As ESPN's "College GameDay" was discussing Saturday night's meeting between Ohio State vs Michigan State, Pat McAfee egged on Nick Saban and the Tuscaloosa crowd with a question to the former Alabama football coach.
"Who's the safety for Ohio State?" McAfee asked. "Do you know him?"
After an All-American freshman season at Alabama , safety Caleb Downs entered the transfer portal after Saban's retirement and moved to Columbus to join the Buckeyes in 2024.
But despite the move, and despite the chorus of boos coming from Crimson Tide fans, Saban praised Downs in a major way.
"One of my favorite all time players," Saban said. "Absolutely. One of my favorites. As a freshman, the maturity that he showed, the preparation, the way he performed, I loved the guy. He's a great person."
Downs has nine tackles, a tackle-for-loss and 0.5 sacks for the Buckeyes in 2024.
For Alabama, Downs led the team in tackles with 107, something no Crimson Tide freshman has done since 1970. He was also the SEC Freshman of the Year.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban praises Caleb Downs despite Alabama football transfer
