Senior Bowl Competition Round-Up: How Tide Adversaries View Bama

At the Wednesday media breakfast event during Senior Bowl week, I caught up with a couple of Bulldogs and Bearcats who did battle with the Crimson Tide last season to get their thoughts on Alabama. Here's what each player had to say:

Cincinnati Running Back Jerome Ford

On being back in the state of Alabama with Phidarian Mathis and Brian Robinson after playing the Crimson Tide in the Cotton Bowl: "It was a great experience. Those guys are still my friends. Playing against them was great, they're great players. You know, Alabama is the best of the best. Playing against them was great for me, my team and the city of Cincinnati."

Cincinnati Linebacker Darrian Beavers

On what it meant for Cincinnati to play a team like Alabama on a national stage: "It was great. It was great for the city. It was great for the program. It was great for the players to showcase what they can do against a really good team. And obviously, to see what the Bengals are doing, the city is going up in flames. The city's going crazy just because of all the success that we had. Obviously, the first team non-Power 5 to go to the playoffs it was something crazy and it's really good for the city and good for the program."

Georgia Cornerback Darion Kendrick

Reaction to Phidarian Mathis saying Alabama still "runs the SEC": "I mean, you know, I was at Clemson first, so I like to say I beat Saban twice and he only beat me once. As far as the SEC, I mean, I guess the stats tell it all. Things can change."

On covering Jameson Williams and John Metchie: "Great matchup, great, great players to go against. Just going out there and competing, to be honest. They are [both]two of the nation's top two receivers. Both are 1,000-yard receivers, so they have a lot of potential. So I was just, I was just happy to be in a moment."

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Georgia Defensive Tackle Devonte Wyatt

As I was speaking with Phidarian Mathis at the media breakfast, Devonte Wyatt was being interviewed by Dawg Nation right next to us. Wyatt was asked about Mathis's comments on Alabama still running the SEC and jabbed back at his fellow defensive lineman.

"Man, look I'm a national champion. That's all I got to say." At this point, Mathis stepped over to Wyatt and gave him some friendly grief. Wyatt jokingly said "Bama's dead now" and reached for a fist bump from Mathis that Mathis didn't see.

On losing the SEC Championship: "When we lost the SEC it really just humbled us. All of us brothers got together and talked. We just lost. That's not us, we don't perform like that. We just looked bad at the biggest moment. Once we got together, there was no stopping us."