GiveMeaBJ's National Championship Blog
Alabama Crimson Tide -4 vs Texas Longhorns
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Pasadena, California
8:00 PM (ABC)
Season Review
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#1 Alabama
Alabama opened the year a bit down in the eyes of many prognosticators after getting beaten up as an overwhelming favorite in last years Sugar Bowl against Utah. In the off-season all the hype had simmered down until a nationally televised troucning of then #7 Virginia Tech got some of the good press back in Alabama's favor. They then went on to blowout two cupcakes (Florida International and North Texas) by a combined score of 93-21 to pad their record to 3-0. With the most brutal stretch of the schedule on the horizon the Crimson Tide were faced with the task of facing 6 bowl teams in a row. They opened the rough stretch with the opener of SEC play in a very convincing win at home over Arkansas 35-7. At the time the win wasn't overwhelmingly impressive but looking back Arkansas has not lost a game by two touchdowns all year and that includes games against Florida, Georgia, and LSU. They followed that win up with a win @ Kentucky 38-20. Now sitting at 5-0 Alabama began a stretch of incredible defensive performances, in the next six games they would go on to allow just 37 points just over 6.0 ppg. They started that streak with a dominant 22-3 win over #20 Ole Miss, and a 20-6 win over then #22 South Carolina.
The first test came when Tennessee came into town and gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle. With Tennessee lining up for the game winning field goal on the final snap of the game Alabama found a way to do what all great teams do; win. Supersized defensive tackle Terrance Cody plowed through the middle and blocked the attempt with no time on the clock to give Alabama a 12-10 gut-check win. With then #9 LSU coming to town it appeared as if Alabama was in for another stiff test, and trailing 15-10 in the 4th quarter it appeared as if Alabama would be in for another battle down to the last minute. The Crimson Tide opened the 4th quarter with a field goal cutting the deficit to 15-13 and then a 73 yard touchdown to Julio Jones followed by a two point conversion put the Tide up 21-15 and they put the game out of reach when they added another field goal leaving LSU on the losing side of a 24-15 score.
The next game doesn't look all that impressive on paper, a 31-3 victory @ Mississippi State, but consider this; of all the teams that went on the road to play Mississippi State no team escaped with more then a two touchdown victory and that includes LSU, Florida, Houston, Georgia Tech, and Ole Miss. They then beat up Chattanooga 45-0 leading up to the final test of the regular season playing on the road in Auburn. Auburn jumped out to lightning quick 14-0 lead and Alabama's perfect season seemed to be on the fences. But the Alabama defense tightened up and the Tide outscored Auburn 26-7 to close out the game leading to a 26-21 victory.
It was then conference championship time and as we all expected the two teams playing for the SEC title and National Championship slot were Florida and Alabama. Alabama left no doubt as to who was the best in the SEC by absolutley pounding Florida 32-13. Against a great Florida defense Alabama made things look easy, they never turned the ball over, went 11/15 on 3rd downs, gained 490 total yards, ran for 251 yards, and Mark Ingram ran for 3 touchdowns. The Alabama Crimson Tide come into this game 13-0 and ranked as the best team in the land after playing an extremley tough schedule.
#2 Texas
Texas came into the year with high hopes ranking #2 in the country and it seemed the only thing that sat in their way was Oklahoma. However, when Sam Bradford went down in the opener all things changed and the Longhorns seemed to be ready to coast into the National Championship game and they did. They opened the year with two cupcakes, which they beat by a combined score of 100-30. They then hit their first real opponent when they beat Texas Tech 34-24. They then would go on to beat UTEP and Colorado 102-21 and were ready for their first big test of the year against #20 Oklahoma.
Both defenses game to play in the shootout and turned it into a brutal defensive game. The Longhorns would go on to escape with a 16-13 win over Oklahoma. They followed that game up with a beatdown of Missouri 41-7 and then in a well hyped matchup against #14 Oklahoma State Texas made a big statement as to who was the best in the Big 12 beating the Cowboys 41-14.
