Did Alabama Run it Up on Texas? Scored TD with :48 on Clock and 10 Point Lead

Am I the only one who thought about it last night?  Am I the only one who thought Alabama might have scored a meaningless touchdown, with 48 seconds left in last night's BCS Championship Game, while they had a 10 point lead?

Late in the fourth quarter, Alabama's Javiar Arenas picked off a Garrett Gilbert pass, and the Tide had a first down on Texas' 27-yard line.

At this point, the game was essentially over:  There was 1:48 left on the clock, Texas already used two of their three timeouts, and the score was Alabama 31, Texas 21. All Alabama had to do was take three or four knees, and that would have likely ended it.

The best Texas could hope for, if they decided to use their last time out, would be getting the ball inside their 30-yard line, needing two scores, and having 15 or 20 seconds to do this in—Eastern Michigan probably had a better chance of winning the BCS Championship!

Instead of letting Greg McElroy try to run the clock out, Alabama decided to have him give the ball to running back Trent Richardson three straight times.  On the third time he ran it into the end zone to make it a 37-21 game.  That was the final score.

The Wall Street Journal's Carl Bialik summed it up  like this: "When Alabama did get the ball back with a 10-point lead, Richardson rushed for a first down on Alabama’s first play. That set up first and goal from the five-yard line. Richardson ran ahead for three yards on the first play. Texas didn’t use its last timeout. At that point, Saban could have kept calling for kneel-downs, after letting 39 seconds elapse off the play clock. If Texas continued to preserve that timeout, the game clock would have expired. If Mack Brown did use the timeout, after third down, Saban could have gone for the touchdown or a field goal on fourth down. Instead, Richardson scored on second down—and Texas had enough time to dream for two touchdowns."

It's difficult to see any reason Head Coach Nick Saban and Alabama felt compelled to tack on this last touchdown, but I'm not an Alabama fan.  Over 90 percent of the ones I've conversed with claim "Texas could have still pulled off the miracle."

I still have to question a team scoring so late in the game, while holding a 10 point lead.

Did they need the points to put the game out of reach?  By handing it to Richardson, weren't they chancing a fumble or strip—something they wouln't have risk by taking a knee?

Did they want an extra touchdown to cover the point spread and make their faithful happy?  They were only a four-point favorite by most of the odds makers.

Maybe it's just an SEC thing.  It could remind one of Urban Meyer's Florida Gator team kicking a field goal against visiting Miami in 2008.  The Gators were up over two touchdowns and kicked a field goal with 22 seconds left in the game.

One of the rationalizations they used was, "Our kicker needed practice in game situations."

Maybe I've been watching Joe Paterno for too long.  He'd have his quarterback take a knee on the opponent's one-yard line if he knew the game was effectively over.

So what was going through Nick Saban's mind?  He had a chance to show some real respect toward Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns—Did he choose to give them one last shot in the mouth instead?

One might think that Saban wasn't satisfied with the way the game broke down:  After taking a 24-6 halftime lead, Alabama sputtered all through the third quarter and was hanging on to a 24-21 lead with 3:10 left in the game.

Texas had the ball and was trying to mount a drive to at least tie with a field goal when Gilbert was hit from the blind side and fumbled.  Alabama's Courtney Upshaw recovered for the Tide on the Texas three-yard line.

Three plays later, Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram ran it in for a touchdown, making the score 31-21.

The game ended up being very close, and one of Texas' five turnovers was a costly interception of a shovel pass that went for a touchdown with :24 left in the first half.  It was more of a gift than a mistake.  It's one play that Mac Brown will be questioning for a while.

There was another reason that Saban may have added that final touchdown:  Colt McCoy, Texas' All-American quarterback, got hurt in Texas' second series and never returned to the game.  Under these circumstances, Saban might have considered it embarrassing to only win by 10 points.

Some folks will carry an asterisk in the minds, one reminding them that Colt McCoy didn't play the last 50 minutes and Texas had to resort to an inexperienced freshman quarterback, who threw four interceptions.

I don't believe Texas has any excuse for losing.  The phrase "best team" doesn't mean the "best starting line up."  If Texas failed to get Gilbert more quality playing team during the season,  that could be considered negligent.

I've heard the rumors that Brown kept McCoy in games too long in an effort to build up Heisman Trophy stats.  I hope they're not true!

Maybe Saban wanted that last touchdown for his players.  Maybe it will just look a lot better in the record books, when fifty years from now it still reads 37-21. 

I just hope there are a couple of  fans out there questioning why Saban and Alabama needed to score a touchdown with less than a minute to play, already leading by 10 points.