Going into last year's Sugar Bowl, the College Football Playoff semifinal, the mighty Alabama defense knew they would have to key in on a few Ohio State playmakers, they just did not think one of them would be Cardale Jones.
Speaking with Atlanta radio station 680 the Fan, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said some of players admitted they "did not respect the quarterback." Smart said he asked Landon Collins, Nick Perry and Jarrick Williams during their exit interviews why they thought the Tide defense could not stop Ohio State.
"Well, they heard from the media, they heard from ESPN, they heard from everybody that [Jones] was a third-string quarterback," Smart said, according to the Sporting News. "How can a third-string quarterback beat Alabama? We didn't promote him enough and they didn't value his talents enough, and he came in - we thought he was a really good passer. Well, he ran the ball well, too. Well, we had not seen him run the ball... and not a runner like Blake [Sims] and not a runner like their other guy, just big."
Jones was not spectacular against Alabama, completing 18 passes in 35 attempts and throwing an interception early on when his team was already down. However, Jones was integral in the comeback effort, contributing 10 third down conversions out of 18, as well as a go-ahead touchdown strike in the third quarter.
Smart indicated that underestimating Jones contributed to an inability to slow down Ohio State's offensive attack. While Jones did not exactly light up the stat sheet, running back Ezekiel Elliot did, running for 230 yards and two scores on just 20 attempts.
"See, everybody's talking about the score, we were leading, but we weren't leading," Smart said. "We had not slowed them down. We had two red area stops, which were six points (two field goals), could have been 14. We had a turnover, we stripped a ball. We had not slowed them down, and I'm thinking this could be 21 but it's six, 21-6, could be 21-21. And then they scored right before the half, which we thought was deadly. They had a good two-minute drive and scored, and I knew that we were in trouble."