Texas then rolled over UCF, Kansas, and Baylor by a combined score of 133-37. They then went to Texas A&M and won a wild 49-39 game in which both teams traded touchdowns until halftime when the Longhorns led 28-21. After Texas made it a 35-21 contest to open the second half Texas A&M would blink first settling for a field goal making it 35-24. However, they got a stop on defense and scored a touchdown and two point conversion to make it 35-32. Texas would regain their two score lead when Colt McCoy threw a 47 yard touchdown pass to make it 42-32. When A&M responded with a touchdown of their own Texas put the game away with a 95 yard kick return giving them a 49-39 win.
Then is the controversial Big 12 Title game where Nebraksa and Texas battled down to the wire. With Texas down 12-10 McCoy fired a pass out of bounds and the clock struck 0:00 ending the Longhorns perfect season. But, the officials went and reviewed the play determining there should still be 0:01 on the clock. Texas lined up for a 46 yard field goal and when it went through Nebraska was effectivley robbed of the Big 12 title and Texas was locked into the title game.
Things To Consider
-Texas Weak Schedule vs Alabama Tough Schedule
I mean after going through Alabama's schedule it was clear they had one of the toughest schedules in the country. They had the guts to open the year with a big game against #7 Virginia Tech while Texas did not every challenge itself out of conference play. Texas got a break when Sam Bradford went down turning a potential loss against Oklahoma into a game they were favored to win. Consider this Alabama faced 9 bowl opponents, went 9-0, and beat the #7, #9, #1, #20, and #22 teams in the country. Texas did not face any team inside the top 10 and the only three real tough teams they played were Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska.
-Texas Performance Against Good Defenses
Looking at the schedule there are two real tough defenses that Texas played. Nebraska and Oklahoma. Albama's defense is better then both of those teams but look what Texas did in those two games offensivley. They scored 29 points in those two games and remember this is a team averaging over 40 ppg. Colt McCoy in those two games went 41/75 for 311 yards 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions. Not so good.
Key Match-Ups
Texas Passing Game vs Alabama Pass Defense
If Texas could have things their way they would love to pick this Crimson Tide defense apart with a ton of short nickel and dimers and slowly pass there way down the field five yards at a time. This works against most defenses because of the match-up problems they can cause with their receivers against line backers and safetys. However, Alabama has one of the quickest defenses out there and LB Rolondo McClain is considered one of the best coverage LB's in the country despite being 6-4, 250. I think we see Alabam do a lot of what Oklahoma did because you know they watched that tape and saw the effectiveness. Oklahoma didn't rush many and seemed more concerned with covering the receivers then bringing blitzes to get pressure. They bunched a ton of guys up at the line and played with one deep safety making it touch for the Longhorns offense to find any passing room in the first 15 yards of coverage. WR Jordan Shipley also draws a fairly tough match up vs the defensive backs against of Alabama and if he can't find room I think we see an extremley frustrated Colt McCoy.
RB Mark Ingram vs Texas Run Defense
This match up will go a long way in deciding this game. Ingram has been unstoppable for most of the year and the Heisman winner really has just one poor game to date. The remarkable thing is he has done most of his damage against tough competition. Check this stat out against ranked opponents here is Mark Ingrams stat line:
5 Games
128 Carries
825 Rush Yards Yards (165 yards/game)
6.44 Yards Per Carry
6 Rushing Touchdowns
15 Receptions
180 Rec Yard
12 Yards Per Catch
1 Receiving Touchdown
Pretty remarkable stuff there. It is going to be very interesting to see if the Texas front line can slow this running attack and if and when they do if they can stop Greg Mcleroy in the passing game. This offense is so well balanced it is hard to stack the line against them as they can throw the ball with moderate success.
The Pick
You know up until I wrote this blog my pick was going to be Texas. But it is clear Texas just isn't as good as Alabama. They played a very soft schedule and didn't perform well in big games. They have given up 39 points against A&M and can't score against quality defenses. Alabama is battle tested and are one of the stronger teams in the past decade. They dominated Florida and won't be at all intimidated by Texas. Texas is a little too one dimensional to get it done.
