Highs and Lows: Alabama vs. LSU

The Alabama Crimson Tide entered the New Orleans Superdome with an 11-1 record to square off against the No. 1 LSU Tigers Monday night, and walked out national champions for the fourteenth time in school history. The Tide executed the perfect game plan to unseat the media-crowned kings of the college gridiron, and staked claim to the throne in dominating fashion.

In the first Alabama vs. LSU meeting, the Tigers failed to reach the end zone, yet pundits continued to question the Tide’s ability to effectively stop Tiger quarterback Jordan Jefferson throughout the press conferences. Alabama players felt largely disrespected and overlooked leading up to this game, and played like a team possessed. The Alabama defense absolutely smothered LSU’s offense, while the Tide offense kept the chains moving and steadily put points on the board. In a game filled with brilliant moments for Alabama, the highs were in abundance while the lows were barely noticeable. let’s take a look at how the Tide graded:

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HIGHS

Defense, Defense, Defense.   LSU had 92 total yards in the biggest game in school history, as the Tide obliterated their offensive game plan. “We slowed their run,” Courtney Upshaw said after the game. “They thought they’d come out and run it down our throats, and we weren’t going to let that happen.” LSU crossed midfield once, then went backwards, amassing only 39 yards rushing on 27 attempts. This year’s defense cemented a place in college football’s history books as one of the greatest units to ever take the field, and painted a Crimson masterpiece.

AJ Comes of Age.  AJ McCarron grew up last night, becoming the quarterback we all hoped he would. He went 23 of 34 with 234 yards passing in his best game yet as the Tide’s signal caller. “My mom had all of you guys name’s written down on a piece of paper that said ‘LSU had the edge in quarterback,’” McCarron stated.  Nobody outside of his family and the coaches had that much faith in his ability to deliver on the biggest stage, and he made believers of us all. This was not the same kid we saw in overtime against LSU in November; this was a quarterback full of confidence who refused to be denied. He played better than anyone expected, earning offensive MVP honors and unselfishly credited his teammates for his success.

Special Teams/ Specialists. Yes, Special Teams is in the “Highs” following the biggest game of the year. The most common resident of our weekly “Lows” has been the Specialists and Special Teams, and they defined the word redemption Monday night. Jeremy Shelley was money, going 5 for 7 on field goals, hitting from distances of 23, 34, 41, 35 and 44 while fellow kicker Cade Foster consistently put the kickoffs in or near the end zone. The cover units that gave up touchdown returns throughout the season smothered LSU’s return men and denied them any shift in momentum time after time. All the talk about LSU’s stellar Special Teams play was for nil, and the same unit that cost Alabama the game in November won them the game in January.

Highest High.   The only thing bigger than Alabama winning its fourteenth national championship is the fashion in which it did so, with complete and utter domination of every facet of the game. Saban preaches being a relentless competitor and the Tide players brought to life one of his most famous sayings last night: “Dominate your opponent and make his ass quit.” There wasn’t a single Tide player that didn’t achieve this common goal as Alabama sucked the life out of a usually fiery, cocky LSU team.

LOWS

Maze and Moseley.   I can’t remember feeling worse for a player than I did for Marquis Maze when he pulled up on a punt return due to a hamstring injury. Maze lit the fuse that resulted in Alabama’s offensive explosion with the longest punt return against LSU in 14 games. He came off the field, never to return again and after halftime the emotional pain on his face was enough to put a lump in my throat. He wanted so desperately to be there for his teammates on the field in his final game as an Alabama player, and I can’t imagine how that must have felt.

Last year C.J. Moseley was a promising freshman prospect who came on strong to earn coaches’ respect, along with a starting role on defense. He has been a huge playmaker on the Tide defense, and he did it once again in the title game with a spirit-breaking interception of Jordan Jefferson, only to leave on the same play due to an injury. Moseley battled through a dislocated elbow earlier in the year, and it was even painful to watch as his leg was caught under him while being tackled. Moseley is only a sophomore and is a warrior; he’ll be back.

Did You Notice?

• Bama defensive end Nick Gentry having his way with LSU offensive linemen. Gentry is the blue collar unsung hero for me of this entire Tide squad. Bama native Gentry had tons of “swag” about him and played lights out.
• Mark Ingram on the sideline looking like he wanted to play. He showed recruits all over the nation what it means to be a true teammate. Now a millionaire, Ingram didn’t have to be out there in potential danger, on crutches and rooting on his former teammates but he was.
• ESPN analyst Desmond Howard crawfishing out of all his pre-game comments about how dominating and smothering he expected LSU to be. He’s been singing LSU and “honey badger’s” praise for months and he’s now eating crow on national TV.
• The look on Jordan Jefferson’s face throughout the entire game was absolutely priceless. After his and his teammates comments about expecting to win in impressive fashion precluded by their off the field indiscretions, I can’t help but think Karma paid them all a visit.
• How the Tide attacked Tyrann Mathieu all night long, completing all but one pass thrown in his direction. How he was irrelevant in the return game, despite being labeled LSU’s biggest playmaker. He was picked on and he was exposed like a playground bully who cries when someone finally punches them in the mouth.
• McCarron’s comments upon receiving the MVP award about Trent Richardson being the Heisman winner in his eyes. That was just perfect timing, and you couldn’t have written a better script. He showed humility and class in front of the entire nation.

There couldn’t have been a more fitting end to this season than the one we all witnessed Monday night. Alabama left zero doubt in the mind of voters to who the No. 1 team was this season, hanging 21 points on LSU while yielding none. Any talk or hope of a split National Title by LSU or Oklahoma State lobbyists died with the spirit of LSU’s team last night.