LSU vs. Alabama: 5 Things We Learned from BCS National Championship 2012

The 2011 college football season has come to end and, to really nobody's surprise, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the LSU Tigers to win their second BCS title in three seasons.

But what made the game interesting was how the Tide dominated the Tigers.

LSU gained only 92 yards on offense and only crossed the 50-yard line one time the entire game.

So the question is: Was Alabama that good and just made too many mistakes when these two teams first played earlier in the year, or was LSU not that good of a football team and exposed in the biggest game of the season?

Here are five things to take away from the BCS title game.

A.J. McCarron Is Not a Doormat QB

A.J. McCarron did not have any touchdown passes, but he made some huge throws to put kicker Jeremy Shelley into field-goal range five times.

He was never rattled, always kept his eyes down field and did not make any mistakes.

McCarron was also the holder for Shelley during his field-goal attempts, and all the holds he had were perfect.

No wonder McCarron was named offensive MVP.

The Crimson Tide Defense Is the Best We've Seen in Years

There's no other way to put it.

The Crimson Tide defense smothered the Tigers all game long, and no matter what the Tigers tried to do on offense, the Tide had an answer.

Courtney Upshaw was named the defensive MVP in the title game, but that award could have gone to any one of those 11 starters because not one took the game off.

After a season of ranking first in the country in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense and third-down defense, it's safe to say the 2011 Crimson Tide defense is one of the best ever.

The Tide Don't Care About Honey Badger

What's interesting about the Tide is that they attacked Tyrann Mathieu and they were successful at getting yards against the Heisman finalist.

Mathieu was is an outstanding player, but McCarron was confident his receivers could go out and make plays against him.

The Tide does respect Mathieu but that doesn't mean they were not going to go after him.

LSU Was Not Ready

The Tigers knew how good the Tide are on defense and they had more than a month to prepare for this moment. But they looked as if they were playing their first game of the year, and they looked like a team hungry to win a national title.

Everyone on that roster deserves the blame, but head coach Les Miles deserves the majority of it.

Miles should have made sure his team was loose and relaxed before the game, because during the game the Tigers looked tight and confused.

This should be a lesson learned for the Tigers because had they been more prepared and more focused, they would have had a chance to win.

Get Ready, Zach Mettenberger

Jordan Jefferson struggled and Miles did not want to put Jarrett Lee in the game because he struggled against the Tide in the first game.

So former Georgia Bulldog Zach Mettenberger should be ready to go as the starter for the 2012 season. He has a huge arm and has all the tools to be a elite SEC quarterback.

If anything were missing from the Tigers this year, it was consistent quarterback play. Mettenberger seems to be like that guy that can take the SEC by storm, and if he does have a big 2012 season the Tigers will be back in the BCS title game.