Alabama 33, Texas 6
Alabama Crimson Tide -4 vs Texas Longhorns
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Pasadena, California
8:00 PM (ABC)
Season Review
----------------
#1 Alabama
Alabama opened the year a bit down in the eyes of many prognosticators after getting beaten up as an overwhelming favorite in last years Sugar Bowl against Utah. In the off-season all the hype had simmered down until a nationally televised troucning of then #7 Virginia Tech got some of the good press back in Alabama's favor. They then went on to blowout two cupcakes (Florida International and North Texas) by a combined score of 93-21 to pad their record to 3-0. With the most brutal stretch of the schedule on the horizon the Crimson Tide were faced with the task of facing 6 bowl teams in a row. They opened the rough stretch with the opener of SEC play in a very convincing win at home over Arkansas 35-7. At the time the win wasn't overwhelmingly impressive but looking back Arkansas has not lost a game by two touchdowns all year and that includes games against Florida, Georgia, and LSU. They followed that win up with a win @ Kentucky 38-20. Now sitting at 5-0 Alabama began a stretch of incredible defensive performances, in the next six games they would go on to allow just 37 points just over 6.0 ppg. They started that streak with a dominant 22-3 win over #20 Ole Miss, and a 20-6 win over then #22 South Carolina.
The first test came when Tennessee came into town and gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle. With Tennessee lining up for the game winning field goal on the final snap of the game Alabama found a way to do what all great teams do; win. Supersized defensive tackle Terrance Cody plowed through the middle and blocked the attempt with no time on the clock to give Alabama a 12-10 gut-check win. With then #9 LSU coming to town it appeared as if Alabama was in for another stiff test, and trailing 15-10 in the 4th quarter it appeared as if Alabama would be in for another battle down to the last minute. The Crimson Tide opened the 4th quarter with a field goal cutting the deficit to 15-13 and then a 73 yard touchdown to Julio Jones followed by a two point conversion put the Tide up 21-15 and they put the game out of reach when they added another field goal leaving LSU on the losing side of a 24-15 score.
The next game doesn't look all that impressive on paper, a 31-3 victory @ Mississippi State, but consider this; of all the teams that went on the road to play Mississippi State no team escaped with more then a two touchdown victory and that includes LSU, Florida, Houston, Georgia Tech, and Ole Miss. They then beat up Chattanooga 45-0 leading up to the final test of the regular season playing on the road in Auburn. Auburn jumped out to lightning quick 14-0 lead and Alabama's perfect season seemed to be on the fences. But the Alabama defense tightened up and the Tide outscored Auburn 26-7 to close out the game leading to a 26-21 victory.
It was then conference championship time and as we all expected the two teams playing for the SEC title and National Championship slot were Florida and Alabama. Alabama left no doubt as to who was the best in the SEC by absolutley pounding Florida 32-13. Against a great Florida defense Alabama made things look easy, they never turned the ball over, went 11/15 on 3rd downs, gained 490 total yards, ran for 251 yards, and Mark Ingram ran for 3 touchdowns. The Alabama Crimson Tide come into this game 13-0 and ranked as the best team in the land after playing an extremley tough schedule.
#2 Texas
Texas came into the year with high hopes ranking #2 in the country and it seemed the only thing that sat in their way was Oklahoma. However, when Sam Bradford went down in the opener all things changed and the Longhorns seemed to be ready to coast into the National Championship game and they did. They opened the year with two cupcakes, which they beat by a combined score of 100-30. They then hit their first real opponent when they beat Texas Tech 34-24. They then would go on to beat UTEP and Colorado 102-21 and were ready for their first big test of the year against #20 Oklahoma.
Both defenses game to play in the shootout and turned it into a brutal defensive game. The Longhorns would go on to escape with a 16-13 win over Oklahoma. They followed that game up with a beatdown of Missouri 41-7 and then in a well hyped matchup against #14 Oklahoma State Texas made a big statement as to who was the best in the Big 12 beating the Cowboys 41-14.
