Alabama vs. Notre Dame Highlights: Top Plays from the Championship Game

In what was supposed to be a knock-down, drag-out fight, Alabama crushed Notre Dame 42-14 to become national champions for the third time in four years. The night was full of highlights for the Tide, and decidedly less so for the Irish. Here are some of the top plays from Monday's game.

Right off the bat, Alabama showed they were going to attack the Irish through the air. This deep ball from A.J. McCarron to Kevin Norwood went for 29 yards and set the tone for the game:

The McCarron-Norwood connection was alive and well later in the first quarter, as the two hooked up for 25 yards here:

Not wanting to be left out was Amari Cooper, who hooked up with McCarron for 27 yards:

Notre Dame started to show signs of life in the second quarter with a beautiful strike from Everett Golson to Davaris Daniels for 31 yards:

Alabama's Deion Blue was quick to put an end to that momentum, though, stopping the Notre Dame drive here:

The Tide defense had its way all game long, as it did on this third-down sack of Golson:

The Bama offense wasn't too bad either. Wanting to squash any comeback hopes, McCarron hooked up with Christion Jones to get inside the 10-yard line:

Eddie Lacy finished the drive with a pretty spin move:

Alabama just kept attacking, with another McCarron touchdown pass here:

The Fighting Irish started to show some signs of life in the third quarter on this beautiful pass from Golson:

The Irish were finally able to get on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter on this nifty run by Golson:

No upset was in the works, though. McCarron hooked up with Cooper for Cooper's second touchdown, and the game was sealed:

Notre Dame was out, but they refused to be down. The Irish fought to the end, scoring the final touchdown of the game:

Notre Dame fought hard but was overmatched from beginning to end. Congratulations to Alabama for their National Championship and for a great season.