BCS National Championship: A.J. McCarron Secures 2012 Starting Role with MVP

The Alabama Crimson Tide shutout the LSU Tigers 21-0 in the BCS National Championship Game, and while much of the credit goes to the defense, nobody predicted the offensive star would be quarterback A.J. McCarron. 

Named the MVP on offense, McCarron now has no worries about his job status in 2012, and it wouldn't surprise me if Phillip Sims was thinking about transferring.  

McCarron knew he had to step up, and the Crimson Tide fans sure are glad he did. He threw for 234 yards, completing 67 percent of his passes. Yes, he was held without a touchdown pass once again, but that's largely in part of LSU's smothering defense. 

The sophomore quarterback kept leading his team down the field, and even though he had to rely on his kicker to get points, McCarron proved the starting quarterback role is his for good. 

Before this title game, McCarron hadn't been overly impressive by any means. A sorry performance would have most certainly opened the quarterback race back up during the offseason, but McCarron made sure that didn't happen. 

Few people expected McCarron to play better than Jordan Jefferson, and most likely nobody envisioned the sophomore quarterback would virtually be Alabama's entire offense. 

Sure, Trent Richardson had a fantastic touchdown run to put the game away in the fourth quarter, but he had little to no success prior to that. It was McCarron carrying the offense, and he was doing it with some superb throws. 

Going into the game, McCarron had mostly been a game manager, letting Richardson do the work and lead the team to victory. 

When the stout LSU defense shut down the run early on, the Crimson Tide switched things up and started passing more. This could have been a disaster, but McCarron kept his cool and showed he could perform well under high pressure. 

This was exactly what Alabama fans needed to see to keep their hope alive for the 2012 season and beyond. With so much talent leaving the Crimson Tide roster, the last thing they needed was to have another quarterback race in the offseason. 

Now, Alabama knows it has a strong and winning quarterback in McCarron, which gives life to the offense next year. 

Other good signs in the BCS title game were young guys like running back Eddie Lacy and wide receiver Kevin Norwood (both sophomores) stepping up in big moments and keeping the drive alive. 

With a fantastic recruiting class coming in next fall, plus the satisfaction of knowing McCarron truly is clutch, Alabama has reasons to smile for the 2012 season even though the Crimson Tide won't be bringing back several experienced and talented players.