Alabama opened the game with the same gameplan they took against Ole Miss: give the ball to Brian Robinson.
The senior blasted his way through the light Cincinnati defensive line for over 100 yards in the first half. Alabama scored on their opening possession before struggling the rest of the half against a tough Bearcat defense. They finally scored again at the end of the half on a 94-yard drive, capped off with a huge downfield pass to Ja'Corey Brooks.
Defensively, Cincy got a couple of good plays to get in range of a field goal on the opening drive, but the Alabama defense totally shit them down after.