Alabama Rides Title Wave to Victory

PASADENA, Calif. -- How it's remembered by the college football community matters little to Alabama.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide overcame early jitters and then, following a game-changing injury to Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, displayed the resolve needed to overcome initially shell-shocked but gritty Texas, 37-21, in Thursday's BCS national championship game at the Rose Bowl.

While mindful of beating the second-ranked Longhorns without McCoy, who hurt his right passing shoulder on just the fifth snap in the final game of his record-setting career, Alabama embraced history with a respectful smile. Not to mention a thunderous celebration as the final seconds ticked away, bringing back glory to one of the country's most storied programs.

Head coach Nick Saban has resurrected this team in the short span of three seasons after years of bad decisions and NCAA woes under previous staffs.

"It has been a long process," senior linebacker Cory Reamer said on the field as crimson and white confetti fell from the sky.

"It has been five long years, we've been up and we've been down, and never would have imagined we'd have a chance to get this victory and be in this position. We appreciate every bit of it.

"This coaching staff has done a great job and these players have really bought into what we are trying to do as a team. We jelled from the very beginning and we knew this was something special that we were going to do."

It wasn't as easy as everyone figured, especially when McCoy was knocked from the game. The Crimson Tide relied on the determined running of Heisman Trophy winning tailback Mark Ingram and their vaunted defense to beat Texas for the first time in nine meetings between two of college football's most successful teams.

Ingram finished with 116 rushing yards and two touchdowns and joined USC's Matt Leinart (2004) as the only players to win a BCS title and the Heisman Trophy in the same season. Ingram also became the second running back in the last 64 years to win the Heisman and a national championship of any kind in the same season, joining Tony Dorsett's (Pittsburgh) feat in 1976.

"Coach said what do you want to be remembered as," Ingram said.
"Well, we had our mindset on going undefeated and winning the national championship and winning the SEC championship. Just the fact that we went out there and we worked every day and we had a common goal that we wanted to accomplish, it's real sweet that we're here and we took advantage of the opportunity.

"We're obviously proud and excited and can't wait to get back to Tuscaloosa and celebrate with the rest of Alabama and the rest of our team."

After jumping out to a 24-6 advantage at intermission -- "It was like we won the game at halftime," said Saban, whose Crimson Tide teams are 29-1 when leading at the half -- the Crimson Tide held a precarious three-point lead midway in the fourth quarter.

They needed a big play -- and their defense answered.

Linebacker Eryk Anders forced a fumble on his blindside sack of Texas backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert deep in Alabama territory with 3:02 left, helping to secure the dramatic win. The Tide scored two late touchdowns to distance themselves from the disappointed Longhorns.

"I told the guys that they had a great run, 17 straight, 26 out of 28," Texas coach Mack Brown said.

"I thought this team was prepared. I thought they worked really hard. After Colt got hurt, obviously we were limited in some of the things we could do. I told them I was proud of their fight, I was proud of their toughness."

Alabama coach Nick Saban became the second coach to win two BCS national championships, joining Florida's Urban Meyer. His other title came at LSU.

Saban also was disappointed to see McCoy knocked out of the game. McCoy completed his first two passes and led Texas to an early field goal. The Longhorns led 6-0 after the first quarter before Alabama finally found its footing.

"As much as I enjoy winning, you always hate to see a great competitor who has had a great career not be able to participate in a game that he's probably worked his entire career to be part of," Saban said.

Alabama (14-0) rolled to the fifth-largest rushing total in BCS championship game history, gaining 205 yards against a tough Texas defense. Ingram's backup, Trent Richardson, added 109 yards on 19 carries. The pair combined on four touchdowns and averaged 5.5 yards per carry.

"Man, they are extremely good, extremely athletic, and all the credit to the world to those guys because they played their butts off," Alabama senior offensive lineman Mike Johnson said of the Longhorns.

"They played a full 60 minutes and tried to give us a run in the third quarter, but we just bolted down, our defense played a great game and we came out on top. There were some things that we needed to shore up in this game, but, you know what, we won. We are undefeated and that's all that matters at the end of the year.

"It's bliss. It's bliss. You work so hard to reach this point."

McCoy's backup, freshman Garrett Gilbert, nearly led Texas to an improbable comeback.

He threw two touchdown passes to All-American Jordan Shipley to trim the deficit to 24-21 with 6:15 left, and after an Alabama punt, he had the ball at the 7-yard line, 93 yards away from history.

But after an Alabama holding penalty moved the ball to the 17, Gilbert dropped back to pass and got rocked by Anders. The ball went flying and Courtney Upshaw recovered.

Three plays later, Ingram surged into the end zone from the 1 for a n insurmountable 10-point lead that actually expanded following the Longhorns' fifth turnover of the game.

And history was made. The Crimson Tide claimed their 13th national championship, dating back to their first in 1925. Alabama won six of its national titles from 1961 to 1979.

When the final seconds ticked off the stadium scoreboard, white national championship hats and T-shirts quickly appeared as Alabama players squeezed on to a platform set up at midfield for the trophy presentation.

"I am really most happy for everyone else," Saban said.

"I am happy for our fans, I am happy for our players, I am happy for all the people who work so hard to try to restore this and I am very happy myself that we were able to make such a significant contribution to something that is a pretty significant accomplishment for our organization. But I am really happiest for all the other people, to see them so happy about what was accomplished."