The Hangover Cure: Bowl Season

Key Takeaway. The Crimson Tide won the BCS National Championship Game by anthropomorphizing their name.

Again and again the running men pounded at Texas’ defense, Mark Ingram churning, Trent Richardson pummeling, and that line pushing, pushing, pushing. Greg McElroy gave blood and sweat, playing with cracked ribs and succumbing to the stampede of Longhorns early, then managing the game as adroitly as possible towards its end. He executed his roles in Run Right, Run Left, and Run Middle perfectly all night.

The Tide defenders blanketed and bulled, snaring five Garrett Gilbert interceptions and forcing another fumble. Their linebackers overwhelmed a running game that could do nothing up the middle, and the secondary made Jordan Shipley Texas’ only effective player; giving up two touchdowns to him was sacrificing a battle to win the war.

Nick Saban’s grinding, brutally efficient machine recovered from uncharacteristically daring early play to wear Texas to the bone. It weathered the only spurts the Longhorns could muster without losing its lead, limiting the early surge to two field goals and wiping out that advantage by punishing the risky shovel pass at the end of the first half.

Like a tide, Alabama went out, allowing a bit of fun and fancy. But like a tide, Alabama came back in, one powerful force washing out the exploits of others, relentless and ruthless. Tides are not subtle, or creative, or aesthetically appealing.

They are merely unstoppable.

Delirious. The coaching carousel lost a sprocket or seven over the last month. Gone are the notions of Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll running twin empires in Gainesville and Los Angeles, wiith the former’s health a murky mystery, the other fleeing USC as the NCAA’s shadow draws near. Condemned are the mid-level masterworks Mark Mangino, Mike Leach, and Jim Leavitt pieced together with less talent and more creativity than their blueblood peers. Left to starve are Dan Hawkins and Ralph Freidgen, too costly to fire and too miserable to inspire confidence.

The surest thing is Saban, who may need a couple more years at Alabama to shed his mercenary label. At least no one doubt how much he will give to the job he has.

Tremendous. This is how you kick a fire-drill field goal.

You see that, Les Miles?

What Nebraska’s defense did to Arizona was frightening. What Auburn and Northwestern did in Tampa was thrilling. And if true freshman Kyle Padron can throw for 460 yards and two touchdowns in just his seventh collegiate start, I think June Jones’ offense might turn SMU into a terror in short order.

Something about the national championship game (more media availability, perhaps) permitted a torrent of high-quality pieces to flow. Read Dan Wetzel and Andy Staples, Matt Hinton and Spencer Hall, and our own Dave Curtis. Fine work all around, and fitting coverage of a game whose stories, like the game itself, were more intriguing when divided into microcosmic moment than taken as a full narrative.Blacked Out. In the last edition of this roundup, I wrote, “If you want a team that refuses to lose, try Cincinnati.” Whoops. In the Sugar Bowl, they were bombarded by a Florida offense that had struggled against middling SEC defenses at times, and outclassed from just after the kickoff. Hopefully, Butch Jones can continue the momentum from the Bearcats’ magical season, not their miserable bowl.

Congratulations are in order for Texas A&M, Minnesota, and Michigan State: All three teams lost their bowls, and, thus, had losing seasons. It takes the unparalleled coaching acumen of Mike Sherman, Tim Brewster, and Mark Dantonio to accomplish that.Impaired Judgment. I didn’t see the last few minutes of the Capital One Bowl, but from what I’ve read, Les Miles bungled another chance to pull a game out with baffling clock management. Miles’ poor clock work is, at this point, pretty much clockwork.

Potent Quotable. Colt McCoy’s comments just after the BCS title game ended: “I love this game. I have a passion for this game. I’d have given everything I had to be out there with my team.”

Proof. I also wrote this in the last Hangover Cure:

⇥⇥If Texas is going to give presumptive favorite Alabama trouble in January, it will have to do so by stopping the run. The Longhorns can do just that, probably: Theirs is the only rush defense better than ‘Bama’s this season. The problem, though? While the Tide have stopped three teams in the top 20 in rush offense, Texas hasn’t faced one, and the ‘Horns got fat against four teams ranked 100th or worse.And what happened? Alabama ran for 207 yards, both Ingram and Richardson topping the century mark, while limiting Texas to 81 yards on 28 rushes. So I just want this as proof that, ever so infrequently, I can be right about something.

That said, my absurdly premature pick for the national championship game in 2010 is Ohio State over Alabama. (I like being wrong, too.)

See you next season, maybe?

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