BCS Championship Recap: McCoy Injured, Ingram Steamrolls

The Crimson Tide rolled in the BCS Championship game easily as they swarmed Colt McCoy on Texas’s opening drive sending the Longhorns’ leading man to the sidelines permanently. On what will be his final play as a college quarterback, McCoy decided to keep the ball on an option play and injured his throwing arm and watched with frustration and disappointment as he was helpless to help his team rally past the Tide in the championship tilt. It was a heartbreaking end to a great career by the Texas quarterback, but a thrilling end for Alabama which takes home its first national title since 1992.

The injury to the winningest quarterback in college history paved the way for Alabama to seize control of the game. Garrett Gilbert, a freshman backup quarterback, led a furious comeback in the second half as he found Jordan Shipley twice for touchdowns to bring the underdog Longhorns within three-points of the Crimson Tide. Then, with nearly the entire length of the football field to go, Texas gave up its first sack of the night at the worst time imaginable. Eryk Anders blew in to the backfield unhinged and untouched and blasted Gilbert from behind and freeing the ball, allowing Alabama to recover the fumble and secure a touchdown to pad their lead. Alabama eventually won the contest 37-21 with two scores in the final two-minutes of the game.

Texas betting fans may be heart broken as the Longhorns stumbled to their first loss in the worst way possible, at the worst time imaginable. Yet they must find a tiny source of hope in the fact that Gilbert played so admirably under incredibly difficult conditions. He was asked to throw 40 times, and went 15-of-40 with 186 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 picks before the final two minutes of the game. He ended the game with 3 turnovers in the final three minutes of the game, but playing with such poise for much of the second half proved that there’s a reason he’s tagged as the heir apparent to McCoy who is slated to graduate and matriculate to the NFL Draft in 2010.

Of course, none of anything I just wrote is going to serve as comfort reading for the Longhorns.

After the injury to McCoy, the Crimson Tide defense played with confidence and the offense didn’t have to do much as Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram took over the game. Quarterback Greg McElroy threw just 11 passes for 58-yards while Ingram and Richardson did all the dirty work. On 41 carries, the two backs piled up 225 yards and four touchdowns combined. Ingram won offensive player of the game, giving love to his father who remains in jail.

Ingram became only the second Heisman winner in history to also win the BCS Championship in the same year. Alabama secured the SEC’s fourth consecutive national title and covered the spread, while Gilbert’s second half heroics help push the OVER in the game. Alabama improved to one of the best college football betting picks with a final record of 14-0 SU and 9-5 ATS.

As Texas rallied, you couldn’t help but wonder if Saban angering the Football Gods when he jilted the Miami Dolphins for the job in ‘Bama so many years ago was going to come back and haunt him. Yet his disciplined defense bailed him ending each of Texas’s final three drives with turnovers.

This will be the Crimson Tide’s 13th claimed title, and while there’s some discussion that Boise State might claim a share of the top college ranking, it’s an open and shut case for me. Abalama throtttled both Florida and Texas en route to their 2010 BCS Championship and you can’t tell me that Boise State had a tough schedule in comparison.

At the onset of the season, I judged the AP Top 25 for the preseason, where Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and USC were the top-4 in that order. Alabama and Ohio State were fifth and sixth, and I said that,

“No other team in the top-15 is more dangerous than Alabama. Nick Saban’s recent years of recruiting are finally bringing him the team he wants, and the players have had time to adjust to his program and his playbook. Florida and USC get the typical love because of recent success, but if any team is ready to step out of the shadow of its big program brethren, it’s Alabama.”

With Ingram returning to Alabama for his senior season and Saban clearly recruiting suitable talent for his program, it’s hard to think that the Tide can’t repeat their 2009 effort with another BCS Championship appearance. Florida will go through tremendous rebuilding without Urban Meyer or Tim Tebow, Oklahoma will lose the brunt of its defense and offensive line along with Sam Bradford, while Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley are leaving Texas for the NFL. With most of Alabama coming back next season, it’s not difficult to imagine that we’ll be serving up another championship to the Tide in 2011.

If anything, the SEC proved it’s sheer dominance of the nation of college football.

If you enjoyed this article then get full access to all our other features plus a 50% bonus when you sign up with us by clicking on this link