Pasadena, CA (Sports Network) – Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram rushed for a pair of touchdowns and Alabama knocked out Texas star quarterback Colt McCoy early, as the top-ranked Crimson Tide beat the Longhorns, 37-21, to win their 13th national championship.
Ingram Scores 2 TDs In Alabama’s 37-21 Win Over Texas In National Title Game
Alabama gave the SEC its fourth consecutive national champion, as Florida sandwiched a pair of titles around one by LSU the past three years. Alabama (14-0) won its first national title since 1992 and did it by surviving a late rally from freshman signal-caller Garrett Gilbert.
McCoy suffered a right shoulder injury early in the first quarter of the BCS title game and didn’t return.
Marcell Dareus’ hard hit forced McCoy out of the game and the Alabama defensive lineman later returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown with three seconds left in the first half.
Trent Richardson ripped off a 49-yard scoring burst in the second quarter and added a two-yard TD run with 47 seconds left in the game for the Crimson Tide, who also had a 26-yard field goal from Leigh Tiffin. After Richardson’s scoring run, the Tide started to celebrate, dousing head coach Nick Saban with a cooler of red punch.
Gilbert, the son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert. stepped in and had a horrendous first half, but threw a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes to Jordan Shipley. The last, a 28-yarder, came with 6:15 remaining. The two-point conversion pass to Dan Buckner pulled the No. 2 Longhorns within 24-21.
Texas (13-1) got the ball back after an Alabama punt, but Gilbert was nailed from behind by Eryk Anders on a blitz and lost the ball. Courtney Upshaw recovered for the Tide at the Texas three. Ingram, who scored the go-ahead TD in the second quarter, then sealed the win by getting three cracks at the goal line, the final one when he barely broke the plane for a one-yard score with 2:01 left.
Two plays later, Javier Arenas got his second interception of the night to end any miraculous hopes of a Texas comeback.
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