The Tide's defense was dominant at times (and especially late in the fourth quarter when they recorded their one and only sack that resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Alabama on the Texas three yard line), but gave up yardage on the edge.
'Bama's fierce D was overshadowed by a Texas unit that played remarkably well in the second half and almost prevented Alabama from scoring after they recovered the fumble.
Texas' secondary in particular was remarkable, as they gave up only six receptions for 58 yards for the entire game and held standout 'Bama standout receivers Julio Jones and Marquis Maze to one catch each. Obviously 'Bama got very conservative on offense in the second half, but quarterback Greg McElroy was sacked five times, and replays often showed that 'Bama receivers were having trouble getting open.
On the other side, Crimson Tide's secondary gave up a few big plays to Longhorns receiver Jordan Shipley.
And while Crimson Tide running backs Mark Ingram (22 carries for 116 yards and two TD's-he's clearly a better NFL prospect than Stanford's Toby Gerhart) and Trent Richardson (19 carries for 109 yards and two TD's both had outstanding games, I think most people will instead remember the gutsy performance of Texas freshman quarterback Garrett Gilbert in relief of the injured Colt McCoy, who couldn't have expected to play in this game, yet played pretty well overall (15 completions on 40 attempts for 186 yards with two TD's and four interceptions-two of which came when the game had already been decided) against a blitz-happy 'Bama defense.
That statement is especially true if you consider the fact that Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis handicapped him with conservative playcalls and runs that resulted in long second and third down situations, in addition to often leaving him with an empty backfield that forced him to hurry his throws before the play could develop.
Gilbert missed throws here and there, but also hit two deep strikes to Shipley and threw some nice screen passes and passes over the middle (his receivers often let him down with drops too) and didn't back down from the pressure that he received (the Texas o-line may have only given up one sack, but 'Bama's pass rush still had a massive effect on this game).
Alabama was clearly the better team in this game and would have probably looked much more impressive offensively if they didn't get so conservative in the third quarter (they looked good offensively in the first half).
But Texas put themselves in a position to win this game after an 18-point deficit, without McCoy.
Because of that, most people will remember this game for Texas' effort. Don't be fooled by the final score (37-21), Texas had a shot at winning this game at the end, and in the same fashion as they did in 2006 with Vince Young. Many people were obviously pulling for that to happen, and especially sports writers, as it would have made for a great storyline.
It wasn't meant to be though, and I give all the credit in the world to 'Bama coach Nick Saban, who kept his team calm after a rocky start and has now led two schools to a national championship (and more importantly is a national champion at Alabama after only three seasons at the school).
It is sad though that the game dictated that Alabama play so conservative on offense, as most people will remember their conservatism and push the smooth first half runs of Ingram and Richardson (including his 49-yard streak for a touchdown in the second quarter) to the back of their minds.
A Word on McCoy and Ingram: I am not the type of guy who drools over star players. In general I believe that they are covered too much, and because of that their story often gets old while other deserving players don't get the time in the spotlight that they deserve as well (you would think that there were only four college quarterbacks this year-Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen-by how much ESPN and co. covers them). With that said though, I now have much more respect for McCoy than I already did (I consider him to be just as good of a person as Tebow) after he gave a postgame interview to the often pushy and tough to deal with (just ask Charlie Weis) Lisa Salters.
McCoy congratulated Alabama after the game, and like Troy Smith after his loss in the national championship in 2007, was cool and collected. And in Ingram's case, he sounded like the same humble Ingram that we have come to love in his postgame interview. They both serve as great examples for student athletes everywhere, just like Tebow did during his career. Their candid embrace after the game only further demonstrates that.
Three-step drops:
1) ESPN's broadcast of this game was so-so: My critique of ABC (er, ESPN's) coverage of this game is mixed. On one hand I liked the call to have Pete Carroll as an analyst and thought that Kirk Herbstreit gave his best commentating performance of the year (he always does a great job of breaking down the game with intensity and enthusiasm, which I appreciate in this day and age of terrible color commentators). And Brent Musburger did a great job as always as the game's announcer too.
On the other hand though, they missed the flyover before the game and weren't able to have a mic close enough to Keith Jackson when he talked to both captains before the coin toss, which was disappointing. I know that they did not expect Jackson to say anything, but it was still disappointing. I will not give the benefit of the doubt to ESPN for missing the flyover though, as that's completely unacceptable. Thus I will give their performance a B-.
2) Alabama's uniforms are classic, and thus very nice: I like Alabama's crimson uniforms much more than Texas' burnt orange. Like USC's cardinal and gold, 'Bama's home unis scream tradition and simplicity, and I like that. Texas' unis aren't bad, but for a school with a powerhouse football program, they sure aren't anything spectacular.
3) Leave the BCS alone!: I wouldn't throw a hissy fit over a plus-one playoff format being created, but please, lets forget about trying to implement an eight or sixteen game playoff. That would make the regular season virtually meaningless, much like the NFL season is. The BCS makes every game count for the teams that are in contention for the national championship. The system is exclusionary, yes, but it also promotes the highest level of competition, which the NFL does not. Lets think about that before we potentially destroy a fantastic thing.
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