- A.J. McCarron was named the offensive MVP after Alabama won the BCS National Championship Game Monday night.
The headline is simple: Alabama claims BCS National Championship game. And while there can be no debate about how Alabama won, there may be some debate tomorrow as the AP writers turn in their ballots for the final poll of the season. Will they vote for Alabama as No. 1? Some said they wouldn’t, even if LSU lost. Would LSU get enough votes to be No. 1? What about Oklahoma State?
Well, that debate is for another story. Tonight’s it’s about one of the most dominant defensive performances you’ll ever see in a big game. Tonight it’s about Alabama’s second national title in three years, Nick Saban’s third career national title and the SEC’s sixth national title in a row, though to be fair we knew the last one was going to happen either way
How dominant were the Crimson Tide defensively? Well, they recorded the first shutout in BCS national championship game history. They limited the Tigers to 92 total yards on offense. They held the Tigers to 5 first downs. They held the Tigers to 2-of-12 on third down conversions. LSU’s offense crossed midfield one time. Alabama had a plus-2 turnover ratio. The Tide made QB Jordan Jefferson look like a freshman.
Alabama obviously took what it learned from its 9-6 loss to Tigers, the 44 days of preparation and a letter-perfect game plan by Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and schooled the Tigers in what amount to a home game for LSU.
How dominant was it? Alabama looked like it was playing Mississippi State, not the No. 1 team in the land. Impressive. Most impressive.
Yes, there will be debate after this victory. But for now, let’s praise Alabama. Some may not have liked how they got to the national title game, as they didn’t even win their division in the SEC. But given a second crack at the Tigers, they cashed in.
But there were plenty of other storylines that came out of Monday’s game.
A.J. McCarron came of age. All season McCarron has done just enough to stay out of Trent Richardson’s way. But in this game it was apparent early that outgoing offensive coordinator Jim McElwain was going to put the game in the sophomore’s hands, and he delivered. The Crimson Tide used McCarron to put more pressure on LSU’s pass defense and it worked. McCarron played with confidence, efficiency and precision. About the only think you could fault McCarron for was third-down conversions. But going into next season Tide fans have to feel confident about his future.
Jeremy Shelley needs to start doing some leg presses. That’s the only thing standing in the way of Shelley making Cade Foster irrelevant. Shelley went off for the Tide, making five field goals – one of which was a career-long 44 yards. My concern was whether the Tide would convert points if they were unable to get inside the LSU 25. Well, they did. And some of those kicks looked like they would have been good from 50.
Will the real Jordan Jefferson please stand up? LSU QB Jordan Jefferson will be remembered as one thing by LSU fans – an enigma. You never knew which Jefferson would show up. Remember when he had that fantastic game against texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl last year? I thought it was a sign of things to come. But Jefferson never found the consistency needed to get LSU over the top. Now, Alabama’s defense was part of the issue. But great players make great plays in big games, and Jefferson didn’t. And the fact that LSU coach Les Miles didn’t pull the trigger on pulling Jefferson for Jarrett Lee shows his lack of confidence in that senior.
Alabama, the new national defensive factory. In just a short time Saban has turned Alabama into the place to go if you want to be a NFL-ready defender. This year’s unit led every major category in FBS and at least three of their players – DB Mark Barron, DB Dre Kirkpatrick (a junior who may go hardship) and LB Courtney Upshaw – will likely be first-round picks in April. Last year DT Marcell Dareus went in the first round. In 2010 MLB Rolando McClain, CB Kareem Jackson, DB Javier Arenas and DE Terrence Cody all went by the end of the second round. It seems every year the Tide loses key players, but someone else just takes their place. That’s the signature of a great program.
Say goodbye to Kirby Smart, Tuscaloosa. For the schools that considered defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to fill their head coaching vacancy, they may be kicking themselves now. The Alabama defensive coordinator helped construct one of the most impressive defensive game plans in recent memory. He’ll be at Alabama again in 2012, but only because there aren’t any more jobs open. Next year, he’ll be the first coach mentioned for every opening in FBS. And he’ll surely take one.
My predictions? Well, I said that, based on the first game, that Saban might not trust Foster to kick field goals outside of 40 yards and that might compel him to go for it on fourth down. Well, Saban chose to trust Shelley instead and Shelley rewarded him with an MVP-worthy game. I said Jefferson had to play efficiently and without mistakes, while the Tide had to put the Tigers into second-and-long and third-and-long situations. Well, Jefferson wasn’t efficient and the Tide put LSU in so many horrible down and distances it was hard to keep track. I thought RB Trent Richardson would have to take over for Alabama to win. Well, not only did they not need Richardson, the Tide played like they didn’t need Richardson at all. It’s amazing they won the game despite minimizing their unquestioned best player, though he finally ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Oh, and my 20-14 LSU prediction? Whoops.
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