ARLINGTON, Texas — Wil Anderson Jr. did just about everything he could think of to make sure his teammates were ready for Friday’s Cotton Bowl semifinal. Earlier this month, the Alabama edge rusher made it clear that the trip to Texas was a business trip. He even went as far as to say he felt No. 1 Alabama was an “underdog” for its matchup against No. 4 Cincinnati despite the fact that the Crimson Tide entered the matchup as a 13.5-point favorite.

The antics clearly worked as a focused Alabama defense dominated Cincinnati, holding the Bearcats to 218 yards in a 27-6 victory.

“I’m so happy, I’m proud of the guys,” said Anderson, who earned defensive player of the game honors recording two sacks on the night. “It was a long time coming. We practiced our butts off for a few weeks and stuff like that. Mental energy was great. Like I said earlier, there was no cancers, nobody being negative. Everybody was just ready to play. Throughout the week the preparation was good. Defensively, we watched film together. The meetings were good. Everybody was locked in, paying attention to the small details. We were ready for anything they kind of threw at us. I’m super proud of these guys, and we’ve just got to keep it rolling.”

More than half of Cincinnati’s yards came during its opening drives of both halves when it was able to script more of a plan against the Tide’s attack. The Bearcats drove 60 yards on 13 plays while settling for a field goal on their first possession and managed 56 yards on 11 plays before adding its second field goal in the third quarter.

Outside of those two drives, Alabama allowed Cincinnati just 102 yards on 34 plays, forcing the Bearcats to punt five times. That’s no small feat against a team that entered the day averaging 39.2 points and 428.9 yards total yards. Alabama was the first team to keep Cincinnati out of the end zone since Ohio State shut out the Bearcats 42-0 in 2019.

“What we did tonight, it’s just unbelievable,” Anderson said. “We still have work to do, but for us to meet that goal, that’s one of the biggest goals on our goal sheet. To meet that goal means a lot to us, and we’ve got to just keep it going.”

The focus surrounding Alabama’s offense this week centered around quarterback Bryce Young. However, when the Tide took the ball to start the game, the Heisman Trophy winner took part in a rare supporting role.

Alabama started the game with 10 straight running plays as it bullied its way down the field on its opening possession. Young’s first pass came on the Tide’s 11th snap of the drive as he found an open Slade Bolden, for an easy 8-yard score. Before that, running back Brian Robinson carried the load, running the ball six times for 37 yards on the possession.

“I think we showed a lot of physicality,” Robinson said. “We knew they were going to come out fired up. We knew they were going to come out and try to be physical. We just proved that we were the most physical team.”

On a day where Young posted a season-low 181 yards through the air, Alabama leaned on its running game, gashing Cincinnati for 301 yards on the ground. Robinson recorded the majority of that, recording a career-high 204 yards on 26 carries. The rushing total was the highest for an Alabama back in a bowl game

“I literally put all my heart into this,” Robinson said. “This university, that team in the locker room, I don’t ever want to let my brothers down. I never want to let my coaches down. I don’t ever want to let this university down. I just give it everything I’ve got every chance I get.”

The Tide’s defense was just as physical, sacking Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder five times while also recording six quarterback hurries. Alabama limited the Bearcats to just 74 yards on the ground as Tide transfer Jerome Ford carried the ball 15 times for 77 yards.

“That’s one of the biggest things we hit on this week was just being physical up front and just making sure we’re in our the right gaps, everybody being sound. Just playing physical and out-physicaling them. I think that’s what we did this game.”

Alabama youth was put on display near the end of the first half as a trio of Tide freshmen stepped up in key moments.

Following a stop from Alabama’s defense, receiver JoJo Earle muffed a punt inside of the Tide’s 10-yard line only to be bailed out by fellow freshman Kool-Aid McKinstry, who fell on the ball to avoid the turnover.

On the ensuing possession, Young found freshman receiver Ja’Corey Brooks for a 44-yard touchdown to put Alabama up by two scores. During Cincinnati’s following possession, freshman linebacker Dallas Turner recorded to help send the Bearcats into the half down 17-3.

Those three guys have played really well for us,” head coach Nick Saban said of McKinstry, Brooks and Turner. “Kool-Aid played well

tonight. Dallas has played well ever since Drew Sanders hurt his hand. So I'm really pleased the way those guys have developed.

It means something to those guys,” head coach Nick Saban said of McKinstry, Brooks and Turner. “Those guys are very committed to trying to be good players, trying to learn, trying to grow, watching other players and how they do things and how they need to work in practice to prepare for a game. And I think that's why they've made the improvement and the progress that they've made. And now that they've played some, I think they have some confidence as well. And I think that's invaluable, especially at this point in the season.”

McKinstry finished the game with five tackles to go with his fumble recovery, while Turner sack was his lone statistical contribution of the night. Brooks recorded four receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown.

In addition, freshman offensive lineman JC Latham filled in admirably at right guard after starter Emil Ekiyor Jr. left the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter.