On a wild night, Alabama leaves no doubts
Alabama 37, Texas 21. There's a week's worth of material to slice, dice, parse, assess, reassess and digest from one of the wildest championship games in recent memory, from Alabama falling on its face out of the gate to Texas rolling up into a ball without its star quarterback to hyped freshmen Garrett Gilbert and Trent Richardson introducing the nation to their enormous potential to Nick Saban being doused in what can only be described as a full-contact Gatorade bath. All of it is on its way into championship lore as we speak.
There's plenty of time for all of that, and especially for the white-hot emotional meteor the universe hurled at the Longhorns. But for now, there's only one thing to say: Congratulations, Alabama, clearly the top team in America throughout the season and now owner of its first crystal ball of the BCS era. The Tide weathered Texas' initial punch, produced two 100-yard rushers against a defense that hadn't allowed even one in any of its previous 13 games and took advantage of the circumstances they were presented to close the deal. The early injury to star quarterback Colt McCoy and brief fourth-quarter rally under Gilbert kept the focus on Texas for most of the night, but Alabama was everything it was supposed to be as a top-ranked favorite, and finally has the hardware to prove it.
