Alabama's Ingram May Have Stolen The Heisman, But McElroy Stole The Show

Mark Ingram may have helped himself with 189 total yards against one of the nation's top defenses, but Greg McElroy's almost picture perfect night stole the show and the game's MVP trophy.

McElroy, who just weeks ago was maligned as the reason Alabama couldn't win a national title, came back in the last drive against Auburn and for a complete contest Saturday had one of those rare, "Who's your Daddy" moments that all athletes dream of.

He went from being the goat to the golden arm, from maligned to MVP, and shows everyone now that he may the reason Alabama will win the BCS Championship.

Even Florida had to acknowledge his greatness. "He made some great plays," Meyer begrudgingly said of McElroy. "He showed a lot of poise for a first-year quarterback. You saw it coming. He showed a lot of progress last week against Auburn. And those things usually accelerate a quarterback's progress."

In retrospect, we have Mike Shula to thank for many things. One of them is Greg McElroy. Shula went after Tebow hard, and when he didn't get him, Shula convinced Greg McElroy to come to Tuscaloosa and be part of re-building Alabama's tradition.

Initially, McElroy wanted what most boys who play football in Texas wanted. He wanted to be the quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Texas however, didn't want him. So he then turned to Texas Tech and its pass happy program until meeting Shula, where a bond was formed and a tradition instilled.

"When I came to Alabama and saw the tradition and pride here, I knew I wanted to be a part of something this special", McElroy said. And with this win, while wearing that famous number 12 jersey, he has written his part of that history and will forever more be a part of that tradition.

His 12 of 18, 239 yard passing performance does not tell the whole story, as he was in fact much more accurate than those statistics reflect. One deep ball to Julio Jones was perfectly thrown but for some reason, Jones slowed up at the end and the ball was just outside his reach. Jones also dropped a perfectly thrown pass.

But perhaps the outstanding accomplishment of the evening for McElroy was simply "out Tebowing" Tebow. McElroy kept his team energized in a way that Tebow usually does, showed some muscle in un-quarterback kind of blocks that Tebow makes and made a highlight film run, much like Tebow.

On a third-and-five from the Florida 22, McElroy rolled right and tightroped the sideline, hopping on his right foot twice to stay inbounds in an unbelievable act of balance and desire to make a first down.

As for showing the muscle in making blocks unexpected of a quarterback, Greg took out his defensive man, laying him out flat on the ground on a run where Trent Richardson reversed his field. Suddenly, McElroy was expectantly in a position to throw a block to help.

"Everyone else was blocking their tails off, why shouldn't I?" McElroy said. And after the block, Greg jumped up and did a muscle pose at the Florida players standing on the sidelines with their mouths open.

"As far as the muscle pose, I don't have a lot to show off. If I did, it was purely by accident." said McElroy, who like Tebow, may have let emotion overcome him for that moment.

He also took the crown of "Mr. Third Down" away from Tebow. Under McElroy's leadership, the Tide went from a 37 percent third down conversion percentage to a 73 percent clock and yardage eating machine.

For tonight at least, McElroy showed that Alabama's second choice was the best choice for this game and this season. But McElroy tried to keep things in perspective, "It wasn't me outshining Tebow," he said. "It was about Alabama tonight."

"I think everybody wants to be praised and celebrated all the time, but that's not the nature of the beast," he said. "As long as you have faith in yourself and continue to enjoy what you do and what you put in a lot of time for, then you will be successful. At this position, yes, you take the good with the bad. Oftentimes you get way too much credit, and you get a lot of blame, too. I take the good with the bad, and go out there and have fun with the game."

As for facing the team that spurned his attention out of high school that ultimately became the reason he is the quarterback at Alabama, "I want the Longhorns," he said with a smile.

And I have a feeling that when that game is over, he'll still be smiling along with a few million other people in the Bama Nation.