Landon Collins Says Ohio State ‘Cheap Shotted’ Alabama In Playoff


Landon Collins recently spoke on Alabama’s 2015 Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State, claiming that the Buckeyes “cheap shotted” the Crimson Tide en route to a victory.


With Alabama and Ohio State again entrenched in the College Football Playoff, and his New York Giants set to square off against Ezekiel Elliott’s Dallas Cowboys, Landon Collins has opened up some old wounds from his college days. In the 2015 Sugar Bowl, Elliot and the Buckeyes defeated Collins and the Crimson Tide, en route to the inaugural CFP title.

As Collins remembers the game, not everything was above-board. In an interview with the New York Daily News, he accused the Buckeyes of taking cheap shots in order to neutralize the Tide’s stout defense.

“They cheap shotted us. They hit all our best players,” Collins said. “Oh they cheap shot me in the shoulder, (couldn’t) tackle no more. Took out our best linebacker (Reggie Ragland). Blindsided him … concussed him. Then we had a rookie in there, then they took out a defensive tackle.”

The game is best remembered for an 85-yard touchdown run by Elliott late in the fourth quarter that broke the game wide open at 42-28, and effectively drove a stake into the heart of Bama’s title hopes. That run occurred after Ragland left the game earlier in the fourth due to a head injury.

It’s not often that a defense – especially one as nasty as Alabama’s, which was littered with NFL talent – tosses accusations at an offense for cheap-shotting players. Then again, Collins stoked the flames prior to the game with a boastful Instagram post.

Unlike that first go-round in the College Football Playoff, for Alabama and Ohio State to meet it would take both teams winning their respective semifinal games. Such an outcome would be near-providential, given the two programs own the only two titles in the CFP era. And should it happen, there’s no doubt Collins will be telling Alabama’s defensive players to keep their heads on a swivel.

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