Welcome to the Andy Staples Show National Title Game Reaction Edition.

I just got done covering the game in lovely Miami Gardens, Florida.

Ari Wasserman joining us live. Well, it's not live

when you're listening to it, but it's live when we're talking from Cabo. Ari, I think you had the

better spot for the game, but it was something. Because for a game that was this much of a a blowout there's a lot to talk about you

know i i was really shocked by how Alabama at one point because remember it was 14 14 it was 21 14

it was 21 17 and he thought okay Ohio State's going to be able to hang.

And then Alabama just hit the gas and it was over.

And I think the lasting image of the game is going to be tough Borland trying to cover

Devante Smith, which, look, that's never going to work, ever.

Yeah, no, there's no doubt about it.

And I think it's kind of the microcosm of the entire game, really, when you look at it.

It wasn't so much that Ohio State wasn't athletically built to compete in this game.

It was that their defense wasn't put in a position to compete at the highest level. And if you put a linebacker who not disparaging him in any way, but it's probably the slowest player on the team, or at least the slowest player on the field against the Heisman trophy winner, you know, that's what's going to happen. And that's, you know, he's supposed to have help over the top. The help wasn't there.

They had guys playing out of position. And when we talked about the game leading into it, Andy, we talked about how Ohio State didn't have as much of an opportunity to work through

some of these issues in the secondary. And those issues popped up again. And part of the reason

why they were masked in the in the Clemson game was that they

were able to get after Trevor Lawrence. And, you know, unfortunately for Ohio State,

Mac Jones could have read a Stephen King novel in the pocket and still gotten his passes off

like like the stand like over a thousand pages. Yeah. I mean, I don't know, those are quick reads,

but you know, still. He had all the time in the world.

And, you know, it kind of looked to me that Ohio State was doing everything in his power to, you know, keep things in front of them, let Alabama take things under the top.

...