Alabama wins national title

I am, of course, delighted with the result of the 2010 BCS National Championship game.  Alabama has added another national title, making 2009 its most decorated season ever.  The Process looks good from here, ladies and gentlemen.  Let’s go get another one next year.

I had fun hanging out with my family and the BamaDans, too.  Good fellowship, good food, and good times.  The actual watching of the game, though?  You know, it wasn’t much fun—or at least it was far more up and down than I would have liked.  Too much swinging between the extremes.

The fake punt after the backward three-and-out to open the game might have been the dumbest call I’ve seen in a decade.  Follow that with Texas recovering its own kickoff, and I was in a pretty good funk for ten minutes or so.  I think after we’d gotten back to 7-6 my dad called me, and said he’d just been on the phone with my sister Jenny, who’d said “I bet it’s not much fun at Bo’s house right now.”  Heh.

I feel awful for Colt McCoy.  He’s a talented player, he seems to be a good kid, and no reasonable person could have been happy with him sitting on the sidelines for the most important game of his college career.

All of that said, I don’t buy any asterisk talk.  There is no cloud over my beloved Tide’s 2009 national title.  For one thing, Greg McElroy played the entire game with cracked ribs.  (Makes it a lot easier to understand him not throwing it away and exposing his abdomen, doesn’t it?)  For another, Colt McCoy’s absence had nothing to do with the suddenly porous Texas run defense.  For still another, it’s not Alabama’s fault that McCoy’s backup was/is a deer-in-the-headlights freshman.  Everyone on that second line on the depth chart is one play away.  Mack Brown knows that.

Speaking of McCoy’s backup, his name is Garrett Gilbert, and he’s got a cannon.  Did you see how quickly that ball was coming out of there?  Once he settled down, he did do some damage, bringing Texas back to within 3.  He’s one to watch next year.

Finally, I’m going to say a little bit about the final touchdown.  I’ve heard some charges of running up the score, including from one of my Facebook friends, who called Alabama “classless thugs.”  (Oh, no hyperbole there.)

I might be more sympathetic to such talk had we been passing, running option plays, or something similar.  But folks, these were inside handoffs.  It was the same simple vanilla running play, called three times.  (It wasn’t so long ago that teams habitually did that instead of a QB kneel anyway.)  Furthermore, I’m not sure I believe a team can run up the score when only up by 10.

Yeah.  So.

Other little thoughts:

• Heisman curse?  Yeah, right.  Love that both Ingram and Richardson got 100-yard games.
• I love seeing a damned dump truck of a lineman lumbering for a TD.  Awesome stiffarm, Dareus!
• I remain incredulous that Coach Saban was Gatoraded, and still wish he hadn’t been.
• BamaDan and I wondered who might be the defensive play caller next year with Ro gone.  Hightower?  Barron?
• Reckon Saban’s checking out San Jose State film yet?

Congratulations and thank you, Alabama!  Roll Tide!

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