Crimson Tide Blacken The Eyes Of Texas, Win BCS Championship

[HT: collegepressbox.com]

Congratulations to jolly ole St. Nick. Your 3 year plan to bring the Alabama Crimson Tide back to the top of the college football podium is complete. Thursday night in Pasadena the Tide rolled in the first half then got lucky in the 2nd half taking advantage of Texas costly turnovers to win the BCS National Championship Game 37-21.

You know Texas was playing with 2 hands behind their backs when quarterback Colt McCoy went down in the 1st quarter when he took a lick from Alabama's Marcell Dareus and never returned.

"I really have no pain in my arm, I just can't feel my arm." McCoy said after the game. "That's a hit I've taken over and over in my life and playing this game I know you're going to get hit, but I guess I got hit the right way. Like I said, I'm not in pain, but my arm's dead. Feels like I slept on my arm, woke up and it's just dead.">

"Marcell Dareus, I think, got the hit on him, and it certainly changed the game." Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "We thought we had a pretty good game plan for if he played, what they did, and until later in the game, they didn't really do that. So it sort of threw us off a little bit, as well.">

Texas freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert got thrown into the fire and in the first half Gilbert looked overwhelmed, as if his head was spinning. Facing that Alabama defense will make you soil your britches.

Give the kid credit though, his Texas teammates rallied around the young Gilbert and in the 2nd half, he started to make some plays and got the Longhorns within 3 points. Those of us at the OSG HQ were impressed with Garrett Gilbert. Mack Brown was to.

"Here's a guy standing there on the sidelines cold as can be, and all of a sudden in the National Championship Game, it's like, ‘okay, son, you've got it.’" Texas head coach Mack Brown said. "I can't even imagine. It's a credit to him, the kids around him and Coach (Greg) Davis for putting him in a position where he came back and actually had a chance to win the game.">

Late in the game Gilbert threw a critical interception late in the game that Alabama took advantage of scoring a touchdown and Texas' fate was sealed.

So the Alabama Crimson Tide wins its 13th National Championship. Those are Alabama's numbers not ours. The SEC can boast about winning the conference's 4th straight BCS National Championship. Nick Saban can start planning his museum next door to Paul W. Bryant's and the Crimson Tide nation can breath a sigh of relief that all is right in the world. Alabama is the king of college football again.

Here's a post game report from CBS Sports.com with Dennis Dodd and FOSG Tony Barnhart.



Let's add the work from our friends at NBC13 in Birmingham...


And the work from our friends, including Brian Sanders, at KXAN-TV in Austin...


Photo Courtesy: Bill Starling/The Birmingham News