BCS Championship 2012: Alabama Cannot Settle for Field Goals vs. LSU

Seven points are worth more than three, but that’s not why touchdowns are a key to an Alabama victory.  The Crimson Tide must find pay dirt because they can’t depend on their pair of kickers to come through in the clutch.

After an athlete chokes, recovering isn’t as basic as simply forgetting the failure. 

Cade Foster and Jeremy Shelley cost Alabama round one against LSU by missing a total of four field goals on the night.  If they couldn’t handle the pressure in a regular season game, they won't be able to on the biggest stage in all of college football.  Foster hasn’t converted a field goal since the Tigers game, and Shelley hasn’t connected on anything from outside the 15-yard line.

Nick Saban must shun the field-goal unit.  He has all the talent in the world, though, so he shouldn’t need to risk sending out a kicker.

Alabama starts two offensive tackles in DJ Fluker and Barrett Jones that are potential top 10 draft picks in 2013.  Interior lineman William Vlachos and Chance Womack are mid-round prospects.  Tight end Michael Williams isn’t a dangerous threat in the passing game, but he’s such a talented blocker that he’s guaranteed a spot on an NFL roster.

Trent Richardson is the best running back in the entire country.  He rushed for 1,563 yards and 20 touchdowns on an incredible 6.0 yards a pop even though defenses keyed on him all season long.

With all of that immense talent in the trenches and backfield, Alabama has no excuse to be held out of the end zone again on January 9^th.

If that means going for it on fourth down deep into LSU territory, then rolling the dice becomes a must.  Alabama’s defense is even more loaded than their offense; they can afford the risk.  Going for it on fourth down and failing to convert actually puts a defensive unit in better position, though, than missing a field goal.

If the game is placed on the foot of Foster and/or Shelley, Les Miles is already holding that crystal football above his head.

David Daniels is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

Follow @TheRealDDaniels