ALABAMA REPEATS AS NATIONAL CHAMPS
By: Ryan Welte
For the third time in four years, the Alabama Crimson Tide are BCS National Champions. Alabama gave the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame, their first loss of the season and ended the magical run that they had this season. Three out of four for Saban's team makes this team a dynasty. With all of the great Alabama eras including legendary coach Bear Bryant, this team is the most dominating it has ever been.
Alabama starting quarterback AJ McCarron lead the Tide to a 42-14 victory behind a flawless 4 TD, 0 INT game. Those 4 TDs gave him half as many TD passes
as incompletions against a previously unbeatable defense that allowed
only 10.3 points per game that was #1 in the Nation. Running backs
Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon each ran for over 100 yards each and a TD.
McCarron also became the first player in college history to win
consecutive National Titles starting at QB.
It was a completely different story for the losing team. Notre Dame's QB
Everett Goldson threw for just 1 TD, and 1 INT and the Irish's top rusher
ran for a tiny sum of 37 yards on 10 carries.
Alabama went into the game as the #2 ranked team in the Nation while
Notre Dame was ranked #1, yet the Irish were overwhelming underdogs
and it showed. Alabama dominated from the first drive and opened up
the game with a 35-0 lead.
There was discussion earlier in the year about how long Saban could continue coaching. When you get to be as successful as he is to where it is no longer joy, but relief when you win it all, it can't be worth it. It relates to me like a video game. Once you beat it once, it gets old. But Saban hasn't done it once, he has done it 4 times. Alabama could continue to dominate depending on how long Saban wants to continue coaching. I think Saban will
finish his career in Alabama because he can stay as long as he wants at this point and I think he is nearing the end anyway.
Saban spoke on that issue. "I guess anything can change," he says. "But I'm totally happy right here."
I'm not a college football expert, but what I saw in this game was a beat-down. Alabama is head and shoulders better than anyone in the country and no team was going to stop them from claiming that trophy. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick agrees with me on that. "They're not just better than us, they're better than everybody."