1/8 National Championship
We’re national champions! I need to repeat that. We’re national champions! Hold on; I’m not sure that I’m being clear. We’re national champions! After years and years of mediocrity brought about by idiotic decisions from the higher ups in the athletic department, two crippling probations, and complacency at any sign of success, we have climbed the highest mountain in college football to win the national championship.
Last night was a defining moment in Alabama football history as we defeated the Texas Longhorns 37-21 in the BCS Championship Game. The game itself was actually pretty ugly. Our first possession was horrific and ended with a questionable (at best) fake punt. However, on Texas’s first possession, Marcel Dareus made a solid hit on Colt McCoy’s right shoulder on a QB keeper, and McCoy was unable to return for the remainder of the game, and true freshman Garrett Gilbert was forced to take the reigns. Without McCoy, the Longhorns stumbled through the rest of the half, and when Dareus picked off a bobbled shovel pass and returned it for a TD to make the halftime score 24-6, it looked like we could cruise to the victory.
However, the Texas defense came out breathing fire in the second half, and even though our defense was holding them, our inability to move the ball kept resulting in Texas getting the ball in great field position. Finally, with about a minute and a half left in the third quarter, Gilbert hit a wide-open Jordan Shipley for a 44-yard TD pass, closing the gap to 24-13. Suddenly, what seemed like an easy win was starting to look a little shaky, and it very quickly got a lot shakier.
We finally moved the ball (a little) on our first drive of the fourth quarter, but Leigh Tiffin missed a 52-yard FG that would have extended our lead to 27-13. Instead, the score remained 24-13, and Texas took over at their 35. At this point, Gilbert was playing extremely well, and we simply couldn’t break through their offensive line to put any pressure on him. Finally, with 6:15 left in the game, Gilbert hit a yet again wide-open Jordan Shipley, this time for a 28-yard TD pass. After the successful two-point conversion, the score was 24-21. Frankly, at this point, I was in complete shock. I couldn’t believe that we were going to blow the most important game in close to a couple of decades, yet here we were, clinging to a 3 point lead late in the fourth quarter of the national championship game.
We were able to move the ball down to the Texas 37, but our drive stalled there, and we were forced to punt with about 3:20 left in the game. The next play was absolutely crucial, though few will remember it. PJ Fitzgerald hit a beautiful punt that Jordan Shipley had to fair catch at the 7-yard line, so instead of taking over at the 20 had the ball gone into the end zone, or worse if the ultra-dangerous Shipley was able to return it, the Longhorns were forced to start the most important drive of the season (of several seasons, in fact) at their own 7. Great job PJ!
The first play was a penalty on Bama that moved the ball out to the 17. The second play, however, should be remembered in Alabama football lore forever. The Texas offensive line which had been so effective against our pass rush for the entire second half got confused by the defensive lineup, leaving Eryk Anders free on a speed rush around their left tackle. Eryk struck Gilbert’s blind side at full speed, causing Gilbert to lose control of the ball. Courtney Upshaw, who was rushing around the right end, saw the fumble as soon as it occurred, and out-hustled the Texas tackle to recover the ball at the Texas three-yard line. Three plays later with 2 minutes left on the clock, on a third and goal from the 1-yard line, Mark Ingram powered in over the left tackle to extend our lead to 31-21, and clinch the national title for the Crimson Tide.
Look, I know this wasn’t our best game. The Texas defensive line absolutely owned our offensive line. Honestly, watching their pass rush reminded me of our 1992 defense, and that’s the highest compliment I can pay a defense. And I know that losing McCoy was devastating to the Longhorns. But to all of you that feel like we didn’t really play that well, remember what I said in my preview blog. Texas isn’t a good team; they are a great team. I don’t throw that term around lightly, but when I looked at their lineup from top to bottom, not only did I see no weakness; I didn’t see an area that wasn’t at least potentially tremendous. My fear was that they were going to put it all together on Thursday night, and except for losing Colt McCoy, you saw Texas at their best. Maybe losing McCoy affected the outcome; maybe it didn’t. Maybe we relaxed when he went out, which is why we looked so bad in the second half. It’s irrelevant at this point, because we won, and we beat a truly great team.
I’m so excited about our team that you can expect several blogs in the near future. I’m going to post my team of the decade, which will probably look a lot like our current lineup! I’m going to post an argument as to why this year’s Bama team should be considered the greatest team of all time. I’m going to list what I consider to be the most important plays of the year (some of which will surprise you). And of course, I will post lots of details about what looks like another spectacular recruiting class, as well as updates on our 2008 and 2009 signees.
But those are for future posts, and I don’t want to dilute the central message of this one, and that message is simply this: The Alabama Crimson Tide is the 2009 College Football National Champions! Roll Tide!!!
Talk to you soon, and as always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Roll Tide!
Kenny
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