Texas then rolled over UCF, Kansas, and Baylor by a combined score of 133-37. They then went to Texas A&M and won a wild 49-39 game in which both teams traded touchdowns until halftime when the Longhorns led 28-21. After Texas made it a 35-21 contest to open the second half Texas A&M would blink first settling for a field goal making it 35-24. However, they got a stop on defense and scored a touchdown and two point conversion to make it 35-32. Texas would regain their two score lead when Colt McCoy threw a 47 yard touchdown pass to make it 42-32. When A&M responded with a touchdown of their own Texas put the game away with a 95 yard kick return giving them a 49-39 win.
Then is the controversial Big 12 Title game where Nebraksa and Texas battled down to the wire. With Texas down 12-10 McCoy fired a pass out of bounds and the clock struck 0:00 ending the Longhorns perfect season. But, the officials went and reviewed the play determining there should still be 0:01 on the clock. Texas lined up for a 46 yard field goal and when it went through Nebraska was effectivley robbed of the Big 12 title and Texas was locked into the title game.
Things To Consider
-Texas Weak Schedule vs Alabama Tough Schedule
I mean after going through Alabama's schedule it was clear they had one of the toughest schedules in the country. They had the guts to open the year with a big game against #7 Virginia Tech while Texas did not every challenge itself out of conference play. Texas got a break when Sam Bradford went down turning a potential loss against Oklahoma into a game they were favored to win. Consider this Alabama faced 9 bowl opponents, went 9-0, and beat the #7, #9, #1, #20, and #22 teams in the country. Texas did not face any team inside the top 10 and the only three real tough teams they played were Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska.
-Texas Performance Against Good Defenses
Looking at the schedule there are two real tough defenses that Texas played. Nebraska and Oklahoma. Albama's defense is better then both of those teams but look what Texas did in those two games offensivley. They scored 29 points in those two games and remember this is a team averaging over 40 ppg. Colt McCoy in those two games went 41/75 for 311 yards 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions. Not so good.
Key Match-Ups
Texas Passing Game vs Alabama Pass Defense
If Texas could have things their way they would love to pick this Crimson Tide defense apart with a ton of short nickel and dimers and slowly pass there way down the field five yards at a time. This works against most defenses because of the match-up problems they can cause with their receivers against line backers and safetys. However, Alabama has one of the quickest defenses out there and LB Rolondo McClain is considered one of the best coverage LB's in the country despite being 6-4, 250. I think we see Alabam do a lot of what Oklahoma did because you know they watched that tape and saw the effectiveness. Oklahoma didn't rush many and seemed more concerned with covering the receivers then bringing blitzes to get pressure. They bunched a ton of guys up at the line and played with one deep safety making it touch for the Longhorns offense to find any passing room in the first 15 yards of coverage. WR Jordan Shipley also draws a fairly tough match up vs the defensive backs against of Alabama and if he can't find room I think we see an extremley frustrated Colt McCoy.
RB Mark Ingram vs Texas Run Defense
This match up will go a long way in deciding this game. Ingram has been unstoppable for most of the year and the Heisman winner really has just one poor game to date. The remarkable thing is he has done most of his damage against tough competition. Check this stat out against ranked opponents here is Mark Ingrams stat line:
5 Games
128 Carries
825 Rush Yards Yards (165 yards/game)
6.44 Yards Per Carry
6 Rushing Touchdowns
15 Receptions
180 Rec Yard
12 Yards Per Catch
1 Receiving Touchdown
Pretty remarkable stuff there. It is going to be very interesting to see if the Texas front line can slow this running attack and if and when they do if they can stop Greg Mcleroy in the passing game. This offense is so well balanced it is hard to stack the line against them as they can throw the ball with moderate success.
The Pick
You know up until I wrote this blog my pick was going to be Texas. But it is clear Texas just isn't as good as Alabama. They played a very soft schedule and didn't perform well in big games. They have given up 39 points against A&M and can't score against quality defenses. Alabama is battle tested and are one of the stronger teams in the past decade. They dominated Florida and won't be at all intimidated by Texas. Texas is a little too one dimensional to get it done.
Alabama 33, Texas 6
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