BCS National Championship Preview

And so we have come to the end of the College Football Bowl Season. And what a grand finale it will be when the Alabama Crimson Tide battle the Texas Longhorns for the 2009 BCS National Championship. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be an outstanding football game from start to finish. Alabama head coach Nick Saban will have his team well-prepared for a Texas team that doesn't make too many mistakes on both sides of the football. Texas head coach Mack Brown will have his team focused on winning a national championship as they will hope to forget their embarrassing performance against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game. It is a matchup of heavyweights that cannot be ignored. It is the game of the year in college football. Here are some keys to the game for both teams....

Alabama has clearly established itself as the favorite in this game with their dominating performance against Florida in the SEC Championship Game. And unless I am mistaken, Florida just beat Cincinnati to a bloody pulp in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama is hungry for a national championship. They cruise into Pasadena with a tremendous feeling of confidence and a knowledge that they have been the best team in the country ever since Day 1. Why do they think like this? They have a Heisman Trophy winner in the backfield in Mark Ingram and you know that has to count for something. But wait a minute...the last person to win both the Heisman Trophy and the National Championship in the same season was Matt Leinart in 2004. This means that the last five Heisman winners have not fared as well in their respective bowl games. So it is fair to say that history is not on the side of Mark Ingram in this game. However, one must not underestimate the strength and nimbleness of Ingram whenever he runs the ball. Granted he was the second best running back in the nation statistically to Toby Gerhart. But Ingram is the reason why Alabama is playing for the national championship on Thursday night. In order for Alabama to win this game, Ingram must play a vital role in controlling the tempo at the line of scrimmage. The Alabama offensive line must overpower Texas from start to finish, establishing themselves as the dominant unit on the football field every time. They cannot allow the Texas defenders to kick off their blocks and jam up the running lanes because it will put pressure on Ingram to cut back and spin away way too much. Ingram is not that kind of running back. He is a power running back who establishes himself at the point of attack, using his strength and quickness to gain extra yards after contact. Alabama will need to be physical with Texas all night long in order for Ingram to succeed. If they don't do this, then it will put the offensive game in the hands of Greg McElroy. McElroy has been a decent manager of the game all season for the Tide. He has given them balance offensively whenever opposing defenses stifled the running game. Should Texas get the best of Mark Ingram, McElroy will need to come up big by establishing the aerial assault against one of the best secondaries in all of college football. And if Texas develops any kind of a pass rush while also containing Ingram in the backfield, then the Longhorns will cause problems for the Tide all night long. This is going to be a real test for Alabama in this game. It will be a strength of wills as to which team is more physical and which teams wants it more.

Not many people are giving Texas a chance in this game. But the last time the Longhorns were massive underdogs and playing for a national championship, they were led by a man named Vince Young, who ended up defeating the mighty Trojans in what place? That's right...the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where Thursday's national championship game will be played. And who do the Longhorns have at the quarterback position? Why it's none other than Colt McCoy. The stakes are very high in this game, almost as high as when Texas defeated USC in 2006. The Longhorns are tremendous underdogs and deservingly so after getting outplayed by Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game. There are some who would argue that Texas doesn't even deserve to play in this game; that the more appropriate matchup would have been TCU/Cincinnati/Boise State vs. Alabama. Two out of the three teams mentioned lost their bowl games. And if Texas had lost to Nebraska, it would have most likely been Cincinnati playing the Tide on Thursday night. Cincinnati? Are you kidding me? If Florida's 51-24 beatdown wasn't enough for the Bearcats, imagine what Alabama would have done to them. But then again, Cincinnati would have still had Brian Kelly as their head coach. But I'm convinced it wouldn't have made much of a difference. TCU faltered in the national spotlight, which leaves Boise State. Boise State has established itself as the X-factor since they finished the season with a 14-0 record. History is on their side as well since they defeated Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl three years ago. The best case for a college playoff scenario emerges first and foremost from Boise, Idaho because Boise State is a program that deserves to compete with the best of the best. They return all but one starter next season, which means it will be interesting to see where the polls situate them at the start of the 2010 season.

As for this season, Boise State was ranked too low in the polls to make any splash for the BCS National Championship. That left the Texas Longhorns, who like it or not finished with a perfect record and deserved a shot to play Alabama for the national title. They are also the only undefeated team that would have matched Alabama in all phases of the game. Texas will want to eliminate the frustration of the Big 12 Championship by getting on the scoreboard early against Alabama. They know that Alabama is the #1 defense in college football, which means they are much better than that Suh-led Nebraska defense. They know they are very efficient at stopping the run and know that they will be gunning after McCoy all night long. The key for Texas in this game will be whether or not McCoy can control the pace of the game whenever they have the football. They will need to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage and take it to that Alabama defensive line. DT Terrence Cody is going to be an unblockable force in this game. He will anchor the Alabama defense much in the same way that Ndamukong Suh anchored Nebraska's defense in the Big 12 title game. Alabama will be focusing on Jordan Shipley all night long. They will feel confident that if they can contain Shipley at the line of scrimmage and throw him off his routes, then they will be able to neutralize McCoy throughout the course of the game. This will force him to situate himself in the pocket way too long, which will allow the Alabama defense to dictate how they want this game to go. McCoy must be sharp in this game. He cannot afford to make any mistakes and must be extremely careful in handling the football. He will need to be very accurate to his receivers and move the ball in small droves to keep drives going. But the focus of the Texas gameplan must not only be Jordan Shipley. Alabama will be ready for that and coach Saban will throw everything but the kitchen sink at McCoy to throw him off rhythm. This is why the X-factor for Texas will be if they can establish their running game. They have a big and brutish offensive line that is undoubtedly one of the best in the nation. They are angry about what happened against Nebraska in the Big 12 title game and how much they were responsible for their offensive meltdown. I expect the Texas offensive line to show up in a big way in this game, allowing for McCoy to have enough time in the pocket to make sound decisions and smart throws to his receivers. I expect Texas to run the football rather well in this game with Tre' Newton in the backfield. And if McCoy can find his secondary receivers in the middle of the field, then this will be a long night for Alabama defensively. Malcolm Williams and James Kirkendoll have to step up and bring their absolute best to the forefront in this game. If they are able to do that, then Texas will prove to be a very worthy opponent for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Now, as to how the game will unfold. I think this will be a defensive struggle through and through. Both teams are ranked in the Top 5 in total defense and both are ranked #1 and #2 in stopping the run. So if you think Mark Ingram is going to walk on water every time he touches the ball, then you are gravely mistaken. Ingram may have a couple touchdowns in this game, but if he is going to produce solid statistics against the Texas run defense, then he will have to grind out runs and shed tackles throughout the course of the game. What separates Alabama from Texas in terms of their defense is their secondary. Alabama is ranked 8th in stopping the pass whereas Texas is ranked 25th. Alabama's secondary will be prepared to handle anything that Colt McCoy can throw at them. Their pass rush will force him to scramble for dear life out of the pocket, which will lead to some errant throws and possible turnovers. As much as Texas fans want to believe that Colt McCoy will be the second coming of Vince Young in this game, it just isn't going to happen. Alabama is too talented on both sides of the ball to let Texas get the best of them. Nick Saban is primed to be the first football coach in NCAA history to win national championships for two different schools. And I think Greg McElroy will be the unsung hero of this football game as he will find Julio Jones and Marquis Maze for big plays that will kill any kind of Texas momentum. I expect this to be a very close game going into the fourth quarter. But in the end, Alabama's stingy defense proves to be too much to handle for Colt McCoy and the Texas offensive line.

FINAL SCORE: ALABAMA 27, TEXAS 17