do and pound the ball. We know eventually that teams will fold and that we’ll be able to break off big runs.
“You can see it in their eyes and in their body language when they’re wearing down.”
Robinson hopes to see that look one more time this season, though he quickly says Clemson is both disciplined and explosive. Oklahoma was also proud of its running game entering the Orange Bowl, where the Sooners were held to 33 rushes for 67 yards in their 37-17 loss to the Tigers.
It’s been a big finish for Robinson, who hopes to save his best for last.
“I’ve learned a lot of things this year, with the biggest being consistency,” he said. “We’ve put in countless hours just grinding, so it’s great to see that pay off, but we’re not done yet.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.