Alabama Beats Texas; 37-21, It Was Over...

Okay, so I have been home for almost 24 hours from the game and have only been able to watch it once and sparingly at that. I want explain why but exhaustion will play a part in it.

What a game! Onside kick recoveries out the wahoo, interceptions galore, defense-a-plenty and quarterback smack downs. What more could you ask for?

This game was over before Texas took the field. It was over before Mack Brown could call themselves the underdog. It was over after Alabama pulled the fake punt and got denied. It was over after Colt was knocked out. It was over after Texas recovered a botched kickoff return. It was over after Alabama marched down the field and Ingram scored the first Bama touchdown. It was over when Trent Richardson sprang a 49 yard touchdown. It was over when Marcel Darius smacked Garrett Gilbert's body to the ground on his way into the end zone after intercepting a bobbled shovel pass. And that was all before the end of the first half.

However, the game was back on after Alabama couldn't sustain drives at the beginning of the second half. It was back on after it was evident that McElroy couldn't shake the cobwebs from his broken ribbed body. It was back on when Garrett Gilbert was allowed to pass more than hand off.  It was back on when Shipley realized he was Shipley and scored the first Longhorn touchdown. It was back on when Texas understood the passing game could work. It was back on after Texas recovered another fumbled/botched kickoff return. It was back on when a true freshman quarterback scored his second touchdown in the Citi BCS National Championship. It was back on when the score was 24-21 in Bama's favor and Texas had three minutes to drive 93 yards and either tie or win the game.

It was over when Texas thought they could drive 93 yards and win the game.

Why? Because that is when they realized they were playing against the best defensive players and rushing tandem in the nation.

Eric Anders would make the blow to Texas' Gilbert resulting in a coughed up ball on UT's 3 yard line. Mark Ingram made the cake, and then Javier Arenas mixed up some icing and Trent Richardson put it on top. End of story. 

Texas was very proud of themselves for being the #1 rushing defense in the land. They had faced better passing offenses than Alabama and they knew they could shut them down easily. And they did. Therefore, they thought the game was over before it started.

Unfortunately for them they had never faced a more physical and punishing backfield than Alabama.

Just for relevance, Texas' rushing defense coming into this game had only allowed 808 yards in 13 games. They surrendered 205 yards to Alabama.

It was over before it got started.