ARLINGTON, Texas*– Michigan State did a great job limiting the success of Alabama running back Derrick Henry in Thursday's Cotton Bowl. But while the upside was the Heisman Trophy winner only notching 75 yards on 20 carries, the downside was Alabama quarterback Jacob Coker.
As the Spartans focused on Henry, Coker was 25-30 passing for 286 yards and two touchdowns in the Crimson Tide's 38-0 blowout win. It was his best game of the season. He chipped away at the Michigan State defense in the first half, and once the Spartans were committed to covering the periphery of the football field, used wide receiver Calvin Ridley to beat Michigan State deep as Alabama moved on to play Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
For many Alabama fans, the start of the Cotton Bowl created flashbacks to last year's Sugar Bowl, where the offense revolved around the short pass as Henry and T.J. Yeldon received a combined 23 carries. The first six plays for Alabama were pass plays. Henry, who became the 19th player in FBS history to have more than 2,000 yards rushing in a single season, didn't touch the ball until play No. 7.
Alabama wasn't ignoring Henry intentionally. The first six plays of the game were run/pass options.
"So Jake reads what's the box," Saban said. "Can we block them? Do they have numbers outside, and do we have the angles to be able to block the people on the bubbles and the smokes? I think he did a great job of reading it. And that was effective for us early in the game. Some of those plays, if the box was right, Derrick Henry would have got the ball."
Once Alabama scratched like cat claws against the Spartan defense*– none of Coker's first eight passes were completed for more than seven yards*– Saban and his staff saw something to take advantage of in the Michigan State secondary. The Spartans had shown a willingness to cover Alabama's slot receiver with a safety and the coverage had produced an open Alabama receiver.
"And I just said we're going to go back to that and make their safeties cover our guys in the slot," Saban said. "So the next time we did it that's when we made a big play. And I think that was a momentum swing and we also hit it several more times in the game.
The big play Saban references was when Coker hit Ridley for a 50-yard gain to set up Alabama's first touchdown.
Then, after the game was already out of hand at 24-0, Coker hit Ridley again for another 50-yard pass play. This one went for a touchdown and turned an easy win into a rout.
Ridley finished the game with eight catches for 138 yards and caught both of Coker's TD passes. But he wasn't the Tide's only threat down the field. Tight end O.J. Howard, who had two catches in Alabama's previous three games, had three catches for 59 yards, including a 41-yarder in the second quarter.
Not only was Coker making the right decisions within the Alabama offense, he was making the right throws. Both 50-yard passes to Ridley were perfect*– and the completions weren't a product of a ton of yards after the catch.
"[Ridley] made a move on the safety and got vertical and got by him," Coker said of the first 50-yarder. "And I just threw it up to him. And Calvin does what he does. He went up and made a play."
Coker has perhaps been underappreciated in 2015. He's completed 66 percent of his passes this season though he's been more safe than aggressive. His yards per attempt ranked 63rd in the country heading into the evening. His yards per attempt on Thursday night, even with all the short passes, was at 9.5.
Only three quarterbacks averaged more than that all season.

As Michigan State slowed Henry down, Coker showed why his transfer to Alabama from Florida State two years ago was such a ballyhooed affair. After the game, Spartans coach Mark Dantonio called defending Alabama's offense a "catch-22 situation."
"They've got the Heisman Trophy winner in the back running the football ... You've got run/pass conflicts," Dantonio said. "If they're going to drag the ball to him and then play-action it, the No. 2 receiver is going to not get rerouted sometimes. He's going to come up the field. He ran a dobule route on two occasions on [defensive back Demetrious Cox]. And if you want to play three deep or if you want to factor in and play him and double hum up and all the different things, you're going to allow them to run the football as well."
Clemson now has to worry about that catch-22. Henry has been a vital part of Alabama's success after losing to Ole Miss. But Coker, with the help of Ridley, showed Thursday night that the Alabama offense is more than a one-trick thoroughbred. Given the way Clemson stifled Oklahoma's running attack earlier in the day at the Orange Bowl, Coker may need a repeat performance on Jan. 11 for Alabama to win the national title.
For more Alabama news, visit TideSports.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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