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| Alabama is surely number 1 and Trent Richardson helped to erase any last doubters. |
Coming into last night's BCS Championship Game there was still a ton of controversy over whether or not Alabama deserved it's place in the title game. By 11 PM last night there was not an Alabama-doubter left in the nation, that is of course, excluding all of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The game was nothing special. It was nothing to write home about, nothing to sit around a round table with your friends and reminisce on. Alabama, plain and simple, destroyed LSU. They made an absolute mockery of Les Miles, Jordan Jefferson and anyone who every chucked up the deuces and yelled "Geaux Tigers." The Tide's defense put on a show for the ages, and while they might have ruined the "game" they certainly put their name in the history books. Think about this stat, LSU crossed the 50 yard line once all game. Once. LSU had no offense whatsoever. They looked like boys amongst men, while the 'Bama d-line dominated every single down and set the tone by pushing the Tigers o-line around like that grade school bully. This was what we like to call an old fashion "beyond the woodshed beating." No one should have witnessed that game, but unfortunately for LSU, the whole nation was watching...and laughing.
After I came down from the euphoria that was watching the Crimson Tide turn the Superdome turf into a dance floor, I realized that Alabama was by far the best team in the nation. They defeated all the same teams that LSU did, excluding Oregon, and they did so in similar dominant fashion. But here are a couple differences between the real deal #1 Tide and the street vendor #2/3 Tigers:
1. LSU's offense was non-existent. They had no playmakers, not one. Jordan Jefferson? Worst option QB i've ever seen. Jarrett Lee can't hit a barn. Tyrann Mathieu disappeared. Their wideouts? No names. LSU was simply one-dimensional team and when I say one-dimensional I mean no offense. In the biggest game of their lives the Tigers came out with a whopping 92 yards.
Alabama on the other hand, was out there abusing the stat sheet with 384 total yards and a surprisingly brilliant performance by A.J. McCaron who, for most of the season, looked like he belonged in Tiger yellow and not Crimson. You know things are going right when even your sketchy quarterback is out there looking like Joe Montana. But what LSU lacked all season was a player like Trent Richardson. When you have a defense like both of these teams do all you need is one highlight reel guy, and Richardson was that guy for 'Bama. It was truly fitting that Richardson was the guy to step on LSU's throat.
2. Alabama never should have lost the first game. The tide were equally dominant in their loss back in November, but Jody, I mean Jeremy Shelley couldn't hit a barn with his kicks that game. If he had made two of the four FGs he missed, this conversation wouldn't even be relevant. We would have watched Alabama beat LSU like a rented mule and not even flinched. But since the dice didn't roll the way 'Bama wanted them to, we sat here and debated for days about whether or not Alabama deserved a spot in the National Championship. Guess that now is an emphatic yes.
3. Alabama's title experience from two years ago helped them tenfold. Now while many of this year's starts were only bench players, they earned valuable experience being in the limelight, even if it was just to ride the pine. Watching their elders win a title two years ago definitely allowed the 2011 squad to walk into Louisiana deflect the distractions and get down to business. Alabama was in the Superdome to win a BCS Title, that is it. LSU was too busy off in la-la-land dreaming of being considered in the ranks of the greatest college football teams. 'Bama's maturity was undeniable all week and proved to be a big, albeit underrated, part of their victory.
Alabama's sure first 1st round round pick and defensive leader, Trent Upshaw, motto all week was, "Let's be legendary." Legendary seems to be Alabama's last name.
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